Sleepless in America
Poll finds longer work days leave Americans nodding off on the job, costing employers billions in lost productivity
Prolonged work days that often extend late into the night may cause Americans to fall asleep or feel sleepy at work, drive drowsy and lose interest in sex, according to a new Sleep in America poll released by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). Spending an average of nearly 4.5 hours each week doing additional work from home on top of a 9.5 hour average workday, Americans are working more and are trying to cope with the resulting daytime sleepiness. In fact, 63 percent state they are very likely to just accept their sleepiness and keep going, while 32 percent are very likely to use caffeinated beverages when they are sleepy during the day and more than half (54 percent) are at least somewhat likely to use their weekends to try to catch up on sleep.
Of those taking their work home with them, 20 percent say they spend 10 or more additional hours each week and 25 percent spend at least seven additional hours each week on job-related duties. Almost one quarter (23 percent) of all respondents did job-related work in the hour before going to bed at least a few nights each week.
Working too much and sleeping too little takes a serious toll on people's professional and personal lives. The poll finds 29 percent of those polled fell asleep or became very sleepy at work in the past month while 36 percent have nodded off or fallen asleep while driving, with 32 percent reporting that they drive drowsy at least one to two times per month and 26 percent drive drowsy during the workday. Fourteen percent of poll participants have missed family events, work functions and leisure activities in the past month due to sleepiness. Finally, the poll revealed that 12 percent of participating workers were late to work in the past month because of sleepiness.
Time to Make Sleep a Priority
"Nearly 50 million Americans chronically suffer from sleep problems and disorders that affect their careers, their personal relationships and safety on our roads," said Darrel Drobnich, NSF acting chief executive officer. "Longer workdays and more access to colleagues and the workplace through the Internet and other technology appear to be causing Americans to get less sleep. Reciprocally, the effects of sleep loss on work performance are costing U.S. employers tens of billions of dollars a year in lost productivity. It's time for American workers and employers to make sleep a priority."
Americans are not getting the sleep they need which may affect their ability to perform well during the workday. More than one-fourth (28 percent) of those polled say that daytime sleepiness interferes with their daily activities at least a few days each month. And interestingly, though on average people say they need to get seven hours and 18 minutes of sleep per night to be at their best during the next workday they report only getting an average of six hours and 40 minutes of sleep per night on weekdays.
The American workday is getting longer and taking work home at the end of the day has become commonplace. The poll results show that people begin their workday by waking at 5:35 am, and spend about two hours and 16 minutes at home before heading off to work and facing an average commute time of 47 minutes round trip.
One-fourth of respondents (25 percent) have a workday that lasts between eight and nine hours, another fourth (25 percent) say that they work between nine and 10 hours each day, and nearly a third of Americans (33 percent) report working 10 or more hours each day. After leaving work, Americans spend approximately five hours awake at home before going to sleep at approximately 10:53 pm. However, American workers also report spending an average of four hours and 26 minutes doing work from home each week, with 20 percent saying they spend 10 or more hours per week doing extra work from home.
A busy schedule and lack of sleep may also affect people's mood while at work. Forty percent of those polled said that they have become impatient with others at least a few times that month, 27 percent said that they frequently found it difficult to concentrate while at work and 20 percent acknowledged that their productivity at work was often lower than they expected.
"With Americans working such long hours—on top of their other responsibilities like childcare and household maintenance—something has to give. Unfortunately, that something is usually 'nighttime sleep,'" stated Drobnich. "When work and daily activities demand so much of our time, sleep is often sacrificed. People tend to give up sleep, when getting a good night's sleep should be at the top of everyone's list to ensure maximum daytime performance both at work and home."
Reprinted with permission. © CCH
<p>A new Sleep in America poll released by the National Sleep Foundation finds longer work days leave Americans nodding off on the job, costing employers billions in lost productivity.</p>