If you are the type who hustle and bustle around the city of Lagos to make a living, what would you expect to be the standard for the hours you sleep in a week?
In order to be fair, Lagos isn’t the only State in Nigeria, as we have other States where commuting to and fro work isn’t as hectic as a Lagos worker would experience.
That being said, whether it is New York, Mumbai, Johannesburg, Tokyo, Lagos, or Abuja, there is a certain number of hours you are expected to sleep in a week in order to maintain a work-life balance, as well as maintain a healthy mind and life.
Number of Hours You Are Expected to Sleep in a Week
There have been researches about the number of hours children and adults are expected to sleep. Since our focus is on adults, especially employees and workers in organisations, this post seeks to validate what research and studies recommend.
According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, an academy of repute for its research and findings, it is not only expected, but recommended that people who work should get as much as 7-9 hours of sleep every night.
Based on this, about 49-63 hours is expected from young adults aged 18-25 weekly; 49-63 hours of sleep for adults who are between 26-64 years of age.
For older adults considered to be between 65 years and above, 42-56 hours of sleep is recommended for them. This means from your days as a recently hired staff to retirement, you are expected to not just know the number of hours of sleep for the week, but also adhere to it. For those who have always been able to get the recommended hours of sleep, it is expected that their level of productivity, and overall well being is at peak.
Getting adequate sleep has been proven to enhance employees’ performance, minimise human errors while working, including the optimal peak performance expected of employees. It is important for adults to get adequate sleep as sleep deprivation can lead to the impairment of cognitive function, increasing the chances of errors, workplace accidents and distractions. When this happens, the result is low performance and loss of interest for the job.
Organisations can help employees get the best out of adequate sleep from the moment of their onboarding through retirement from the job by creating an enabling work environment and flexible schedules.
They can also support wellness initiatives and programs for employees, work-life balance, and open discussions on fatigue and depression.
How Many Hours Are in a Week
In a week, you can get up to 168 hours.
One hundred and sixty eight hours in a week is based on the seven-day week standard practiced in various parts of the world, with each consisting of 24 hours. This is further denoted as:
7 days x 24 hours/day= 168 hours.
This is how we got 168 hours in a week.
Conclusion
To show the extent of what adequate sleep could do to employees, whether they are at work or home, various research has been carried out, and the recommendation remains consistent – adults should get at least 49 hours sleep weekly so as to give their best on the job; have a focused mind; be more creative, innovative, and develop problem-solving skills.
