Lack Of Sleep Affects Productivity At Work

Researchers from Cambridge University have suggested that sleep deprivation affects the workplace efficiency more than smoking and drinking on weekdays. The study also reflects the fact that our body needs minimum of seven hours sleep to perform better in the office and the lack of it might have a greater effect on workplace efficiency than being bullied in the workplace, or suffering from high blood pressure, or showing symptoms of depression.

For their analysis, the study team collected the data of over 21,000 employees, commissioned by health insurance company Vitality Health as a part of 2014 Britain's Healthiest Company survey. Researchers then investigated all the key factors which might affect the performance level of an individual at work and found that sleep deprivation affected the work productivity in a worse possible way leading to presenteeism, a condition where one is present at work but is not able to get the job done to the best of his/her ability.

The results of the survey lead to conclusion that those who slept for six hours or less at night are less productive in comparison to those who got seven or eight hours of sleep per night. Other factors which effected the productivity were listed as lack of exercise, mental health issues, musculoskeletal problems and financial concerns. Shaun Subel, Director of strategy at Vitality Health says, “The data give us a powerful new way to say to companies that you can almost set your objective: if you’re targeting just short-term productivity effects, these are the most important drivers you should probably be looking at. And if you’re concerned about the long-term health of your employees, these are the drivers. Importantly you’ve got companies who want to do both.”

However, the most surprising revelation made by the study was that smoking, alcohol consumption and severe obesity were not found to have any link with low productivity at work. Subel expressed his astonishment by saying, “It’s something we discussed at length when we were going through the data, because we were quite surprised.” According to him, the test only measured the short-term effects on work productivity and feels that habits such as smoking and alcohol consumption could lead to health problems in the longer term which would then ultimately create a huge impact on their work.

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