You snooze, you lose, right? Wrong. Insufficient sleep impairs physical and cognitive functions, hurting workplace productivity. Lack of sleep reduces your ability to concentrate and affects short-term memory. It can also make people more irritable and less resilient when dealing with stressful situations.
“If they’re interacting with other people, they’re not going to be as patient. [Plus], your judgment isn’t as good, and you misinterpret things,” explains Dr. David Posen, an Ontario-based physician specializing in stress and lifestyle counselling.
Generally, adults need one hour of shut-eye for every two hours of wakefulness, which adds up to about eight hours a night, says Posen. But research shows that most Canadians aren’t getting enough. How can employers help their employees get more sleep?
Snooze tips for employers
- Sending emails after business hours with the expectation of an instant reply and setting rigid, tight deadlines means that employees will likely lose some sleep to meet those demands
- Companies also need to be mindful that some people are night owls and perform better in the evening than early in the morning
- Consider providing napping rooms where employees can go to recharge during the workday
Canadians’ sleep patterns
- 19% experience work-related stress every night before bed
- Less than half (43%) say they get a good night’s sleep every night, or almost every night, during the week
- 30% sleep less than seven hours on work nights
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