Does Sleep Apnea Affect Performance at Work?

Unrestful sleep can make it difficult for you to focus, which can have a major impact on your job performance. Not concentrating could result in mistakes or even physical workplace accidents.

Sleep apnea may also inhibit your ability to think creatively. Some research has shown that dreams and “sleeping on” problems allow us to process ideas and find new solutions. Lack of sleep also may cause you to avoid new ideas or flexible solutions, restricting your ability to think creatively.

Poor sleep can also affect your short-term memory. When you are tired, you may feel like your thoughts are always escaping you, and you might have difficulty recalling details from a few minutes before.

You also may feel less motivated when deprived of restful sleep, which can impact how much you are able to get done in a workday.

Sleep also can directly affect someone’s mood – both negatively and positively. Not getting enough sleep can contribute to feeling anger, anxiety, depression, or other altered moods, and these emotional states can directly impact your ability to focus.

This is probably the most obvious effect of sleep deprivation. “Nodding off” – or microsleep – is when you unintentionally fall asleep for a short period of time, which has a large impact on performance. In some situations, suddenly drifting off can be extremely dangerous.

If you are struggling to get restful sleep, call our office, and we can help you determine if sleep apnea is the cause. We serve patients from Dallas TX, Plano TX, Addison TX, Garland TX, Richardson TX, Carrollton TX, and BEYOND!