More Sleep, Better Decisions

Business relies on productive teams. Productivity, in turn, can be affected by something we take for granted, such as sleep. A consultant neurologist tells Business Today more about the relationship between productivity and sleep.

- Dr. Lim Poh Hin

No one knows with certainty why we sleep. Likely, sleep helps us to repair or generate our damaged tissues, organize daily experiences subconsciously for storage in long-term memory and dream up imaginative ideas. Still, no one knows why we need to sleep because a lot of those same processes happen during wakefulness too.

Regardless, sleep is important enough that we spend one third of our lives in it. Those foolish enough to neglect this very vital part of life suffer serious injury or death.

According to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are about 100,000 accidents reported by police that can be attributed to driver fatigue, resulting in an estimated 1550 deaths, 71000 injuries and USD12.5 billion every year.

These numbers do not include work-related accidents attributable to sleep deprivation.

Past disasters attributed to sleep deprivation with the resultant loss of human lives and calamitous environmental impact and fatigue include the Chernobyl disaster, the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal, India.

The effects of sleep deprivation on our physical and mental function are as bad as those of alcohol or drug intoxication. An Australian study showed that driving is as impaired after being awake for 18 hours as when one has a blood alcohol level of 5%. The impairment after being awake for 24 hours is similar to that of having a blood alcohol level of 10% (in some jurisdictions, the legal limit is 8%.)