Many of us want a way to increase productivity. This can cause us to make radical lifestyle changes. For example, we might drink unpleasant juices, insist on several cups of coffee per day, or spend more time at the office. However, there’s one easy way to increase your productivity. Getting the right amount of sleep. Let’s take a look at how this simple act can help you become get more done.
Poor Sleep Is A Common Problem
Before we start talking about how this can impact on performance, let’s look at how common a lack of sleep is. The National Sleep Foundation set out to survey American sleeping habits. They found that around 45 percent reported poor performance, which was linked to lack of sleep. Also, 20 percent of the people that they surveyed had not experienced a restful night sleep during that week.
This could be becoming a bigger problem. According to an Australian survey, young people sleep for an hour less on working days than on non-working days. It’s expected that this is linked to the 24/7 cycle of the working world. Because of the increasingly connected world that we live in, some people will find it harder to switch off. Ironically, working for longer hours might be lowering their productivity.
Lower Sleep Can Mean Lower Creativity
Many workplaces prize out of the box thinking. Being able to analyze problems and come up with creative solutions can be a great way to help advance your career. It can also allow you to overcome roadblocks that might stop you from getting work done.
However, when we don’t get enough sleep, we can often feel sluggish. It can take longer to come up with new ideas. Because of this, workers with sleep issues won’t come up with as many creative solutions. In fact, some studies have shown that sleep deprivation can have the same phycological impacts as being drunk. This makes it harder to complete even the simplest tasks.
Sleep Deprivation Can Impact On Focus
Sleep deprivation might also have a big impact on a worker’s ability to remain focused on tasks. This can have a big impact. First, many employers have been noticing a big reduction in productivity, as each task takes longer to complete. Another potential problem is that employees might be more likely to make mistakes. At other times, someone might be injured. To measure these impacts, scientists divided over 4,000 workers into groups, depending on their sleep patterns. Based on this, they found that some workplaces were losing $1,967 per year because of employee fatigue.
Sleep Disorders Can Make Working Much Harder
Poor sleep patterns can increase the risk that you develop a sleep disorder. This can have a huge impact on all aspects of your life, including your profession. For example, if you’re living with a sleep disorder, you might struggle to wake up feeling alert in the mornings or start to lose focus in the afternoons. In other cases, you might struggle to understand the details required to complete your job.
There are several sleep disorders, each of which will impact you slightly differently. The first step in dealing with these issues will be learning more about them and why they might be impacting you. There are several resources that you can use to do this. Also, you should talk to a doctor about your symptoms. They might be able to prescribe a sleeping pill or refer you to a psychologist who can help you with mental health issues.
Irregular Sleep Can Impact Your Performance
Even if you are getting the right amount of sleep, you might still have poor productivity. This is because you need to establish a regular sleep pattern. A 2017 study found that students with irregular sleep patterns tended to have worse academic performance. There are several reasons why this occurred. First, as we mentioned earlier, sleep impacts your ability to focus. Also, healthy sleep will help you improve your memory. During a night of deep sleep, we enter REM sleep, which is where important memories are consolidated. If irregular sleep continues for too long, it might eventually make it harder to get to sleep on time, as the circadian rhythm will be disrupted.
How To Get Healthy Sleep
If you want to improve your productivity, it might be time to consider improving your sleep patterns. Thankfully, making a few small changes can have a big impact on the quality of sleep that you’re able to achieve. First, create a sleep routine. You want to spend a few minutes each night winding down before you go to sleep. For some people, this can mean reading a book. For others, it can mean talking about their day with a partner. Plan to start this at the same time each night, so you’ll be able to go to sleep at the same time. It’s also advisable to avoid any electronic devices before bed.
Another idea that you might want to try is to exercise more frequently during the day. This will help tire you out, so you’ll be more sleepy at night. You might also want to focus on your diet. It’s best to avoid taking coffee an hour before you go to bed. Also, avoid drinking too much alcohol. While it can make you feel sleepier, it will cause you to wake up earlier. Finally, you might want to spend more time in the sun. This will help your body synchronize your circadian rhythm, so you’ll find it easier to fall asleep at night.
Conclusion
Getting healthy sleep can be one of the best ways to improve your productivity. It will allow you to start your day feeling refreshed and help you focus during the day. Healthy sleep will also allow you to improve your creativity and improve your memory. So, if you want to boost your productivity at work, use these tips to develop a better sleep routine.