A lack of sleep has long been acknowledged as bad for your health, but could it also harm your career, and by extension, your wallet? An article in the Harvard Business Review ponders the connection between sleep and career health, pointing out that sleep deprivation is a strong inhibitor of workplace performance.
For all the anecdotes about high achievers needing little sleep, Chamorro-Premuzic contends there is more evidence pointing to the opposite trend. “More (and better) sleep is generally much better for your career, and the earlier you start improving your sleep habits, the more you can expect to accomplish,” he says. “For all the heroic showing-off underpinning claims—and bragging—about how little we sleep, even if you are using that awake time for something productive, chances are your performance and career will take a hit in the long run—not to mention your personal life. One of the best ways to ensure a productive day at the office is to make sure you’re getting a good night’s sleep.”
“Lack of sleep leads to detriments in job performance, productivity, career progression and satisfaction, and an increase in job-related accidents, absenteeism, and counterproductive work behaviors,” writes Tomas
Chamorro-Premuzic, a professor of Business Psychology at University College London and at Columbia University. “Conversely, better sleep has been linked to improved memory, knowledge acquisition, and learning. Even short naps have been found to have significant positive effects on work performance.”
Source: Harvard Business Review