Why Sleep Might Be Your Workplace’s Biggest Untapped Performance Tool Why Sleep Might Be Your Workplace’s Biggest Untapped Performance Tool
By Dr Lillie Parker
May 4, 2026
Paediatrician, sub-specialising in paediatric emergency medicine
Dr. Lillie Parker is a paediatric emergency doctor who has experience working in large medical teams both in a regional trauma centre in the UK and abroad, working for humanitarian aid agencies. She delivers human factors and resilience training for organisations. Drawing on her experience with high-pressure medical leadership, she can give teams practical tools to strengthen communication, build trust, allocate roles and perform confidently in demanding and stressful environments. Her interests also lie in staff wellbeing, retention, and preventive health, using her experience of burnout in the NHS, to help organisations create resilient cultures where people don’t just cope, but thrive.
We talk a lot about productivity at work, but far less about one key factor quietly driving or stalling it: sleep.
In the UK, around one in three adults regularly struggle with poor sleep, and many are getting less than the NHS recommended seven to nine hours a night. Even more concerning, sleep deprivation has been shown to impair work based performance to the same extent as being over the legal drink drive limit. Not exactly the mindset you want in a Monday morning meeting.
The impact of poor sleep runs deeper than simply feeling tired. It has been linked to increased rates of anxiety, depression, and long term medical conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. In the workplace, it can present as reduced focus, poor organisation, and impaired decision making. The brain’s prefrontal cortex is responsible for decision making, and when fatigued, it can lead us to be more likely to take unnecessary risks and struggle to problem-solve effectively.
It is no surprise that employees experiencing poor sleep are more likely to underperform and take time off work.
But here lies the opportunity. When organisations invest in sleep health education, the shift is tangible. Employees who understand how to improve their sleep also improve their focus, their efficiency, and are better equipped to make complex decisions when challenges arise. Mistakes decrease, safety improves, and teams perform at a higher level.
Perhaps most importantly, better sleep supports emotional resilience. It reduces burnout and can help individuals better manage the pace and demands of modern work.
Focusing on sleep health may be one of the simplest and most effective strategies organisations can use to improve both productivity and overall wellbeing.