For a long time, top managers have boasted about getting by with as little sleep as possible. But now good sleep is increasingly becoming a privilege – with positive consequences for employees.
Chris Surel worked 12 hours a day as a manager and built his own startup on the side. He wanted to achieve as much as possible in a short time and not waste any time. He only allowed himself two hours of sleep a night. “I was young and thought it was safe,” says Surel. But after a year, this lifestyle began to take revenge: The manager and start-up entrepreneur reached his physical and mental limits.
Today, 15 years later, Surel is a Performance Recovery & Sleep Coach. He advises executives on how to sleep properly and recover better. “In the past five years, there has been a major rethink on the executive floor,” says Surel. Restful sleep is becoming more important and managers are becoming increasingly aware that lack of sleep impairs performance and has harmful consequences for the entire company.
According to Surel, the change is particularly noticeable in large corporations. But something is also changing in investment banking or in consulting firms, where employees have been encouraged to work long night shifts.
expression of willingness to perform
Jan P. Heck, Managing Director at the IT consultancy BCG Platinion, is one of the young managers at the age of 38. He opted for coaching at Surel because he wanted to consciously recover from his stressful everyday work, so that he could start the day well rested, cope effectively with an intensive workload and ultimately achieve a better quality of life.
When he entered the consulting business almost 15 years ago, hardly anyone would have dared to speak openly about working with a sleep coach. At that time, a minimum of sleep was often considered an expression of a high level of motivation. That’s different today. “With younger executives, a balance – and that includes sleep – has significantly increased in relevance,” says Heck. In particular, it is about integrating this intelligently and as effectively as possible into a very intensive everyday work routine, travel and business meals.
Huffington, Gates and Bezos
Unlike younger managers, veteran executives often still see little sleep as a sign of strength, dynamism and diligence. For a long time, little sleep was part of the image of a successful top manager. When asked about their need for sleep, executives usually gave “four to five hours” on the record. But this is about to change. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says he sleeps eight hours because it makes him work better and he’s a better husband and father.
Other well-known personalities have felt the effects of lack of sleep and speak about their changed sleep patterns. Arianna Huffington, the founder of «The Huffington Post», slept only a few hours a night for a long time until she collapsed in front of the computer, completely exhausted. She began researching the subject and wrote a book about it. Eight hours of sleep is her guide today. For Bill Gates, who used to work nights and considered late risers to be lazy, getting enough sleep is now also a high priority.
Image change in the executive floors
In the executive floors, sleep is currently experiencing a change in image. For younger managers in particular, having a good night’s sleep signals that you take care of yourself and act on your own responsibility – and thus creates a decisive basis for high performance in the job.
Those who get enough sleep are no longer seen as unambitious, but on the contrary as particularly ambitious. Because those who have understood how to work most productively and, on this basis, take the appropriate precautions in their lives and in the company, enjoy a high reputation. This includes, for example, setting up the organization as a company boss in such a way that you don’t rush from one appointment to the next and have to be available around the clock. In this reading, one can afford to sleep eight hours a night.
The brain is cleaned
“Many people are not aware of the important regeneration processes that take place during sleep,” says Brigitte Holzinger, head of the Institute for Sleep Research in Vienna. She has been dealing with the topics of sleep and dreams for 30 years and offers courses for managers.
In the first half of bedtime, the focus is on physical recovery: the body releases growth hormones, the cells are repaired, the immune system is strengthened and the brain regenerates. “Cleaning the brain is particularly important,” says Holzinger. If this does not happen regularly, the risk of developing dementia, Alzheimer’s or depression increases in the long term. The second half of sleep is – to put it in general terms – about processing the emotional experiences in dreams and restoring concentration and memory.
The consequences of lack of sleep
According to Holzinger, the consequences of lack of sleep can already be felt after a full night’s sleep. “Those who can’t recover while they sleep make more mistakes,” says Holzinger. In addition, you take too many risks without being aware of it. The performance is also affected. You are less attentive, less able to focus, less able to solve problems, less self-discipline and less flexible in thinking.
A lack of sleep also has a negative effect on the social skills of managers. Overtired people are less able to recognize the emotions of others, and they are also less empathetic and supportive. Holzinger says that insufficient sleep also has an impact on emotional stability and joie de vivre. Studies have also shown that employees feel more secure in meetings when the boss is rested.
