The productivity problem
- 1Framing the productivity problem
- 2The realities of undersleep
- 3The realities of overwork
- 4Fixing the productivity problem
Framing the productivity problem
The realities of undersleep
"Sleep is the single most effective thing you can do to reset your brain and body."Matthew Walker, Professor of Neuroscience, University of California
Less than 3% of the population can sleep six or fewer hours each night without a performance drop-off.
Shortchanging sleep can compromise nearly every major body system, from the brain, to the heart, to the immune system.
Sleep deprivation is a catalyst for:
- Learning and memory impairment
- Diabetes
- Dementia
- Depression
- Stroke
- Heart disease
- Cancer
- …
The realities of overwork
Adding more hours to the workday does not correlate with higher productivity.
Managers can't tell the difference between staff really working 80 hours, and those pretending to.
Employee burnout is responsible for up to 50% of all attrition.
Fixing the productivity problem
Aetna pays workers $500 a year for sleeping at least 7 hours each night.
Amazon's CEO, Jeff Bezos, says that getting 8 hours of sleep is good for Amazon shareholders.
Employees of Basecamp work 32-hour weeks for 6 months of the year.
- 1Eye on the results, not the clock.
- 2Turn off your alarm.
- 3Work when inspiration strikes.
- 4Never stop learning.
- 5Work where you want.
