Counting sheep

There is a good article on the BBC news website today that suggests most of us suffer from chronic sleep deprivation.

Tiredness is a problem that seems to be largely ignored in the workplace. I know on occasion I have felt exhausted at work after a bad night’s sleep and if I have also made the mistake of eating a lot of carbohydrates at lunchtime, then it’s not unusual for the heavy pall of drowsiness to set in.

Of course, it can be unseemly in an open office space to take a nsleepyap for a few minutes, especially if you work in proximity to your customer. However, bravely trying to resist sleep when you really need it means getting little or no work done anyway. It’s far better to nap for fifteen minutes and get back to work refreshed than to spend the whole afternoon in a stupor.

As a team leader, if I noticed one of my team was drowsy, I would tell them to go off to some quiet spot and take a short nap. Without fail, the person came back refreshed and I got a decent afternoon’s work out of them. Simply telling someone who needs sleep to get some coffee and get back to work is not effective. Of course, at that time we were fortunate in that there was a room where someone could go to take a nap or just have a quiet moment.

However, if I saw that tiredness was a chronic problem, then I would have to address that with the person. Perhaps the person was ill. Maybe there were problems at home. If they were prone to dropping off without warning, they could be suffering from sleep apnoea.

What about your workplace? Is there somewhere you can go if you need some quiet time?

Kind regards,

Declan Chellar

2 comments to Counting sheep

  • Paraic Hegarty

    In Ireland’s recent ‘Drunk with Tiredness?’ road safety campaign, the advice was to pull over, drink a cup of coffee AND get a 15 minute nap in. At the end of the nap, the caffeine will have hit your brain.

  • Useful fact there, Paraic, thanks.

    When driving I always pull over and nap for fifteen minutes if I feel my eyelids getting heavy, but up to now I have always had coffee after my nap. I will have the coffee before my nap from now on. 🙂

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