Asleep on the job? Not this week.

March 3, 2008

asleep.jpgHere’s a national debt that gets little press: our national sleep debt. It affects all of us, and every morning we hit the “snooze” we are paying the price.

Today is the start of National Sleep Week, reports Sleep Services of America, a Glen Burnie-based company that is urging Americans to spend more time sleeping in bed rather than at their desks.

A survey of 1,000 people found participants average only six hours and 40 minutes of sleep a night on weeknights, and roughly one-third said they had fallen asleep or become very sleepy at work in the past month.

Personally, I’m surprised it’s only one-third.

Just how big a deal drowsiness is depends, of course, on your job, the AP writes.

Recently, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the NRC should have investigated a tip that security guards often took naps on the job at a Pennsylvania nuclear plant. (They did so only after a videotape of guards sleeping at the plant surfaced several months later).

And sleeping at work can dictate catching up at home; the study found workdays are getting longer and time spent working at home averages 4.5 hours each week.

Here’re some tips for good sleep:

  • Establish a regular sleep schedule to help set your body’s internal clock
  • Avoid alcohol, caffeine and nicotine close to bedtime
  • Exercise regularly but avoid doing so at least three hours before bed
  • Create a sleep-conducive environment that is dark, quiet and cool

And maybe try to sleep in a bit more? The National Sleep Foundation says our average wake up is at 5:35 a.m.

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

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Posted by Jackie Sauter | Filed Under business, health, maryland, work 

Comments

2 Responses to “Asleep on the job? Not this week.”

  1. Brian Barrett on March 3rd, 2008 10:22 am

    What I do not care for in studies such as the one conducted above, is the lack of reference frame. I am sure the intent is to indicate that 6h 40m of sleep is too little, but their is no mention of the age/gender of the participants of the survey. It is my experience that sleep is a very personal thing (my wife and I require drastically different amounts of rest to function optimally) and I can say with a great deal of certainty that my sleep needs have changed substantially as I have aged.

    Furthermore, who is to say that a sleep at work is such a bad thing? There are many nations in the world who support a mid-day nap as a way of recharging the batteries. These nations don’t support this mid-day rest because they are a country of sleep-deprived zombies, but because they recognize the recuprative properties of a cat nap.

    There have even been preliminary studies that indicate mid-day rests can result in lower incidences of heart disease and other afflictions.

  2. AlisaBS on March 3rd, 2008 3:00 pm

    I dream of a world where George Costanza-style nap nooks are not only accepted, but encouraged.

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