A lot has been learned about how lack of sleep affects the human mind. As we reviewed last week, sleeping too little has a definite impact on mental ability. It inhibits productivity. It diminishes the ability to remember and consolidate information. It lessens the ability to reason and do numerical calculations. For most businesses, this can have serious implications such as reducing workplace safety and decreasing work quality. Here is another consideration: lack of sleep can also cause health problems.

Indeed, studies show that lack of sufficient sleep is linked with:
• Increase in body mass index – a propensity for obesity due to an increased appetite caused by sleep deprivation
• Increased risk of diabetes
• Increased risk of heart problems
• Increased risk for psychiatric conditions including substance abuse
• Decreased ability to pay attention, react to signals or remember new information which leads to increased amount of accidents

But, as it turns out, there is also a correlation between too much sleep and health problems. In fact, just as it is possible to overeat to the point of obesity, it is also possible to oversleep. A study found that extended sleep durations (over nine hours) is associated with increased illness, depression, accidents and death. Two surveys of more than a million adults conducted by the American Cancer Society found that people who (on average) slept seven hours per night had lower mortality rate after six years than those sleeping less than seven hours or more than eight hours each night. The surveys showed that too much sleep can be ‘too much of a good thing.’ Thus, the goal for sleeping – just like eating, exercising, working and playing – is to get enough without getting too much. The key is balance. What is the right balance between ‘not enough’ and ‘too much’ sleep? Continue reading →

What do the 1979 nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, the 1986 nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker grounding and the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger all have in common (besides being major catastrophes that cost millions and took lives)? Individuals who played a critical role in what went wrong were sleep deprived at the time of each accident. There is also a link between lack of sleep and medical errors in hospitals. The Institute of Medicine reports that over a million injuries and 50,000 to 100,000 deaths occur each year from preventable medical errors, many of which are believed to be attributed to insufficient sleep. Likewise, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes in the U.S. annually are the direct result of driver fatigue. Also, the National Transportation Safety Board estimates that 70% of commercial aviation fatal accidents are related to human error and that operating crew fatigue is responsible for 15-20% of the overall accident rate.

While employee fatigue may not seem like a major concern for the average business, employees who do not get enough sleep — whether for just one night or over the course of weeks to months or on a regular basis — can significantly worsen productivity, work quality, customer service, and safety. Employee sleep deprivation can negatively impact mood, ability to focus, and ability to access higher-level cognitive functions. Sleep-deprived employees are less productive, creative, efficient, effective and engaging.
But just how much does lack of sleep affect a person’s productivity and mental ability to function? Continue reading →