From our Yahgottabekiddin Dept.:Companies try to help workers sleep more

Shannon Hill is feeling a bit sleep deprived these days. The 30-year-old publicist is restoring her first home, and that means she is up until 1 a.m. and wakes at 6:15 a.m. for work. One day, on her lunch break, she was so tired she sought out a couch and napped.

"When I'm tired, I can't keep my eye on the ball. I'm a driven person, but it's even starting to affect me physically. I tripped at work," says Hill, of Dover, N.H. "When I'm sluggish and tired, I can't focus."

American workers are hungry for sleep. A 2005 survey by the National Sleep Foundation, a Washington D.C., non-profit that focuses on sleep and public health, found that 26% of adults get a good night's sleep only a few nights a month or less. Another 24% say they get a good night's sleep only a few nights a week.

Adults who say they don't get enough sleep are more likely to experience daytime sleepiness, miss work or make errors on the job. That means many workers are groggy at their desks or on the factory floor. Research shows that drowsy workers are more likely to have accidents, that many suffer from sleep-related health problems, and that lack of sleep means they can feel unfulfilled on the job. Sleep deprivation can also be triggered by depression, anxiety and other mental health issues.

Employers are waking up to the fact that sleep deprivation can have a bottom-line impact.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2006-08-21-sleep-usat_x.htm?csp=N008