How much can changing how we work affect our health?

By Griffen O'Shaughnessy

“My job is killing me.” While often said in jest, recent studies have shown that it might be closer to the truth than most of us are willing to believe.

The negative impact of job stress on our mental well-being has now been documented in numerous studies, providing backing to the anecdotal stories of nearly every person in the U.S. workforce. To use one example, 84% of the respondents from a MindShare Partners survey said their workplace had contributed to at least one mental health challenge.

Leaving a toxic work environment or a situation that kept us at a high level of stress gives us such a sense of relief and release that there was little chance it wasn’t a significant factor in our overall mental health.

In some cases, though, the conversation ends there, partially because we don’t make the connection between mental and physical health. Because the process of mental healing that follows a difficult work situation is often our primary focus, we can forget the heavy toll this level of stress takes on our bodies. In addition to useful guidelines for organizations, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being contains a stark warning from former Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy: “Chronic stress from workplace abuse can lead to depression, heart disease, cancer, and other illnesses.”

The impacts of these types of work environments can’t be brushed off as trivial, as they can be contributors to difficult and even life-threatening conditions. So, what can we do about it?

The Great Resignation, the fractional revolution and the flight to meaningful work

One of the answers to the workplace health riddle may have already been put into motion when the COVID-19 pandemic pulled back the curtain on a host of workplace issues.

As soon as it became clear that many people could do their work just as effectively (and in some cases, more effectively) from their homes as they could from an office, the highest performers quickly realized that many of the policies that their workplaces lived by were, at best, severely outdated, and at worst, wildly draconian. All that time wasted on commutes just to be beset with a day full of office distractions, one week of vacation a year for employees who had been working at the same company for 5+ years, keyboard and login tracking software, being passed over for promotions because the other person took the boss out for drinks every Friday; it didn’t have to be this way.

So, when it came time for these same companies to force people back into the office or otherwise return things to the way they were, these professionals promptly put in their notice and became fractional experts and freelancers instead. For high performers, there are many well-documented benefits of making the transition from in-house to fractional work, including larger earning potential, the ability to expand your professional network, and the opportunity to choose your projects and work based on your interests and values.

The ability to achieve true work-life balance and flexibility on their terms may be the most critical benefit given the health concerns documented above, and it’s already the most valued by the experts themselves: 90% chose it as the best aspect of fractional work in a recent survey.

The importance of that flexibility is one of the reasons Griffen O’Shaughnessy chose to leave her in-house career and launch Canopy Advisory Group. Because she had lived it herself, she knew that the full-time world simply wasn’t set up to accommodate all types of professionals and life situations.

“The idea for Canopy came from my own experience in the corporate world. I worked for large, successful firms, put in the long hours, and worked my way up the ladder like many other professionals. And that worked perfectly well until we had our first child. Suddenly, I had a new, critical priority taking up my time, and juggling motherhood with the high-powered, always-on corporate job wasn’t working. Something had to give,” she said.

“In talking to many other executives and professionals, I realized that parenthood was far from the only catalyst for these types of moments. Our lives change, our situations change, our priorities change, and for many talented professionals, the 9-to-5 corporate grind is no longer what we need or want. Now, more than 15 years later, I know that going back into that world wouldn’t be right for me, and that it would likely be detrimental to my health. And I know that so many of the members of our fractional community feel the same way.”

The connection between being able to set your own schedule and to be engaged in meaningful work with health is difficult to quantify. Until more data is available, we’ll be looking at anecdotal and qualitative evidence. What we’ve heard loud and clear from the members of Canopy’s community of fractional experts is that they’re not only getting paid what they’re worth and making a bigger impact; they’re both happier and healthier since making the change.

For Canopy Expert Advisor Shannon Johnson, the move from being overworked and overstressed to a life of balance removed more stress than she knew she had been carrying.

“Stepping into fractional advisory work has been a game-changer—I get to help multiple clients in ways that truly make a difference, all while keeping the balance that lets me bring my best to both work and life. I’ve been surprised by how much of a weight it has taken off my shoulders. So much so that I’m not sure I knew how much was weighing me down before,” she said. “While stress still exists, it feels different because I have more control over the outcome. I’m not any less busy, but I’m much happier, and I am absolutely seeing the positive effects on my physical health.”

For others like Canopy Expert Advisor Dan Martin, there were signs that his work stress was causing physical issues, but in the busyness of the daily grind, he struggled to make the connection.

“I was having a host of minor health issues that I was chalking up to other factors, and I’ve talked to a lot of other people who were in the same boat. When I made the decision to do my own thing and got a few months under my belt, these constant sources of pain started to go away,” said Dan. “I didn’t notice it at first, but thinking back, it’s absolutely the case and stress is the obvious culprit. It’s probably also a function of better sleep, which seems to positively impact everything else; that’s the biggest night-and-day difference I’ve seen so far.”

For Canopy Expert Advisor Meg Galipault, the flexibility offered by fractional work is a blessing due to a condition causing her chronic pain.

“Working full-time for an employer and the increased expectations of working in-person were so stressful for me. I’ve been dealing with sciatica (something new to me) and I would not be able to work in an office with this,” she said. “A fractional career gives me the flexibility I need, while also giving me the feeling I’m doing something worthwhile. I’m able to circumvent the stress associated with trying to heal while working.”

The future: a better understanding of the connection between health and work style

The science of the effects of career stress and things like chronic pain, depression and other diseases is still catching up with the tectonic shift from traditional, 9-5, full-time work to an environment where 47% of the U.S. workers in a Howdy study were already engaged in contract work.

As we continue to dig into the impacts of this sea change on the domestic and global economy, on hiring, work environments and the concept of “work” in general, and how the next generation of workers will choose to create their careers, the importance of understanding how to avoid the negative impacts of work on our mental and physical health will continue to rise.

With the new world of work taking shape before our eyes, it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine a fundamentally different environment in which expertise is valued, workplaces are held accountable for their cultures in a way that impacts their wallet share, people can choose the jobs and work styles that are right for them, right at this moment, and that happiness and health are the true measures of success.

Interested in learning more about Canopy Advisory Group and the benefits of hiring fractional experts from within our community? Get in touch – we’d love to connect.