Client: Pzizz

Client: Pzizz

How sleep deprivation is impacting your productivity


Imagine this, instead of your morning coffee, you drink a few glasses of wine and walk into work drunk. 

Your assistant is asking you for your approval on their proposition that you forgot to read. You look through without reading a word. It’s poorly written up and contains many flaws but you don’t see any of it, so you approve. What could do wrong, right?

Today is  the day of that super important client meeting that the board of directors has been bugging you to prepare for for the past week and a half. The board will be there, and these clients will be pivotal for the company moving forward.

You walk into the meeting, introduce yourself to everyone, and sit down for the presentation. Ooo, that cloud outside of the window kind of resembles your friend’s dog and it reminds you of that one time that–– Oh look,  the meetings over. And you didn’t hear a single word; Plus, you forgot everyone’s name. You’re asked for your input. Good luck with that.

Remember that cold you had last week, well now you yearn for its return. Because you missed feeling icky and having to sneeze every 7 minutes. 

And you deeply fretted the disappearance of the sensation in your nostrils where one is dripping mucus uncontrollably and the other is one inhale away from drying up your brain fluids. So you tell your immune system to stop working hard so that you can be reunited with your cold again like the beginning of a Mucinex commercial.

That urgent problem your team told you needs your attention? You can’t seem to concentrate long enough anymore to handle it by end of day tomorrow. 

In fact, You don’t feel like doing anymore. Matter of fact, you wonder why you even came to work today. So you decide to take an extended lunch break because you’ll take that assignment home and finish there, right? (no you won't.) 

So now you’re in the cafe and you wanna fix yourself a nice hot dog because that’ll brighten up your day. You put the hotdog in the bun and now you want mustard. But the mustard just won’t come out. You squeeze a bit harder. 

One of your co-workers walk past you and give you a quick greeting. Your attention is split. Whoops, you just squirt mustard all over that snazzy ecru-colored shirt you wore for the client meeting earlier. Your stress-level is through the roof.

Obviously, this situation is exaggerated. You wouldn’t go to work intoxicated (hopefully). Working while not having enough sleep, however, could bring some of these incidents to life. 

If you’re trying to be productive, not sleeping to get more work in is probably the worst thing you can do. It has the opposite effect of what you think might happen.


Benefits


Science suggests that we sleep should anywhere from 7 to 9 hours every night. Here are some reasons why you should follow that standard:


Sleep More, Stress Less

First reason, you’ll have less stress. The stress hormone, Cortisol, decreases in your body when you get enough sleep at night. 

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), “adults who sleep fewer than eight hours a night are more likely to report systems  of stress.” In fact, in a survey taken by over 1300 adults who report to sleep fewer than 8 hours a night, 45% of them reported feeling more irritable or angry, 40% of them reported feeling overwhelmed, and 42% of them reported lacking interest, motivation or energy. 

In order to be productive, I imagine one needs to be able to keep a level head whenever an obstacle occurs while they work. I also think that if one is overwhelmed by the work they’re about to undertake then they’re less likely to tackle it. But that’s even if the person possesses the motivation and interest to attempt the work in the first place,  which seems to be non-existent if one feels stressed. 

We should start adapting the mantra “If I sleep well today, I’ll keep the stress away!” Getting a full night’s sleep is likely to give us a more relaxed frame of mind and allow us to tackle the day’s problems with a calm rationale. If you work in a high pressure environment, why wouldn’t you want to get a full night’s sleep?


Fight Sickness and Depression Easier

Second reason to get a good night’s rest: you get sick less often and will be able to fight depression. 

Sleeping the right amount consistently strengthens your immune system. Loss of sleep has been associated with a loss in productivity at work and with impaired activity, according to 2005 U.S National Health and Wellness Survey.