The Role of Sleep in Mental Health & Workplace Performance

Sadly, some organisations believe in and promote a culture of employees wholeheartedly dedicating themselves to their work at the expense of sleep and ample rest. Some employees may compensate by waking up extra early or working later into the night just to feel like they’re maximising output for their employer. Combine this with the rise of hybrid working and the blurred lines of professional and personal lives, a mindset of total professional commitment has become even more prevalent.

While this may be beneficial for organisations, this can quickly lead to increased stress, burn out, resentment, a toxic working environment and even staff turnover. None of these things are worth the expense to a business, so ensuring you practice your duty of care and promote wellbeing – including sleep – will help your people work at their best.

Why is sleep important for work and job performance?

A good night’s sleep is important for job performance, as it can restore our cognitive function, improve our focus, boost our mood and provide us with a whole other myriad of benefits.

It is suggested by professional health authorities that adults up to the age of 64 require between 7-9 hours of sleep to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Despite this, research has found that almost 1 in 5 people in the UK are not getting enough sleep. Adding to this, 37% of adults in the UK believe that work impacts and ultimately reduces control over their sleep, caused by workplace stress.

Why should sleep matter to employers?

A sleep deprived employee won’t perform at their best. It can also lead to increased absence rates, poor performance and decreased work ethic and morale. If you are not doing your due diligence as an employer to ensure your people are looking after themselves, you could be putting them, as well as your business, at risk.

With increased absence rates due to being overworked, or present employees operating on little sleep, you simply won’t achieve peak performance. The result? A poor bottom line that could be easily improved if you prioritise wellbeing alongside productivity.

What happens if we don’t get enough sleep before work?

The odd night of little sleep can really impact our focus the next day. And if this is a consistent pattern, it can greatly affect our mental and physical health.

Plus, poor quality of sleep is linked to a host of issues, including a lack of focus, memory loss, common illnesses and making a person less able to manage stress. These factors can contribute to more concerning mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression. Considering how integral sleep is to workplace performance could lead to an upturn in productivity and workplace engagement within an organisation.

How can sleep affect work and mental wellbeing?

Healthy sleeping schedules and workplace productivity are symbiotic. Preparation, self-awareness and being alert are all essential for high-level workplace performance. And if you are deprived of adequate sleep, you may experience:

• Increased tiredness and fatigue
• Poor output
• Poor focus
• Increased risk of cold and flu
• Headaches
• Problems with memory recall
• Irritability
• Increased symptoms of existing mental health conditions

When an employee experiences some or most of these symptoms, they may appear to their employer as unmotivated, irritable and incapable of carrying out their role effectively. It could lead to disciplinary measures, formal warnings being issued and if issues persist for an extended time, dismissal. In reality, the employee may be trying to keep up with an unrealistic workload, impress their employer at the expense of rest, or have personal issues happening outside of work that affect their ability to get a good night’s sleep.

In time, this can cause an increase in employee absences, leading to increased costs for an organisation. Whilst the impact of employee absences may be immediately apparent, the lack of quality output caused by presenteeism can be a silent money drain. In an instance such as this, it can be difficult to curb the issue and return to the high standards originally achieved.

Read our related article: Sleep advice for shift and night workers

The consequences of a lack of sleep

Lack of sleep is heavily linked to low energy levels, higher levels of stress, increased paranoia, anxiety, depression and mood swings. This can have a clear impact on workplace performance as has been noted, as well as negatively affect someone’s personal life. It might manifest itself in the form of a lack of motivation to partake in social activities and negative personal interactions.

Stress and burnout

With a lack of energy caused by sleep deprivation, increased levels of stress and even burnout, the possibility of avoiding social activities increases massively, which can create a cycle of adding to stress and decreased mood. Even if social events are attended by a person deprived of sleep, due to irritability and poor mental health, a person may be prone to mood swings and possibly damaging their existing relationships. In a recent survey, a huge 84% of the people surveyed felt more irritable because of poor sleep. All these factors can lead to more severe issues such as depression, which further disrupts sleep and a creates a cycle that is difficult to break free from. In more extreme instances, a lack of sleep can lead to intense paranoia, mania and hallucinations which can be hugely detrimental to a person’s mental and social wellbeing.

Physical manifestations

Physical health can be greatly impacted by sleep. Over a short period of time, due to the impact of reduced energy levels, it could lead to an inability to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This domino effect can impact a regular exercise routine, sticking to a healthy diet, or indulging unhealthy habits such as increased caffeine, nicotine or alcohol consumption. If this continues for an extended time, it can lead to very concerning medical conditions. Chronic lack of sleep is linked to conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Physical conditions such as these are serious enough to affect daily life but can also be life-threatening. Sleep is not just essential to personal and professional performance; it is vital to remaining healthy for years to come.

