24 Tips to Get Organized in January: Tip #3, Get Some Sleep
Tip #3: Get Some Sleep.
In law school, it seemed like lack of sleep was a competition. If you slept only a little, it was somehow indicative of the fact that you were up all night studying like mad (which, c’mon, we knew wasn’t true). The more tired you were during the day, the more you must have studied the night before. Clever, huh?
In the workplace, it’s not much better. Despite evidence that proves that not getting enough sleep is a productivity killer, we’ve convinced ourselves that staying up into the wee hours working is a badge of honor and makes us better employers and employees. It does not.
The 2002 National Sleep Foundation (NSF) Sleep in America poll found that 74% of American adults are experiencing a sleeping problem a few nights a week or more, 39% get less than seven hours of sleep each weeknight, and more than one in three (37%) are so sleepy during the day that it interferes with daily activities.
Yeah, you already knew that lack of sleep makes you cranky. But the NSF also reports that people who were awake for up to 19 hours scored substantially worse on performance and alertness tests than those who were legally intoxicated - that’s right, without enough sleep, you could actually score lower on these tests than Britney Spears. Additionally, after only one night of sleep deprivation, your judgment, reaction time, and recall are markedly lower. These conditions are exacerbated when repeated - in other words, extended periods of sleep deprivation can wipe you out.
Not enough evidence for you? Then think money. The NSF says mistakes and accidents due to sleep deprivation cost businesses $18 billion a year. Staying awake isn’t making you money, it’s costing you money.
The amount of time that you spend looking for things in your office because you can’t remember where you put them? The phone calls that you forgot to return? The letter that you wrote but had to redo because of the number of typos? Maybe your lack of productivity is linked to lack of sleep. And it’s costing you money.
So how do we fix it?
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