When I had the opportunity to tour the Zappos campus in Las Vegas a couple of months ago, I was fascinated by the large, beautiful aquarium inside the employee lounge room. Upon closer investigation, I realized that wasn’t just an aquarium… it was a nap room!
As Dr. Michael Breus, a.k.a. The Sleep Doctor, writes in a recent blog post about how sleep affects performance at work, “Let’s be honest, did you ever think that it would be ‘OK’ to take a nap at work? Naps ended in Kindergarten.” Right?!
He goes on to quote Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh as saying, “It’s been proven that a 20-minute nap makes people more effective during the day.”
Still, nap rooms aren’t yet the norm in corporate offices. But companies are coming around–and that’s good news, according to Dr. Breus. Here’s an excerpt from his special report on Secrets to Sleep Success:
Sleep affects every aspect of our waking lives, and our working lives, from our attention span and decision making, to our occupational safety, to our health-care utilization. Yet, spend some time in a U.S. workplace—or take a look around your own—and you’ll most likely see no trace or mention of sleep. The lack of attention to sleep in the workplace comes at profound costs—to organizations’ bottom lines, to employees productivity, health, commitment to their organizations, and morale.
Dr. Breus is blazing a new trail of not just evaluating sleep disorders, but actually teaching Sleep Optimization. Using research from his work with Professional Athletes, Corporate Executives, and Genetic Sleep Screening, his non-pharmacological techniques, collected from all over the world, have a rapid effect on your current sleep quality, without compromising your lifestyle. Dr. Breus’ direct, no-BS style is not for everyone, but for the people he does work with, he creates unprecedented results.
Studies show that people who experience moderate sleep deprivation perform as poorly—or more so—on tests of cognitive and motor skills as people who are legally too drunk to drive. Consider:
- Even one night of moderately poor sleep can undermine daytime performance and productivity.
- Logical reasoning skills, decision-making and judgment are significantly undermined by lack of sleep.
- Morale, attitude and mood are all deeply affected by sleep in quantifiable, measurable ways.
- Skills and characteristics essential to strong, constructive leadership are compromised in the absence of sufficient sleep.
- Poor sleep dampens cooperation skills, diminishes empathy and increases negativity.
Thankfully, while the symptoms are severe, the solution is actually quite simple… just get more (and better) sleep! It’s truly the one thing that changes everything. If you’re looking for help for yourself, check out Dr. Breus’ “Get Better Sleep” course, or if you lead a team or an organization, consider booking The Sleep Doctor as a keynote speaker. Your people will thank you!
“The lecture was beyond our expectations. It was absolutely one of the most engaging events that we’ve had in our YPO chapter.”
YPO Chapter Educational Chair / Business Owner, Manufacturing Industry
