There are lots of good arguments for maintaining a healthy work/life balance (including the pretty obvious one, that you’ll enjoy your life more if it’s not all about work, all the time). There are also lots of definitions of what that means. More vacation time, paid parental leave, having hobbies and maintaining a social life count. Some really proactive companies even pay for gym memberships or paid “sabbaticals” to encourage their employees to get out and enjoy the world beyond their desks.
But while you’re making room in your busy, career-minded life for friends, fitness, and family, don’t forget another important part of maintaining a happy, well-balanced life: your sex life.
New research from Oregon State University shows that maintaining an active, healthy sex life can lead to increased job satisfaction and productivity at work for married employees. (It’s unclear why researchers only looked at the sex lives of married people, but I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe that it’s because they wanted to start with as few variables as possible, and not because they’ve time-traveled from the 1950s when marital sex was the only socially-acceptable sex.)
Researchers followed 159 subjects over the course of two weeks, and asked them to fill out a survey each day, including questions about their mood, productivity, general sense of well-being—and whether or not they’d gotten it on with their spouse the night before. They found that subjects who had engaged in sexual activity the previous evening reported that they were more likely to immerse themselves in their tasks and enjoy their work lives. The effect, which seemed to last about 24 hours, was equal for both men and women, and stayed consistent after researchers factored in marriage satisfaction and sleep quality.
It’s no surprise that sex, which releases dopamine in the brain, makes us happier. Societally, we seem to know this already. But it’s still striking to see the impact measured, and to see how that elevated mood impacts every aspect of our lives—even our work lives, which might be the polar opposite of our sex lives (except for sex workers, of course).