The role of sleep in the work-life balance
Sleep is something that we all think about. For many of us, it’s because we know the superficial consequences of not getting enough sleep at night. The thoughts that cross our minds at night might be: “I can’t be too tired tomorrow or else I’m going to do poorly on that test”, “I’ll forget my lines for that presentation”, “I won’t be able to stay awake for the party tomorrow night”, or “I don’t want to look tired and puffy-eyed for that date”. But if there’s something you’re particularly nervous or excited about in the morning, that perfect amount of sleep you desire is much less likely to be gifted to you.
At least, these are the things I think about when I plan my sleeping schedule each day. And the more I think about them, the more likely I am to look like this guy the following day:
We’re all aware of the notion of a work-life balance; that marvelous (or for many of us, mythical) idea that evenly splitting your time and energy between work and everything else in your life is a (or ‘the’) key to happiness. The average full-time employed American reports working 47 hours per week and spends over 4 hours commuting to-and-from work, making work take up a total of 51 hours. Say we also want to get that wonderful 8 hours of sleep every night: that’s 56 hours of the week. This leaves 61 hours left in our week for everything that “life” covers: health, family, hobbies, errands, relationships, fun, self-improvement, and so on. Suddenly, the work-life balance is starting to look much more like a triangle where work, life, and sleep each compete to have a little more time than the others.
If you’re among those of us who feel like we don’t have enough time in the day to do all the things we want to, sleep is often the first corner we sacrifice. After all, what is feeling a little more run-down during the day compared to a first date, the newest episode of your favourite show, or that gorgeous paycheck with overtime hours?
As it turns out, it could be more detrimental than you realize. Not getting enough sleep affects your memory, weight, mood, relationships, performance, and creativity. More seriously, lack of sleep has been linked to health problems such as heart disease, heart attack, diabetes, and obesity.
This is an increasing problem, as we’re more likely to sacrifice our sleep now than ever before. Modern life gives us many reasons to feel like we don’t have enough time in the day. I know that some of my precious time each day is spent on social media, which is something that wasn’t taking up people’s time 20 years ago.
In addition, the social media that I am consuming often makes me feel like I need to be spending more of my time doing the awesome things that everyone else is showing off: make sure you work out daily, meal-prep healthy meals every week, party with friends, build your romantic relationship, see the world, and work harder to get promoted or start your own business. I couldn’t even imagine wanting all these things while also managing a household and family, as I’m sure many of you do.
Ultimately, if you find yourself sacrificing too much of your sleep for all the other joys of life, you aren’t alone; however, you should keep in mind that no matter your age, your health should be a top priority. Many of us don’t think about sleep when we schedule time out of our day for things like meal-planning and going to the gym, but we should. So, the next time you evaluate your work-life balance, do yourself a favour and give sleep and equal weight on the scale.
