#54: Lack of sleep at work

Tell your boss it’s true: Working long hours with little sleep reduces your performance.

According to a sleep specialist at Harvard Medical School, getting only four hours of sleep for 4 days in a row, or staying awake for 24 hours straight, creates a state similar to drunkenness.

Like drunks, the sleep-deprived do not realize that they are making decisions that no person in her right mind make.

Like deciding not to take a vacation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 33 percent of American workers will take only a seven-day vacation, including a weekend. No wonder people are moody at work.

But wait! Being moody at work might not be a bad thing. Experiments at the University of Washington show that individuals who experience emotional ambivalence, that is, feeling positive and negative emotions at the same time, are likely to be more creative.

I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2006 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
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