How does the quality of your mattress affect your productivity at work or in school?
Studies show that the amount of sleep that you achieve affects your productivity and overall well-being. In line with this, the quality of your mattress can impact the quality of your sleep. If you find yourself lacking energy and focus, your quality of sleep might be interfering with the quality of your life.
There are various causes of sleep deprivation among adults in Singapore, including poor sleep hygiene, sleep disorders, stress, and an uncomfortable sleeping environment. This includes the quality of your mattress.
Note that getting used to the factors mentioned above doesn’t mean that your body will become accustomed to the discomfort. For instance, getting used to sleeping less or sleeping on an old mattress doesn’t mean that your body won’t suffer from the consequences of sleep deprivation.
While your work schedule and stress also contribute to the poor quality of your slumber, the quality of your sleep can also affect your work performance. Sleep deprivation can cause you to feel tired, lose your focus, and be less creative and productive throughout the day.
Fortunately, you don’t have to deal with this exhausting cycle forever. First, let's understand the link between your sleep quality and performance as well as the effects of sleep deprivation on your overall health.
What is Sleep Deprivation?
Sleep deprivation is a condition that results from not getting enough sleep. The recommended amount of sleep for adults is 7-9 hours a day, while children need more time to snooze. However, sleep deprivation isn’t only limited to the duration of sleep but also the quality. For instance, if you wake up often at night or if you don’t feel rested despite completing your hours of sleep, you can be considered sleep deprived.
Sleep deprivation is usually linked to hectic work schedules as they have less time allocated for their night’s rest. Some voluntary and medical factors that contribute to sleep deprivation in adults include:
- Poor sleep hygiene
- Sleep disorders such as insomnia
- Lifestyle choices
- Work obligation
- Poor sleep environment
Symptoms of sleep deprivation include:
- Lack of energy
- Irritability
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Difficulty thinking and concentrating
- Affected decision-making process
- Affected attention span
Chronic sleep deprivation can result in various health implications, such as hormonal imbalance, obesity, diabetes, mental health disorders, a compromised immune system, and cardiovascular diseases. It is also one of the causes of several vehicular accidents due to drowsy driving. For workers, sleep deprivation is one of the most common reasons for workplace accidents.
How Can Sleep Deprivation Affect Your Work?
Sleep is vital to ensuring that your body and mind are well-rested and ready for a new day. If you lack quality sleep, many processes are interrupted, including body repairs and brain functions.
Losing an hour or two of sleep can greatly impair your concentration as well as some necessary body functions that you use to work or study. Moreover, a lack of quality sleep can affect your cognitive functions, causing you to struggle with making difficult decisions. For many employees in Singapore, sleep deprivation results in poor job performance and increases the likelihood of making mistakes.
Attending your shift underslept can impair your thinking and increase the risk of accidents, whether at work or when driving to work.
Lack of quality sleep can overwork your body and mind, especially when you need to work on tasks that require concentration and physical strength. Lack of quality sleep can cause microsleeps, or the momentary episodes of sleeping or unresponsiveness, usually happening in as fast as split seconds. People who experience microsleep at work may lack focus or doze off without realising it. Employees with lapses in attention can miss important phone calls or work details. Essential workers that mostly do physical work, like people in the medical field and drivers, are more at risk of incidents involving their or other people’s safety.
These are just the short-term implications of sleep deprivation. Chronic sleep deprivation can result in more severe health problems that both involve your body and your emotional health.
Improving Your Sleep and Productivity
If sleep deprivation is affecting the quality of your work and life in general, here are some steps that you can take to improve the quality of your night’s rest:
Draw a Line Between Work and Sleep
Digitalisation makes connecting and working more accessible, even when you’re at home. While this is convenient in many ways, it can also blur the line between your work and personal time, especially if you are required to work on a shifting schedule.
To prevent this, it’s good to set a boundary between your job and personal life once you clock out of work. While it’s tempting to sacrifice your sleep to finish more tasks at work, doing so may gravely affect your performance in the long run. Being able to psychologically detach yourself from work after work hours can help you decrease any work-related stress that can affect your sleep quality.
Develop a Bedtime Routine
Help your body settle into a consistent sleeping routine by setting up a regular sleep and wake-up schedule. Create a personalised sleeping plan to help your body relax before sleeping. This includes cutting your screen time, exercising in the morning, and cutting your caffeine intake before bedtime. It’s also important to avoid heavy meals and alcohol before going to bed, as these can also interrupt the flow of your night’s rest.
Take Some Power Naps
Power naps are essential to keep your body and mind alert throughout the day. However, when you take power naps, make sure to limit your naps to less than 20 minutes. Otherwise, you might find it more difficult to fall asleep.
Improve Your Sleep Surrounding
After a long day at work, you deserve to go home and rest in your cosy bed. Make your bedroom conducive for sleeping by getting a mattress that fits your sleeping position and body type. It’s also good to invest in breathable bedding to help your body snooze comfortably even during the summer. Also, make sure that your bedroom is dark, quiet, and relaxing to help you sleep soundly.
When to Consult a Doctor
Sleep deprivation can happen to many workers who prioritise their tasks over getting quality sleep. However, some cases of sleep deprivation are rooted in underlying sleep and medical conditions that prevent you from getting enough rest. We recommend consulting a medical specialist to determine the reason for your sleep troubles.
Improve Your Sleep and Productivity with Somnuz
We live in a busy and fast-paced world. While it’s easy to spend extra hours to finish your tasks, it’s crucial to get enough sleep to revitalise your body and mind so you can face a new day with confidence.
Get your best night’s rest with our range of premium pocketed spring mattresses in Singapore! Made from reliable individually pocketed coils and quality comfort layers, our range of mattresses is ideal for many sleeping positions and preferences.
Rest your weary body easy with your new Somnuz mattress when you visit our showroom or shop your new mattress conveniently online.
DISCLAIMER: All the information, including the texts, images, and other materials on this website, are for educational purposes only. Although we strive to present accurate information to our readers, no material on the Somnuz website is a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the guidance of a qualified medical professional concerning your health. NEVER disregard or delay seeking professional medical advice because of something you have read in this article.