Is Your Business Keeping You Up at Night? The Underappreciated Importance of Sleep

Some of the world’s greatest minds, from Leonardo DaVinci to Winston Churchill, took daily naps. Today, the luxury is almost exclusively reserved for those under the age of five. In fact, most of us are lucky if we get eight hours of sleep at night.

For business owners, sleep is particularly important, yet often elusive. A 2013 survey of entrepreneurs found that 37 percent got less than six hours of sleep a night. However, working a 70-hour week, going to bed at midnight, and waking up at 4:00 a.m. to respond to overnight emails may actually make you less effective.

Lack of sleep is scientifically proven to inhibit reaction speed, short-term and long-term memory, ability to focus, decision-making capacity, math processing, cognitive speed, and spatial orientation. In short, failing to get a good night’s rest is a performance zapper.

By comparison, getting a good night’s rest is vital to your mental and physical health. “Sleep services all aspects of our body in one way or another: molecular, energy balance, as well as intellectual function, alertness and mood,” says Dr. Merrill Mitler, a sleep expert and neuroscientist at the National Institute of Health.

Sleep is also important for employees. A 2011 sleep study by Harvard University found that lack of sleep costs U.S. businesses $63 million in lost productivity. Given its impact on decision-making and cognitive function, fatigue can also lead to costly safety and compliance lapses.

Being connected 24/7 is clearly part of the problem. From top executives to entry-level workers, we all feel the pressure to be “on” all the time and get as much accomplished as possible during our waking hours, which often results in working through lunch, emailing from home, going to bed later, and waking earlier. Overscheduling is also to blame, with breakfast meetings, late night functions, and lack of vacations all impacting our mental health.

Some corporations are starting to take notice. Approximately 25 percent of large U.S. businesses provide stress reduction programs, such as meditation or yoga classes, for workers. Some companies like the Huffington Post even offer designated “nap rooms” where employees can recharge during the day.

The bottom-line is that, as our daily demands increase, so must our efforts to recharge, whether it is napping in the afternoon, taking a brisk walk in the park, or simply stopping to meditate. It is also important to dedicate a sufficient amount of time for sleep every night and to put away all electronic devices one hour prior to going to bed.

If you have any questions about this post or would like to discuss the legal risks to your business that may be keeping you up at night, please contact me or the Scarinci Hollenbeck attorney with whom you work.