Over three weeks, we offered a series of interventions to different groups of workers to see how that would affect their cognition, productivity, decision making and well-being when working in an office-based data entry role with flexible hours. In this environment, we were able to monitor hours worked, measure productivity and labour supply, and survey participants’ psychological and physical well-being.
Some members of the trial group were offered nighttime sleep treatments, including items to improve their environment such as sleep masks, fans or mattresses. They also received advice on the benefits of good quality sleep, the recommended hours of sleep, and strategies to improve sleep.
Others were offered financial incentives, and were promised payment when extra sleep was tracked on the actigraphs.
A NIGHT’S SLEEP VERSUS A NAP
These night sleep interventions increased sleeping time by an average of 27 minutes. But the extra shut-eye did not improve workers’ cognition, productivity, decision making or well-being. It also led to a slight reduction in labour supply as people came into the office later because they were asleep for longer.
Another group of participants were offered the option to take a 30-minute nap in the afternoon in a comfortable and quiet environment. This group saw notable improvements across the outcomes we were looking at, including psychological well-being, cognition, and an average 2.3 per cent bump in productivity over the course of the day.
This could be because these naps were timed to coincide with a normal mid-afternoon dip in energy. Also, the environment we created for the naps supported higher quality sleep than the study participants were used to at home, where they had reported interruptions such as traffic noise or mosquitoes.
Source: CNA
