A typical morning for the senior journalist involved rolling over in bed at 6am to check twitter for big news; reading newspapers and emails over breakfast with the radio on in the background; making lunches for his boys to take to school; and then walking them there.

On the way, he'd talk hands-free on a conference call which continued on a packed train into the city. The 40-year-old would then work until about 6pm before going home to eat dinner, which was followed by more emails and planning for the following day.

"I was working from 7am to about 8 or 9pm every day," he says. "I felt like I was never off duty."

During this time, Mr Brown was about 15kg overweight, had high blood pressure, and was intermittently anxious, which sometimes disturbed his sleep. One day, his doctor told him he was going to have a heart attack if he didn't slow down.

New research suggests he is not alone. A study of 8000 working Australians has found that working longer than 39 hours a week puts your health at risk, probably because it reduces time for exercise, preparing healthy food, and spending quality time with family and friends.

With Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing one in four Australians now works more than the standard 38 hour week (the maximum prescribed by the Fair Work Commission), the researchers behind this new report say something has to give.

One of the authors, Professor Lyndall Strazdins​ of Australian National University, said the study showed that women who worked more than 34 hours a week, and men who worked more than 47 hours a week, had higher rates of distress and mental illness. This included symptoms such as feeling nervous, anxious or down.

She said the lower tipping point for women was because those in the survey were doing more unpaid caring and domestic duties than men.

However, Professor Strazdins said anybody who did more than 28 hours a week of caring or domestic work (the median in Australia) would have a lower threshold than 39 hours of paid work a week before it risked their health.

"We need to encourage people to look after their mental health, but mostly we need to encourage managers and workplaces to see this as something they want to mitigate," she said.

Mr Brown said the warning from his doctor prompted him to take long service leave. Within three weeks his blood pressure had returned to normal, and within three months he had lost 15kg and was feeling much happier.

After constantly looking for the next challenge in his career, he decided to take on a less demanding job but with the same employer. While he still struggles with switching off from the news cycle and social media, he is now working about 40 hours a week.

"I rarely work overtime now, so the big difference has been not working from home," he says.

"It means I spend more quality time with my family and on maintaining my fitness. The change was totally necessary. It has been fantastic."