The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Your Work Performance
We all know the feeling- you wake up, and the first thing you can think about is how good it’s going to feel to get back in bed that night. Only one problem, you’ve got at least 8 hours of the work day ahead of you. Things are looking bleak. For now- chug some coffee, eat a healthy breakfast and make a huge promise to yourself to never again forsake the rest you need for a 7 hour Game of Thrones marathon.
On top of the fact that being tired at work all day is probably making you miserable, your job is majorly suffering too. Study after study shows us that not prioritizing our sleep is detrimental to our work performance. Lacking sleep affects pretty much all of our important mental and social skills. Insufficient sleep is the number one productivity killer there is.
Lacking sleep negatively affects all of the following (fairly important) brain functions:
- Speech
- Motor-functioning
- Creativity
- Processing
- Decision-making
- Problem-solving
Studies show that it’s basically the equivalent of being drunk. (Not an acceptable way to show up at work.)
Keeping Things Civil
If you find yourself getting annoyed by your coworkers more frequently, it might be worth taking a look at your sleep schedule. When we lack sleep, we tend to be more aggressive, less able to control our emotions and we act with greater impulsivity. Trust us; your co-workers will thank you for those extra few hours and improved sleep hygiene!
For the Head Honcho
Maybe, you’re the boss, manager or owner who knows there is a ton of work and doesn’t mind their employees working late into the night to get it done? To keep your employees well rested- first, make sure everyone gets to leave at a good time. Surely your employees will have other necessary obligations, and keeping them at work will only damage their performance for the next day if they continually stay up late night after night to fit in everything.
You may want to consider implementing a curfew for emails. We all know the feeling of getting an email right before we hop into bed, and that pang of guilt for not taking care of it- I mean, other people are up working! Chances are, you, the boss, probably have some awesome and dedicated employees who want to make sure everything is running smoothly. Try to make sure your employees aren’t emailing each other after the necessary work hours so that they can prioritize their rest and come back fresh the next day!
Lastly, since eating healthy food positively affects our sleep, you may consider leaving out snacks like bananas, nuts and bottled water so that your employees can have something healthy to grab in a pinch.
A Quick Exercise
Close your eyes and imagine your dream bed, the one you would pay good money to jump on and burrow into right at this moment.
Is the bed you currently have as comfortable as the one you’re imagining? If not, it might be time to consider an upgrade, a realistic place to daydream about while you’re at work (shh…we won’t tell your boss). Use offer code: MyMuse for options to make your mornings a little sweeter, a maybe a little harder to get up.