Vignesh, a Senior Manager at a software company in Bengaluru, had a problem to solve. Rahul, the star software engineer on his team, was suddenly slacking. Every day, Rahul would arrive late and look into the distance, yawning.
Vignesh called Rahul into his office, sat him down, and asked him what was wrong. Rahul rubbed his eyes tiredly and said, “I’m so sorry, sir. I just bought a new house, but it’s 30km away from the office.” He commuted to work on a bike, and he was spending four hours a day riding through traffic and dust just to get to the office and back. “I haven’t been sleeping well, and I have back pain,” Rahul explained.
Vignesh gave him permission to work from home, and told him to come in to office only when absolutely necessary. Within a week, there was a positive change. He was no longer sleep deprived and his productivity shot right back up again. “We tend to judge people who yawn at work, we think they are being lazy or uninterested, but they are more likely to be deprived of sleep,” says Vignesh.
So, if you’ve been yawning at your desk, and feeling like you haven’t been on your A-game at work lately, it could be time to find out if you’re sleeping enough.
Learning from the science of sleep
We spend a third of our lives sleeping. If this wasn’t beneficial to us, it would have been fazed out during the evolutionary process. Sleep scientists are still trying to understand all the specific benefits of sleep, but one thing’s for sure - your body and brain can’t do without it.
Several studies have been devoted to how many hours of sleep you need. The most comprehensive of these was done by the US National Sleep Foundation. Eighteen experts went through 320 research articles and concluded that adults need seven to nine hours of sleep. Few studies have also focussed on quality of sleep, and poor sleeping could be because of a myriad of factors, from anxiety to late-night smartphone usage.
Sleep deprivation becomes a particular problem at the workplace - where forethought, clarity, and honesty are highly valued. Studies have shown that sleep deprivation reduces cognitive function. It causes people to favour instant gratification, which means taking the easy way out to get something done even if that causes problems down the line.
How do we fix it?
By prioritising sleep. It’s as simple as that.
Smita Murarka, Vice President, Marketing, Duroflex Mattresses says, “Yawning is seen as a normal action in our daily lives. We yawn during meetings, at lunches or at discussions without realizing that it’s due to sleep deprivation. The core idea behind #YawnOffSleepOn is to create awareness that yawning is a sign of sleep deprivation and that it is not just one person’s problem. It has a butterfly effect causing others around to yawn and feel lethargic as well. To get people to listen to their yawns, we have taken a light-hearted approach this World Sleep Day, asking people to capture and share different expressions of yawning. We aim to reach out to as many people and develop a stronger connect whilst spreading awareness about the importance of good sleep.”
Supervisors and managers have to ensure that their teams aren’t being pressured to the point where they compromise on sleep to get work done. A yawn here and there isn’t the issue. Exhaustion is. If anything, the yawn is necessary. It’s a sign that there’s a root problem to solve.
For individuals this means putting your phone away before bed, meditating, exercising, or even investing in a new mattress.
A good mattress is key to quality sleep. Duroflex Mattresses have been designed to provide you with the deepest, most beneficial sleep so that you wake up energised and ready to take on the challenges of the day. This revolutionary brand with over five decades of expertise and state-of-the-art technology, is redefining the meaning of quality sleep. Its signature range Duropedic is India’s first and only certified orthopaedic mattress range.
Do whatever it takes to get a good night’s sleep, so you can keep killing it at work without breaking a sweat.
Meanwhile, take part in the World Sleep Day contest! Consumers across the country can share funny videos of them yawning with the hashtag #YawnsOffSleepOn and tag @duroflexworld. The most entertaining videos will not only win all the love and appreciation online, with a share on the official Duroflex page but the top 10 participants will also be gifted premium Duroflex mattresses.
This article was created by TNM Brand Studio for Duroflex Mattresses, and not by TNM Editorial.