Over two-thirds of UK suffers from bad work-life balance

24 February 2010

A national survey has found that people are spending too much time at work and not enough doing leisure activities.

The research, commissioned by Imodium, found that 66 per cent of those surveyed had a poor or very poor life balance, with 15 per cent saying that they only spent between zero and six hours each week with their family or partner. Additionally, ten per cent of the general public said that they spent more than 60 hours at work each week.

Psychologist Dr David Lewis said: "The research shows that people in the UK desperately need to take steps to improve their life balance. Simple steps include upping the amount of exercise taken each week to 2.5 hours, eating five portions of fruit and vegetables each day and simply making time to relax with friends and family.

"The feeling that work is all there is seems to be unique to the UK and it must change if we are to maintain good health into later life."

Different levels of work-life balance have been categorised as "aggressor", "agoniser", "addict", "acceptor" and "adepter". The majority of Britons fall under the category of "aggressor", meaning that they are ambitious and determined to succeed, but also don't have time for sleep, exercise, healthy eating or relationships.