Since ancient times, humanity has been hearing statements about the importance of a healthy lifestyle for both our mental and physical health. We are often reminded of the importance of getting enough sleep, having a balanced diet, and regularly engaging in physical activity. Many of us strive for this, but various life obligations can make this much more difficult than it sounds. In my Master thesis, I explored the relationship between psychophysical factors of work and leisure time, the perceived quality of work and attitudes toward work among Slovenian white-collar workers. The sample included 300 participants who primarily perform sedentary work in an office setting. The participants completed a survey questionnaire consisting of the Daily Activity Behaviours Questionnaire (DABQ), the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9), two items on perceived job quality, and an open-ended question about self-perceived reasons for insufficient physical activity among people. Before analyzing the data, I evaluated the reliability of the Daily Activity Behaviours Questionnaire, which proved to be satisfactory. The results indicate that lifestyle factors (sleep, sedentary behaviour, and physical activity) are just one of many factors that contribute to an individual's work engagement, as they only explain a very small portion of the variance in work engagement among a sample of Slovenian employees. Lifestyle factors did not prove to be statistically significant predictors of the perceived job quality among participants. The self-perceived factors contributing to insufficient physical activity most frequently mentioned by participants included laziness or lack of self-discipline, exhaustion or burnout due to work demands and other obligations, lack of time and interest in physical activity, lack of knowledge or appropriate infrastructure, as well as excessive use of smartphones and time spent on social media.
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