The Health Toll of Poor Sleep

Finding that slumber sweet spot can be helpful for fending off a range of mental and bodily ills.

Sleep — both its quantity and its quality — is one of the most frequently discussed health topics. How often have you told a friend or relative, “I’m exhausted, I was up half the night”?

Surveys have found that more than a third of American adults are unable to consistently get a good night’s sleep, with millions having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. And the pandemic seems to have only made things worse, even for those who were previously “good” sleepers.

Remote work gave many people more hours in the day for personal use, but at the same time turned the workday into a 24/7 endeavor, with emails, texts and Zoom calls occurring at odd and often unpredictable times.

Working parents who lacked child care options or had to help young children with online schoolwork during the day may have resorted to late night or early morning hours to get their own work done with minimal interruptions. They essentially became shift workers with erratic sleep schedules. Others lost sleep pondering whether their jobs were worth the stress and how they might reshape their working lives going forward.