Burning The Midnight Oil? Here's How It Affects Your Productivity

The pandemic has blurred the lines of personal and professional lives, and employees are burning the midnight oil, affecting their productivity. Many professionals cannot disconnect from work, which has become detrimental to their job satisfaction and productivity. Before the pandemic, people spent more time at work on a weekday, which meant less sleep. While stress and work schedule affect sleep, not sleeping well at night means you nod off your desk and miss important deadlines. Sacrificing sleep to get office work done and then losing productivity is a visicous and exhaustive cycle. Hence it is important to understand the link between productivity at work and sleep. Read below to know more:

How Sleep Affects Your Performance

Sleep is an essential aspect and is among the important pillars of health. Sleep rejuvenates all the organs of the body. The breathing rate slows down when you sleep, and the muscles begin to relax. The brain switches to the sleeping mode, which marks the beginning of innumerable body processes that replenish the mind and body. Sleep plays a vital role in rejuvenating the immune system and the cardiovascular system. It also helps in better functioning of the brain with more clarity of thought, better memory and capacity to learn new things and manage emotions.

With many people over the world chronically underslept, it causes fatigue, which bleeds into the work performance. Without enough sleep, the body does not function properly, the brain is overworked and slow and causes impaired thinking. Suppose you are also among the underslept look for reasons for this happening and fix the root cause. If the mattress is the cause, then buy the mattress online. If your sleep pattern is the issue, look for ways to make it right and get enough sleep.

1. It Impacts Physical Health

   The effects of tiredness of the body due to burning the midnight oil is quite significant. The common symptom of poor sleep at night is lethargy. Other symptoms like palpitations and heartburn are also associated with a lack of good sleep. Numerous studies support the connection between physical health and sleep quality. When you lack good snooze, your immunity is down, making you more prone to common illnesses. That can keep you away from work, which becomes detrimental to your career over the long run. There are other potential long term side effects of sleep deprivation. Chronic sleeplessness may cause serious ailments like heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

2. Impacts the Psychological Well-Being

   Not getting enough sleep has a great impact on the mood and feeling. There are a few people who, due to sleeplessness, even suffer from hallucinations, memory loss, paranoia and mania, which can prove detrimental to the job. While for many such dramatic things may not happen, there are subtle effects that prove challenging. People with a sleep deficit are often irritable and get angry, proving detrimental to social relationships. Also, they are more prone to stress, anxiety and feelings of frustration. They may also seem more pessimistic and have feelings of withdrawal—so poor sleep results in poor mental health, which means less productivity.

   
3. Can Prove Dangerous In The Work Environment

   Apart from impacting physical and emotional health, lack of sleep can take a toll on cognitive skills. You may feel you lack proper judgement and your decision-making ability need a longer reaction time. In fact, as per studies, a long day at work is seen to have behavioural changes similar to drinking a few glasses of wine. This reduced cognitive performance can have severe repercussions in jobs where critical thinking is important. For example, drivers, pilots, surgeons and those who operate heavy machinery may have disastrous events when they are sleep deprived. So they must have a healthier sleep to work at optimal levels.

   
4. So How Much Sleep Do You Need Anyway?

   Ask different people, and you will get different answers to it. For some, they need a good 8 hours of sleep, while for many others, they can make do with 5 or 6 hours. So anywhere between 6 to 8 hours is a good amount of sleep. While there is a small percentage of people who can do with five hours of sleep, another small set needs up to 10 hours. So the answer is it depends.

   However, more than the quantity of sleep, the quality of sleep matters. Even after getting the required hours of sleep, if you feel sleepy, you should assess the quality of sleep and probably buy a mattress online. The mattress should provide support and comfort and allow you to wake up feeling refreshed. Don’t worry about the mattress price; just look for something that gives you a good sleep. It is an investment with great health returns.

With a deeper understanding of sleep and productivity, you should stop sacrificing sleep for your work to be more productive.