by Sean Davis November 13, 2018
How a lack of sleep affects your ability to function
Poor sleep affects your performance in a number of ways.
Lack of sleep can slow your decision making, affect your judgment and limit your ability to recall information!
Sleep affects our ability to make decisions, recall information and act quickly
In a study of sleep-deprived people using a driving simulator vs intoxicated people. The sleep-deprived group performed worse than those over the legal driving limit for alcohol[i].
Let that sink in for a second……
People who are sleep deprived are worse drivers than those who are intoxicated.
This goes a long way to explaining why so many crashes happen on the way to work in the morning.
Lack of sleep can result in worse driving impairment than being intoxicated
Imagine what this means for your efficiency in work, relationships, study, sport and life in general.
If you are not getting the quality, restorative sleep you need each night then all areas of performance in your life will be affected.
Sleep deprivation can also make you a danger at work. A workplace health review by EHSToday showed that lack of sleep resulted in:
More mistakes being made
Increase in accidents both serious and minor
More risk-taking behavior
Decreased communication between staff
Inability to adjust or react[ii]
Tired workers are a Health and Safety risk
In many industries the implications of this are obvious. Tired workers or staff means dangerous workers.
In industries like forestry, construction, and engineering the results can be fatal.
Lack of sleep can result in more workplace accidents and injuries
However, in any industry, these consequences can have repercussions on staff safety, productivity and performance.
In the fields of sport, memory/study and relationships lack of quality sleep can result in severely impeded performance. So much so that we will cover each of these in a later blog post of their own.
As always, if you want to take control and improve your sleep then sign up to our 7-day email course. It’s FREE and full of valuable information and actionable tips!
References:
[i]
[ii]