The economic impact of sleep deprivation

The impact sleep deprivation can have on the economy might be unclear in the moment, but it is significant. From increases in absences and presenteeism to decreases in productivity and ultimately higher turnover rates, sleep deprivation and failure to effectively manage it can cost organisations untold amounts.

Studies by RAND  have found that in the UK, sleep deprivation accounts for approximately 200,000 working days lost caused by absenteeism and presenteeism and lack of productivity. The study also estimated that this lack of sleep across various sectors has resulted in an annual loss of approximately £40 billion for UK organisations. The impact of sleep is not truly considered in the moment, but the costs add up over time.

Improving job performance with sleep

Sleep can impact all aspects of a person’s life, and with approximately 20% of a person’s week spent working, the cause and effect of sleep on workplace performance can become rapidly evident. Some relatively basic adjustments can help improve a person’s quality of sleep and have a domino effect of raising the quality of a person’s professional performance and output. There are simple steps that can be taken by an employer and an individual to improve a person’s sleeping habits which will have the ripple effect of improving their productivity and workplace performance.

1. Develop and stick to a sleep schedule

Creating and sticking to a schedule allows for a structured and consistent sleeping pattern. It is recommended that adults get between 7-8 hours of sleep a night. If a person changes the time, they go to sleep each night, but they still wake up for work at roughly the same time every morning, the quality of sleep they experience will be massively affected. Keeping to a schedule of eating at a certain time, beginning a night-time routine and turning screens off at the same time each day to focus will impact sleep massively. The same can be applied for waking up, setting alarms for specific times and waking up at the same time each morning ensures a person’s body clock is operating correctly.

2. Incorporate physical activity into your daily routine

Often, the greatest difficulty people face with a healthy sleeping pattern is feeling too energised at the end of the day and struggling to fall asleep. This can be caused by caffeine or eating too late in the day. It can be caused by working in an environment that requires minimal activity (i.e. in an office role). Any energy stored from meals throughout the day isn’t effectively utilised if a person doesn’t undertake some physical activity or exercise, meaning energy is still slowly being releasing at the end of the day. Effectively using the energy, even if it is a short walk during a break will improve a person’s quality of sleep and ultimately prepare them for the working environment in the coming days with enough rest to operate at a high level.

3. Manage stress for better sleep

Although this may seem easier said than done, managing stress can massively impact sleep. High levels of stress can fuel mental activity, conscious or subconscious. If a person fails to effectively manage stress, falling asleep becomes more difficult, but it can also disturb their unconscious mind and impact the quality of their sleep each night. Through prioritisation, taking steps to remain mindful and developing a reliable support network, stress can be effectively managed, and this will improve a person’s quality of sleep significantly.

How an Employee Assistance Programme help build better sleep habits for workplace performance?

Stress can have a huge impact on a person’s sleep. During stressful periods, workplace and personal concerns begin to accumulate, and the effects of this stress aren’t always clear. The primary example of how stress can affect a person without clear indicators is how they are sleeping. With sleep linked so heavily to stress, mental and physical health, it must be prioritised to maximise productivity and a person’s wellbeing and the necessary support is vital.

With HA | Wisdom Wellbeing’s Employee Assistance Programme, expert support is readily available from accredited, expert counsellors, 24/7, 365-days a year. HA | Wisdom Wellbeing’s EAP counselling service provides users the necessary support and advice to effectively deal with mental wellbeing. With short-term goal-oriented counselling to ensure people can better understand and overcome the problems they are facing. This includes dealing with stress, burnout and anxiety, all of which can impact sleep.

Conclusion

Sleep is key to almost every aspect of everyday life. This is true for personal life, but it is especially true regarding workplace performance. Professional environments require high levels of focus, and a lack of sleep can impact overall performance.

If expectations are not met, more stress is created, and this can further negatively impact sleep. This can be difficult cycle to escape from and lead to more worrying physical and mental health concerns. Ensuring a healthy sleeping pattern is not only essential to workplace performance, but also to leading a fulfilling life.

Frequently asked questions about sleep and workplace performance

Can you feel ill from lack of sleep?

Yes. A lack of sleep has been proven to weaken one’s immune system, as well as cause flu-like symptoms. It can also affect our digestion and cognitive performance.

What are the effects of not getting enough sleep?

Not getting enough sleep (sleep deprivation) can worsen our cognitive function and cause us to feel sluggish throughout the day. It can also worsen existing mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. Poor sleep is often a comorbidity of certain mental health issues due to rumination and excessive worry. In times like this, it is important to seek professional advice through your GP or EAP to help improve symptoms and sleep.