How Sleep Affects Job Satisfaction
If your work week is the typical forty hours per week, when added up over the course of a year the number reaches to nearly 2,000 hours. Out of the 8,760 hours we get in that year there is no denying that the percentage of time we spend working is in the majority. If we belong to the fortunate folks who are able to sleep eight hours every night, then over a year’s time we are snoozing nearly three thousand hours a year.
You may have noticed, we spend the same time every year working as we do sleeping, which illustrates just how important both activities are to our lives. Yet, the fact of the matter is, to be happy at one you need to be happy in the other. Some find it quite hard to sleep at night when they hate their job. Did you know that you might hate your job because you are not getting enough sleep? Well, we believe in getting quality sleep.
Sleepless Nights…
The reasons why we don’t get the sleep we need can vary. It could be that our mattress is too firm or too soft. You might find that you suffer from back pain, which can be alleviated, at times, by changing sleep positions. Your reason for a sleepless night could as simple as not being warm enough in your bedroom, which can be easily remedied by a heated mattress pad. Or, it could be something much more.
Emotions
Sleep is important in our lives because in that eight hours, our bodies and minds are rejuvenated and ready to take on the next day. Another part of our psyche deeply affected by sleep, or lack thereof, are our emotions. Emotions are loosely defined as feelings we develop to circumstances in our lives. We know them to be tears when we are sad, laughter when we are amused, and annoyance when we are, well, annoyed.
How many of us out there have had a bad day because we didn’t get enough sleep? Does lack of sleep leave you feeling irritable? Welcome to the human race. Making the connection between sleep and job satisfaction is starting to make sense.
It’s in the science
In 2005 an experiment was conducted with the cooperation of employees at a national insurance company. Forty-five of the workers, all around the age of 36 years, spent every day for three weeks logging onto a common website and completed a survey that measured their job satisfaction. In this survey were questions that touched on insomnia, emotional state, and sleep disorders.
The conclusion by the team conducting the experiment was that those that expressed satisfaction in their job were also less likely to report sleeping disturbances.
Gender specific
An interesting point of this study was that more women were likely to suffer from insomnia and were less likely to enjoy their job. They disclosed that they were more emotional. In fact, when it came to lethargy, alertness, and all-around buoyancy, women were more likely to lack in all three if they suffered from a lack of sleep. More so than men.
Brent Scott, a researcher in the study at the University of Florida, attributes the gender contrast to the way boys and girls are raised differently. He mentions notice that women are raised to show their emotions while men are taught to confine their feelings to themselves. This may have something to do with the imbalance in the study in regard to emotion.
Sleeping Conditions
The ideal environment for sleeping must be dark, quiet and cool. The mattress and pillow chosen factors in the person’s preferred sleeping position and weight. These things play a significant influence on sleep quality. A room that is too hot or too bright might make it difficult to achieve restful sleep.
You can improve your sleep
There are steps one can take to ensure their night is spent getting the rest they need, opposed to tossing and turning. Of course, we are not medical professionals and this article should not replace their opinions. Still, we have found a few tricks that folks use to help them sleep. So, when you have an important networking event in the morning, try these tips to help you sleep through the night.
Exercise
This is one way to get yourself completely exhausted. Turns out only a few minutes of high impact exercise can greatly affect your quality of sleep. Exercise will also lengthen the time you stay asleep. It has been said that exercising too soon before bedtime will have the opposite effect on the would be sleeper and actually heighten their stimulation. This depends on the individual so if you want, give it try.
If you find that working out too close to bedtime actually keeps you awake, try working out earlier in the day. The point is to be exhausted when you get home from some good old-fashioned exercises.
Diet
What you eat affects your sleep as well. If you are overweight then you are more likely to suffer from sleep apnea, a disorder that weakens the sleeper with pauses in their breath. When you eat healthy, you sleep healthy. Isn’t it funny how so many aspects of our life are intertwined? Try to stick to a low-calorie diet high in protein. Most importantly find a diet that works for you.
