How lack of sleep can impact our working lives

One of the key factors that help us conduct our work properly in day-to-day life is having a good night’s sleep. Not getting enough sleep on a regular basis can take its toll on your health and could negatively affect your job performance. Whether you are a 9-to-5 worker in an office, a self-employed freelancer or a stay-at-home mum, you’ll still feel the effects of sleepless nights on your ability to focus on the task at hand. In recent weeks, many employees with children are adapting to working from home as they juggle work commitments and childcare. This new flexibility with work, plus the pressures of homeschooling, can start to have an impact on parents’ sleep schedules.

It can impact our concentration levels

First of all, sleep deprivation can greatly affect your ability to concentrate. Concentration is an especially important skill to have at work for a variety of tasks, such as writing emails, attending conference calls and managing accounts. A slip in concentration can cause mistakes at work and important details might be overlooked. It’s therefore best to maintain a healthy sleep routine so that you wake up feeling refreshed and alert for the working day ahead.

It can affect our ability to learn

After a poor night’s sleep, our ability to learn and retain information can be affected as our concentration and motivation levels slip. This can have a major impact on your performance at work, particularly if you’re new to a job and have to learn various skills and techniques. Your learning abilities are especially important if you are after a job promotion or need to study for career development, as lack of sleep can start to hold you back. On the subject of learning, the importance of sleep for children in education is also extremely relevant here as it can help them stay alert and motivated for homework and upcoming exams.

It can impact our communication with others

Lack of sleep can also have a negative impact on communication abilities. This could mean that your working relationships may worsen if you are having difficulty sleeping. This is important as it could not only impact your working relationships with your colleagues but also with your team leader or manager. Trying to complete work after a bad night’s sleep could lead to a lack of patience and a short temper, which greatly impacts how we interact with others at work. However, there are many useful tips for how to beat insomnia if you are struggling, such as exercising regularly and staying off devices at bedtime.

It can damage your healthy lifestyle

Poor sleep can also have an impact on a healthy lifestyle that we might have already established in our daily routines. Regular exercise routines and eating healthily might go out of the window when you are tired and don’t have the motivation to stick to anything. Lack of sleep can lead to being more tired and even snacking more during working hours. This, in turn, can also lead to increased stress and anxiety levels, which can have a negative impact on your work. However, there are many ways that you can combat this by exercising or meditating to take your mind off your workload. There are many health benefits of yoga as the activity can reduce stress and anxiety and can also help to improve your sleep quality.

The editorial unit