'We're dying to lose the commute but working from home should come with health warning'

One of the few good things that appeared to come out of the ­pandemic was the ­ability for many people to work from home.

For those who were fortunate, painful commutes became a thing of the past, almost ­overnight. There was a flurry of activity in the ­property market as people, no longer bound to their workplace, moved to areas that were cheaper and nicer.

But instead of having more free time on their hands, it’s led to a worrying trend of work hours increasing by up to 10%.

The Office for National Statistics found that people working from home during lockdown were doing at least six extra hours of unpaid overtime a week.

Stress of working from home could be a killer (Getty)

So a new report from the World Health Organisation that reveals people who work 55 hours a week or more are at increased risk of stroke and heart disease is particularly worrying.

The first worldwide study of its kind found that 745,000 people in 2016 died due to diseases from working extra hours.

These exhausting longer shifts were responsible for about a third of all ­work-related illnesses.

People in the UK were already putting in the longest working weeks in Europe, even before Covid.

I’ve worked from home for several years. I felt like one of the lucky ones.

Not having to commute or worrying about things like taking a one-hour lunch break meant I could pack much more work in.

What I should have been doing is packing in more time away from my computer and phone.

When it comes to how much extra work we do, we can point the finger of blame at technology.

It’s never been easier for work to get hold of us and days are stacked with Zoom meetings that could have just been emails.

Whatever happened to picking up the phone?

If you’re like me, your phone doubles up as an alarm clock and so it becomes almost routine to check emails first thing in the morning as well as last thing at night.

None of that is any good for our mental or physical well-being.

As things start to open back up, I hope this worrying trend is reversed.

If lockdown has taught us anything it’s the importance of taking our health ­seriously and spending time doing the things that really do matter.

It shouldn’t be a lesson we quickly forget.