There is no one true fix for all of us because while we are all made the same we are very different. You may have a gluten allergy or find that a Mediterranean diet doesn’t agree with your GERD. These decisions take research. But if you exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet full of vegetables instead of fast food don’t be surprised if your sleep improves, which just might lead to satisfaction in your job.
Your Bedroom Matters
As previously mentioned, your environment is important in achieving restful sleep. If you find that your sleep is already affecting your work and your day-to-day activities, then it might be wise to invest on items to help you sleep better. A white noise machine may help in blocking out loud sounds. A heated mattress pad may help keep you warm on cold nights.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but being disabled has taken all the worry out of job satisfaction.
Perfect information I have so many sleepless nights
I wish I could get better sleep, these are great tips.
This is why I’m passed out by 9pm lol I love sleep.
This is so true. Sleepless nights can affect everything. I get so cranky myself when I don’t get enough sleep.
I have alot of problems sleeping i seem to wake every hour or two even though i work 10 hour days Great post Thanks for the tips
I often have an aweful time sleeping, especially on work nights. I really enjoyed this article. Thank you so much for sharing. God Bless
The mattress I have now is not good at all. I get up several times a night. It hurts my side and my hips. Most of the time I am glad when it is morning so I can get up and get the sore out of my joints from the terrible night of “sleep” I just had :/ I have two mattress toppers and they dont help at all. I keep it cooler not cold but cooler in the room. We have a humidifier and everything. It is dark. Idk what else to do. I can’t afford a new mattress either.
Rest is always needed for the human being as well as other living things.
I can’t concentrate on my work when I don’t sleep well.
These are all great tips. I find reading before bed help me to get better ans through sleep.
I set up my alarm to make sure I don’t oversleep.
I have always been a light sleeper and an early riser. These tips might help me get a better nights sleep
Yes to all of this! I wake up at 4:00 a.m. almost every morning to teach a fitness class or workout. I need my sleep in order to motivate people and myself. I am super grumpy and not on top of things without my sleep.
When I don’t get the required rest I am always, always very grumpy and unsettled.
I always set the timer on the tv so it will go off so that I can sleep
Total correlation between sleep and being an effective person in life in general lol!!
Lack of sleep makes a difference with my performance
I am usually not much good when I don’t sleep well
All of this makes sense. Lack of sleep impairs a lot of skills and makes it hard to function.
We actually can turn our volume down to sleep better but he wakes up at every little thing if it is completely off.
This is so true. I’m cranky all day when I don’t get enough sleep
We have no TV in our bedroom, ever.
I can definitely see how sleep would affect how you perform in your job. It affects everything when you do not sleep well, it is so important to our health to get enough restful sleep every night.
So many things can keep you from sleeping, and it always seems to be you have an early day the next day
Getting a good night’s sleep is so essential for so many things in our lives, including job performance and satisfaction.
I cant do much whennim tired
I worked third shift for years and as I got older it seriously affected my health! Lack of sleep and bad eating habits.
As a health coach this is something I teach to my clients. Very good article.
I know sleep really effects my working. If I don’t get enough I can’t think as well and I don’t move as fast. Thank you so much for sharing this great information. God Bless
This is such a true post — I am not productive when I don’t have quality sleep!
Oh so much yes!! I am worthless without sleep lol!! It effects pretty much everything if I don’t get enough!!
This is a great article and makes sense. I always sleep better when I am eating healthier and wake up feeling more rested. I also sleep better when I exercise daily.
Interesting article & most definitely makes sense! Can’t remember the last time I was able to get 8+ hours of uninterrupted, restful sleep though… Thanks!
Thanks for the great post! I have struggled with getting enough sleep since turning fifty.
Sleep is so important for my mood and performance. I teach a fitness class at 5:30 a.m., and I can’t go to sleep later than 9:00 p.m., or I will struggle.
I wasn’t surprised that women are more likely for have sleeping problems. Very interesting post!
These are some great points to help with sleep. Most of the time i have no trouble. If I drink too much coffee I have problems for sure! My husband wakes up a lot though.
Great information I find if I turn the TV off I sleep better I always thought it helped me sleep.