Plans to eat better, exercise more, or spend more time with friends often fall short without the foundation of quality sleep. We asked Christabel Majendie, our in-house sleep expert, to highlight the transformative benefits of sleep and share strategies to optimize your health, wellbeing, and productivity through better rest.
How important is sleep?
Leaders are often stereotyped as needing little sleep, with figures like Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, and Elon Musk frequently cited as examples. In the corporate world, there has long been a culture of pride in 'pulling an all-nighter' or working late. However, times are changing, and the critical role of sleep in work performance and mental health is quickly gaining recognition.
The amount of sleep we get directly affects how we perform the next day, and employers are starting to wake up to this notion. Sleep-related fatigue in the workplace costs US businesses an estimated $150 billion annually in absenteeism, accidents, and lost productivity. In the UK, fatigue-related workplace accidents are estimated to cost between £115 million and £240 million each year.
Prioritizing sleep isn’t just about personal health—it’s a critical investment in productivity, safety, and overall success.
How does a lack of sleep alter our state of mind?
Sustained wakefulness for 17 hours—resulting from a long day at the office, for example—can impair performance to a degree comparable to having a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05%. After 24 hours of wakefulness, the impairment rises to the equivalent of a BAC of 0.1%. This is particularly concerning considering, in Scotland, a BAC of 0.05% is the legal limit for driving, and in England, the threshold is 0.08%. The risks are even more alarming given the number of people who drive sleep deprived every day.
Several major disasters have been attributed to sleep deprivation including Chernobyl, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, and the Exxon-Valdez environmental disaster. It’s also estimated that fatigue is implicated in 20% of accidents on major roads.
These findings demonstrate how a lack of sleep undermines judgment, slows reaction times, and disrupts emotional stability, creating conditions ripe for errors and accidents.
The benefits of sleep for mental health and performance
Sleep has been compared to the clean-up operation after a house party. During wakefulness (the house party), mess accumulates and damage is done. Sleep then cleans up the mess and repairs the damage, allowing us to wake refreshed for the next house party.
These two processes cannot be done effectively at the same time which is why there is a division of labour. So if you are not getting enough sleep, you will not be functioning to your optimum level during the day and this detriment can accumulate if you continue to cut back on sleep.
If you are getting a good amount of sleep, this can have the following benefits:
- You are less likely to experience irritability, stress, anxiety and low mood.
- You feel more energetic and positive about day-to-day life.
- You have improved concentration and memory processes (studies have shown poorer recall and recognition of words after sleep deprivation).
- You are more likely to work accurately.
- You have faster reaction times.
- It improves your ability to make informed decisions.
- It improves your ability to handle complex tasks with ease.
- It improves your creativity and problem-solving capabilities.
Interestingly, sleep deprivation also impacts how we evaluate our mental well-being, though this effect seems to vary with age. Younger people tend to underestimate the consequences of sleep deprivation, often believing they perform better than they actually do. In contrast, older adults are more likely to overestimate the negative effects of lost sleep.
The benefits of sleep for physical health
Not only does a lack of sleep affect us mentally, but it also has significant physical consequences. For example, one study found that people who averaged fewer than seven hours of sleep per night were three times more likely to develop a cold.
Having a good sleep pattern has the following physical benefits:
- Maintains a healthy immune system so you are less vulnerable to infections.
- Reduces your risk of a link to a number of health problems, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers.
- Helps you maintain a healthy weight, according to some studies, as you have more energy to exercise and are less inclined to overeat.
- Aids with muscle recovery.
- Makes you less likely to put yourself in physical danger.
- Improves athletic performance.
Sleep deprivation has a particularly noticeable impact on athletic performance. Given its influence on attention, accuracy, reaction times, and memory, it's no surprise that lack of sleep can impair athletic abilities. In one study, basketball players who extended their sleep experienced faster sprints and improved shooting accuracy. However, inadequate sleep also increases the risk of injury, with studies showing that injury rates rise as sleep duration decreases.
In short, sleep is essential not only for mental clarity but also for maintaining overall physical health, supporting immunity, and improving performance in all areas of life.
How to improve health and wellbeing through sleep
Sleep is clearly fundamental to our overall wellbeing, so how can you improve your sleep health, and make sure you are getting the right amount of sleep for you? Read our guide to better sleep here.
