×
First-time login tip: If you're a REBA Member, you'll need to reset your password the first time you login.
29 Aug 2018

How to help employees get a good night’s sleep to boost productivity

Most people know that a lack of sleep can negatively affect their mood, leaving them lethargic, uninspired and stressed. This often leads to being disorganised, reaching for comfort foods and relying on stimulants such as caffeine to stay alert.

C6CB-1535454055_HowtohelpemployeesgetagoodnightssleepMAIN.jpg

The research, Why Sleep Matters: Quantifying the Economic Costs of Insufficient Sleep (2016), supports the need for workers across all industries to get enough sleep in order to be healthy and productive. Each year, the US loses the equivalent of about 1.2 million working days because of insufficient sleep. Japan loses an average of 600,000 working days, followed by the UK and Germany each at 200,000 and Canada at 80,000. This translates to billions in global economic losses.

In 1942, eight hours’ sleep a night was the global average. Yet in the 21st century, across 48 countries studied by Sleep Cycle, none achieves this anymore.

The right amount

Getting the right amount of sleep is an essential part of the health and wellness trifecta:

  • Diet – what we put in our bodies
  • Exercise – how we treat our bodies
  • Sleep – how we recharge our bodies.

Adequate sleep is necessary for:

  • fighting infection
  • supporting the metabolism of blood sugar to prevent diabetes
  • performing well mentally
  • behavioural self-regulation
  • working effectively and safely.

Sleep quality matters

Quantity of sleep alone doesn’t equal quality, though. People need to go through all five stages of the sleep cycle, including the rapid eye movement (REM) stage — the restorative part that helps with learning and memory function:

  • Stage 1: light sleep
  • Stage 2: brain starts to rest, body prepares for deep sleep
  • Stage 3: deep sleep type 1
  • Stage 4: deep sleep type 2
  • Stage 5: REM sleep.

Deep sleep is needed for energy restoration, cell regeneration, increased blood supply to muscles, growth and repair of tissues and bones, and strengthening the immune system.

A ‘good night’s sleep’

So what makes for ‘good sleep’ in quantity and quality?

  • Getting seven to nine hours of sleep per night every night
  • Falling asleep within 15 to 20 minutes of getting into bed
  • Achieving four to six ‘sleep cycles’ per night, including three to five REM cycles.

Short-term sleep deprivation effects

Sleepiness is associated with such vision problems as tunnel vision, double vision and dimness, found The Effect of Acute Sleep Deprivation on Visual Evoked Potentials in Professional Drivers (2008) study. The longer you’re awake, the more visual errors you’ll encounter, and the more likely you are to experience hallucinations. Numerous studies across the globe point to driver sleepiness as a significant factor in car accidents that result in serious injuries.

Long-term effects

Chronic sleep problems have a profound effect on health and wellbeing:

  • Up to 45 million people across Europe and up to 70 million people throughout the US have sleep disorders that impact their daily functioning and health, according to the Short- and long-term health consequences of sleep disruption (2017) study.
  • Long-term sleep deprivation has been associated with a variety of health conditions that negatively impact wellbeing and productivity. It can lead to diabetes, heart disease, stroke, irritable bowel syndrome, gastrointestinal diseases, weight gain and increased risk of obesity, found the Sleep and obesity (2011) study.
  • It can also disrupt the immune system. Even losing one night of sleep can impede the body’s natural defences against microorganisms, according to Partial night sleep deprivation reduces natural killer and cellular immune responses in humans (2006) research.
  • Insomnia has been linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke in the research, The association between insomnia symptoms and risk of cardio-cerebral vascular events: A meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies (2017).
  • Migraines are worse and more frequent for people who regularly get insufficient sleep, found the Sleep and Migraine: Assessment and Treatment of Comorbid Sleep Disorders (2018) study.
  • Sleeping five or fewer hours per night can increase mortality risk by as much as 15 per cent.

Tips for a better night’s sleep

Here are a few tips that employers can share with employees to help them make sleep a priority and to promote a sleep-healthy work environment:

  • Set a daily sleep routine for yourself that you can stick to, even on the weekend
  • Get regular exercise (30 to 60 minutes a day most days) at least three hours before your bedtime
  • Avoid napping after 3 pm
  • Minimise screen time and use of devices with bright artificial light within the hour before bedtime
  • Invest in a comfortable mattress, pillow and sheets
  • Limit overall caffeine and alcohol intake and avoid caffeine in the afternoon and evening
  • Avoid nicotine, a stimulant that can affect sleep quality
  • Try not to eat large meals within four hours of your bedtime
  • Check medications such as pain relievers with caffeine, decongestants, steroids and beta-blockers for sleep-related side effects
  • Get 30 minutes of sun exposure, preferably with exercise, each day
  • Keep your bedroom dark, cool and quiet
  • Try a sleep app that can track your sleep patterns and help you relax so you can fall asleep.

This article was provided by Aetna.

Related topics

In partnership with Aetna

Aetna is re-shaping and improving health care across the globe by developing solutions.

Contact us today