“100,000 police-reported crashes are the result of driver sleepiness every year.” – National Highway Safety Administration
This and more societal issues has been linked to insufficient sleep among adults both male and female. Over the years, experts have conducted various researches to prove the direct relationship between the amount of rest one gets at night with that of their overall work performance during the day.

In a research conducted on 7, 428 employees across the United States, a stark 23% have been reportedly experiencing insomnia for at least three times a week. This was way back 2011, and considering the increased number of factors that distract adults at present, we could just imagine how the results would have doubled, even tripled in various business hotspots as of today.

People who have trouble sleeping eventually find themselves having some issues as well at work. Compared to employees who get sufficient amount of sleep, insomniacs are more likely to miss deadlines and even absent from work.

Below are 6 of the most common ways by which the lack of sleep can be detrimental to your job productivity:

It can potentially lead to headaches and migraine.

AHS (American Headache Society) President, David Dodick, MD once pointed out that sleep disruption is among the ‘most important migraine triggers.’ While no precise explanation directly links sleep to headache pain, research has proven that the two have a tendency to go together.

For employees who regularly work at fluorescent-lit cubicles, this can mean a terrible thing as headaches and migraines impede one’s ability to think straight and focus on the tasks at hand.

It impedes creative thinking.

Whether you work in a technical industry like an SEO company or something creative like web design and content writing, creative thinking is a vital thing. It’s the primary factor that spurs original ideas and is a huge requirement for any industry competing with tons of other ventures.

A person’s brain is wired to produce all of those brilliant thoughts, but only if it’s at its best. Lack of sleep, especially for consecutive days, tires the brain, eventually affecting its ability to create and innovate.

It affects your relationship with your colleagues.

“People who have problems with sleep are at increased risk for developing emotional disorders, depression, and anxiety,” says Dr. Lawrence J. Epstein, MD, instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School.

This statement is backed up by the research of the University of Pennsylvania who had some subjects limit their sleep to 4.5 hours a night for whole week duration. The results showed these topics exhibiting increased feeling of stress, anger, sadness and mental exhaustion.

In any office setup, this finding could mean a significant blow to the healthy relationship exercised by the employees. Anyone who starts to feel distressed could potentially go off one someone, which can, of course, put a rift in the involved party’s professional relationship.

It impairs your attention and decision-making skills.

If you ever found yourself having serious troubles focusing on one thing, then putting off those distracting items such as social media and email could help. However, doing so isn’t much of a guarantee that you can automatically switch on your focus back to normal.

In a lot of cases, the reason behind the inability to keep one’s attention intact is the lack of sleep. Once focus is affected, decision-making skill is also compromised. If it continues, the result can be a rapid decline in a worker’s productivity – something which is a reasonable ground for termination on worst case scenario. Admittedly, we all don’t want that happening.

It impacts learning and memory in a negative way.

A human brain has this so-called ‘brain wave ripples,’ an event that is responsible for collating memories from the information received in your hippocampus. According to a 2009 joint American and French research, these ripples happen during the deepest part of your sleep.

In other words, suffering from frequent sleep disruptions is ultimately detrimental to your brain’s ability to store valuable information. At work, this is a tremendous setback considering the natural need to organize and remember tasks.

It reduces your immunity.

“The more all-nighters you pull, the more likely you are to decrease your body’s ability to respond to colds and bacterial infection.” – Diwakar Balachandran, MD, Director of the Sleep Center at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

A human’s immune system is rather complicated, and it functions to protect us from a lot of external invaders like viruses, which could harm our body. Research has linked sleep deprivation to the weakening of a person’s immune system, therefore opening you up to more harm. Unless you want to be flagged for constantly being absent at work because of sickness, getting sufficient sleep for about 7 hours in average is highly appropriate.

Companies across different industries require their employees to be as productive as they can while at work. It’s understandable considering the high market competition in business. For employees, this means being more responsible for their health and making sure they have ample of energy to deliver what the company expects from them.

Sleep doctors and researchers recognize that there are people who have troubles getting themselves to sleep, and it’s good to know that there are proven-effective techniques to help you become more comfortable during bedtime. For starters, we have the following:
• Dim the lights in your room.
• Turn off all electronics or devices that may distract you.
• Try aromatherapy.
• Take a warm bath before hitting the bed.
• Relax your body.
• Read a light resource like short stories. Even children’s book will do.
• Change to comfortable clothing.
• Invest on quality bedding.
• Be mindful of your sleeping posture. Be sure you have your whole body in a relaxing position.
Staying productive requires discipline, and it’s our responsibility to determine something that’s affecting it while we are at work. Keep your productivity level up by getting enough sleep.

Don’t undersleep, never oversleep, and settle for a healthy 7-8 hours night rest!