Expert Says You're Deluding Yourself If You Think You're Productive On Six Hours of Sleep (chicagotribune.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Chicago Tribune: Getting through the workday on little sleep is a point of pride for some. But skimping on shuteye could be shortening your life and making you a less than stellar employee, according to Matthew Walker, founder and director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley. "Underslept employees tend to create fewer novel solutions to problems, they're less productive in their work and they take on easier challenges at work," said Walker, author of "Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams," out Tuesday. Operating on short sleep -- anything less than seven hours -- impairs a host of brain and bodily functions, said Walker, who is also a professor of neuroscience and psychology. It increases your risk for heart attack, cancer and stroke, compromises your immune system and makes you emotionally irrational, less charismatic and more prone to lying. When asked, "What do you say to people who sacrifice sleep to work?" Walker said: "I often ask the question in return, 'Is the reason you've still got so much to do because you haven't gotten enough sleep and so you're inefficient while you're working?' We know that efficiency and effectiveness are increased when you're getting sufficient sleep and it will take you longer to do the same thing on an under-slept brain, which means you end up having to stay awake longer. So goes the vicious cycle."

Comments

Re:I like being more productive

[houghi]

And here I am in communist Belgium with their stupid Unions. Where I work the IT SCRUM meeting is at 10 and you need to be there. Some start a lot earlier, so they can go home earlier. Some start at 10, and they walk right into the meeting.

Other departments will have flexible hours as well from 7:30-10 to start. Depends a bit on the department how flexible they can be. Some are extremely flexible, others are not flexible at all. e.g. call center is not flexible as there needs t be a predictable amount of persons available. Legal wants to start early and leave early, so they start at 8. I prefer to work late, so my hours are:
10-14 15-18:30, yes an hour lunch, so I can go and eat in peace and quiet. During my 15 minute break in the morning and the afternoon I do a bit of /.

Downside is that I have no idea what to do with my 35 paid holidays. I am also forced to use metric and can't take a gun to work.

Traffic? Company pais my public transport, so I am 50 minutes door to door of wich 30 minutes is a train that is not full at all (because I start later) and the rest is walking to/from the train.

Re:I like being more productive

[houghi]

This is how it is in Belgium and my hours:
10-14 and 15-18:30
Those are mu working hours and what the company pays. The hour lunch, they do not pay and I leave and do nothing for the company. Some people will have 30 minutes lunch (minimal amount by law) and a few more. So lunch is never company time.

We sometimes have a lunch meeting (2 times a year) and I could officially still take my hour break, but I do not want to be an asshole and the sandwiches they bring are nice. As long as it is an exception, nobody has an issue with it.

The 15 minute break in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon are paid by the company and you can do what you want. Many will vape or some or just stand outside or do some personal surfing. This is paid company time.

My travel time is also 2 hours per day. That is about average, yet some will go to 4+ hours. I have plenty of time to go out with friends during the week and go to a nice restaurant or have a few beers. Weekends are free. But most of the time it is: coming home, prepare some food and do some online stuff or reading.

However I do not do that 52 weeks per year, 40 years in a row. I have 35 paid holidays and that makes a HUGE difference. That is 7 weeks per year or more than 1 week per 2 months. I HAD to take some holidays, otherwise I would lose them and pay so much taxes on top of taxes that I would be working for free. So going to Spain for 10 days in November.

What happens if 2 people can't do their job in 40 hours, but it should be 60? That is 120/40=3 people doing their job.

Disadvantage is that the CEO does not earn 300x as much as I do. Terrible, I know. He gets perhaps only 10 times as much. Poor guy.