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Dublin, April 3rd (conversation) Think back to the night you didn’t sleep well. How productive are you the next day? Are you struggling to get started? Are the days dragging on? Are you procrastinating on Twitter or TikTok instead of doing your work?
If you answered “yes” to these questions, you are not alone. Although we don’t fully understand why we sleep, we do know that sleep is vital to our physical and mental functioning.
So how exactly does one night of poor sleep affect our performance at work the next day, and how can we deal with these negative effects?
Research on organizational behavior has established that sleep is important for productivity. For example, my colleagues and I conducted a diary study in which employees completed surveys multiple times a day over several workweeks.
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The findings suggest that employees performed better on core work tasks, were more engaged at work, and were more likely to be supportive of their colleagues on days with good sleep quality, compared with poor sleep quality (i.e. sleep quality or duration).
At the same time, sleep deprivation makes employees more likely to procrastinate and engage in unethical behaviors, such as racing against time for someone else’s work.
One study found that after days of poor sleep in managers, their employees more frequently reported instances of abusive supervision, such as negative comments made about them in front of other colleagues.
Sleep Affects Willpower
Sleep is especially important for the higher-level cognitive skills we use to control and coordinate our thoughts and behavior. One important cognitive skill that is particularly dependent on good sleep is self-control, or willpower.
Much of what we do at work requires willpower. We need willpower to control our impulses and emotions, complete less pleasant or downright unpleasant tasks, and resist distractions while working.
Examples of situations at work that require willpower might include someone in a client-facing role who provides service with a smile on their face even if their mood is not positive, or someone working remotely who is focused on a task. Challenging tasks while their kids play in the background.
Tips for Recovering from a Bad Night’s Sleep
There are many studies that highlight the importance of a good night’s sleep and offer tips to improve it, such as not using your smartphone before bed. But sometimes, most of us still have a bad night, especially when we’re stressed. So how can we excel at work the next day?
1. Be strategic about the tasks you take on
If possible, you should avoid doing willpower-requiring work on days when you haven’t had a good night’s sleep. Instead, tackle tasks that are simple and don’t require much thought or attention.
If you can’t avoid tasks that require willpower, schedule them for earlier in the day, when you’re likely to have more mental energy.
2. Rethink your mindset
Research shows that how people think about willpower affects their ability to use it.
One theory is that exerting willpower depletes our mental energy, which reduces our willingness and ability to exert further willpower. But those who strongly believed that willpower depended on limited mental resources felt more fatigued after exerting their willpower than those who believed that willpower depended on infinite resources that could be easily restored.
According to my research, employees who believe that willpower relies on unlimited resources in this way perform better at work on sleep-deprived days. So, while researchers are still trying to understand the limits of willpower, you might try to reconsider your beliefs about exerting willpower draining your mental energy.
3. If you can’t change yourself, change your situation
If you’re on a diet, it’s easier to skip going to the supermarket to buy chocolate in the first place than to skip chocolate every time you open your kitchen cupboard. Research shows that people who are very good at exerting willpower actually try to avoid situations that require willpower.
In one experiment, given the choice to complete a task in a room with fewer distractions than one with more distractions, those who were better at exerting willpower were more likely to choose the room with fewer distractions. So, especially on days when you’re having a bad night’s sleep, strategies to avoid using willpower altogether can help you be more productive and complete work tasks.
4. Watch a funny video
Positive emotions can help restore our mental energy because they counteract the harmful effects of negative emotions.
In a recent study, my colleagues and I found that watching an entertaining video during the day can reduce the detrimental psychological effects of willpower-demanding job demands, thereby increasing employee productivity. So, on days when you’re not sleeping well, you may find it helpful to temporarily distract yourself by watching a funny video when you’re feeling low on energy. But be careful not to take the bait. (dialogue)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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