Double the risk of an accident
If managers are overtired and their skills are impaired as a result, this has a direct impact on employees. A comparison with the consumption of alcohol also shows how harmful sleep deprivation can be. In terms of risk behavior and reaction time, 17 hours without sleep has the same effect as 0.5 per thousand alcohol in the blood. Managers who work through the night get into a state similar to that of being drunk.
It is therefore not surprising that fatigue also leads to an increased risk of accidents in the workplace. The Swiss Accident Insurance (Suva) assumes that fatigue has an impact on around one fifth of occupational accidents. Exact numbers cannot be collected, since proof of overtiredness is often difficult to provide.
It depends on the quality of sleep
Many people would like to get enough sleep, but they don’t manage to do so because they are so demanded and tense or because they are affected by sleep disorders. There is a risk of people falling into a downward spiral of stress and lack of sleep, says Oliver Aegerter, Head of Corporate Health Management at Suva. The less they sleep, the more susceptible they are to stress and the lower their productivity. They work harder to get things done, which in turn leads to more stress.
The need for sleep depends, among other things, on age, genetics and living conditions. However, it is rare for someone to only need four hours of sleep a night. Sleep experts recommend a nightly rest period of seven to nine hours.
“There’s far too much talk about sleep duration,” says Surel. “The real problem is that many people wake up tired even after seven or eight hours of sleep.” This is because they don’t have enough deep sleep and/or REM sleep at night to allow the body and mind to recover. In order to wake up refreshed in the morning, you need sufficient deep sleep and REM phases of 90 minutes each. “Four-fifths of my clients don’t even get five minutes of deep sleep, even though they sleep seven to eight hours,” says Surel.
Many are stressed and find it difficult to switch off in the evening. Alcohol and caffeine also impair the regenerative sleep phases. If you’ve been stressed all day, it’s not enough to get some rest in the last fifteen minutes before bed, says Surel. Rather, you should interrupt stress during the day and take short breaks regularly. A short nap can also help.
Deep, healthy sleep
According to Surel, the most important thing is to give importance to sleep and not to see time as “lost”. It also pays to get regular sleep. If you always go to bed at the same time, you stabilize your circadian rhythm, the internal body clock. Among other things, it is also helpful to have a bedtime ritual and to find methods to stop the thought merry-go-round. When you wake up in the morning, you should get enough daylight.
These are simple tips, but implementation is often difficult if the level of suffering is not great enough. Therefore, many only deal with sleep when they can no longer sleep properly. The notion that you can’t sleep enough because you still manage to get through the day thanks to a high level of willpower is also widespread. But the consequences will show up sooner or later.
Companies have room for improvement
There are still enough examples of companies that propagate this attitude, push their employees beyond their performance limits and ignore both working hours and break regulations. The boss of the airline Wizzair, for example, has called on the pilots to go the extra mile for the company and to start their service even when they are tired.
At the same time, a rethink is taking place in many companies. Not least against the background of the worsening shortage of skilled workers, they are paying more attention to sleep and other health issues. They are increasingly offering sleep coaching and workshops, adjusting shift schedules and installing rest rooms.
Even small changes can make the working environment much more positive, says Holzinger. It makes sense, for example, for the employees and their needs to be included in the planning of the shifts. Morning people are increasingly divided into morning shifts, night owls take over the night shifts.
In order for employees to be able to take micro-breaks, it is also advisable to arrange meetings from 10 a.m. to 10.25 a.m. so that a short break is possible until the next meeting at 10.30 a.m. E-mail-free times and rules for scheduling video conferences with participants from different time zones are also ways to support employee health.
Managers live it
“The management has a role model role,” says Aegerter from Suva, “It should take sleep problems and their causes seriously.” A mindful, responsible management style is enormously important. Corporate culture also plays a crucial role. If this is characterized by mutual respect, trust and personal responsibility, it is best to reconcile the needs of management and employees.
Jan P. Heck from BCG Platinion not only makes sure that he recovers well and has enough time for his family, he also talks about it in the company: “I want to set an example”. This would mean that employees would also dare to take time off to relax.
In fact, it is of little use if the company installs rest rooms but the management team does not use them themselves. If, on the other hand, a boss makes his office available to employees as a rest room when he is away from home, he is making a contribution to promoting health in the company.