“As long as I get six hours of sleep, I’m good.”

Are you? Really?

You have heard it many times before, and not just from your parents when you were younger. Much has been made of the health benefits for people who get an adequate amount of sleep (usually defined as seven or more hours every night), and that can mean good potection from disease, better mental and emotional stability, more reliable attendance at work and more productivity.

At least, that is all we have heard. But do we really believe all that we hear? After all, we know our own bodies, and when we say we only need six hours fo sleep, then that is what we believe.

But is six really the magic number?

Let’s think about this from the standpoint of work. Are you good if you get six hours of sleep? And why should our bosses care how much sleep we get? As long as we make it to work, we’re all good. It doesn’t cost them anything if we lack sleep!

Are you sure about that?

A recent study by RAND Europe was published recently that wanted to address the cost of workers not getting enough sleep – actually calculating the financial losses to companies when workers do not get at least seven to nine hours of sleep regularly. The study worked to answer three questions:

  1. What is the evidence linking lack of sleep with mortality? The answer is a person who sleeps six hours or less on average has a 13-percent higher risk of death than someone who sleeps seven to nine hours a night.
  2. What is attributed to poor sleep quality and quantity? Smoking, mental instability and lack of physical exercise are causes; also money, family and relationship issues can be factors; not to mention unreasonable deadlines and time pressure at work and working odd or varying workshifts.
  3. What does lack of sleep mean economically in the workplace? Workers who report getting less than six hours of sleep on average seem to be about 2.5 percent less productive than workers who get seven to nine horus of sleep on average.

What does the answer to that third question really mean? 2.5 percent doesn’t sound like much, but let’s stretch it out into bigger numbers. Based on an assumed 250-work-day calendar year, a lack of sleep results in about six more days lost from work than those workers who get at least seven hours of sleep. And what does that mean? Across the five countries studied in the survey (the U..S. was included), that translated to nearly $700 billion in lost productivity in a given year.

That is a pretty pricey bed and pillow, no?

The study doesn’t just reveal the disturbing verdict, but the accompanying report came up with some suggestions to help workers and employers better ensure proper sleep for the sake of productivity and health.

  • Workers should have a consistent wake-up time and adjust bedtime accordingly. Yes, even on days off from work!
  • Workers should discourage use of electronics in the 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime.
  • Workers should exercise regularly.
  • Employers should encourage regular breaks for workers who are around electronic devices (tablets, desktops, etc.) for an extended period of time- a few minutes every couple of hours.
  • Provide “sleep hygiene” support in the workplace for all workers who deal with poor sleep.
  • Other suggestions included starting the school day a little later, and providing health professionals with the resources they need to provide help to patients and others who have sleep-deprivation issues.