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What? Sleep?

The biological clock has come under great stress with new economy jobs shattering the notion of fixed sleep hours

GLOBE TROTING? At the cost of your sleep

Conflict would be a very easy word. Or rather one feels the pull of gravity has just got stronger. Even the alarm on the mobile comes with that comfortable option — snooze. But we start everyday with the absolutely awful realisation that we do have to wake up from cosy early morning slumber.

There are a lucky few who get to snuggle up in bed for that recommended eight hours a day but, given our frenzied lifestyles, not many enjoy that pleasure. Cases of insomnia might be on the rise but more often than not, it is not the biggest reason for lack of sleep.

What's the reality?

It is considered quite fashionable to be in the IT sector and undertaking all those trips abroad. But the reality is otherwise. Once on a flight back home, I happened to engage in small talk with a couple of marketing whizzes from one of the IT biggies. They had been to Los Angeles, Paris, Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur, all in a span of less than two weeks. I wished aloud that I could travel similarly and back came the reply, in plain speak, no marketing: "My body hardly knows the difference between three meals in a day. I just want to sleep, but when and where, I don't know."

Back in 1988, Pushpak, the silent dark comedy starring Kamal Haasan was a hit. Remember the little bit about the sleep weary Kamal who is unable to doze off in the plush and quiet Windsor Manor, because he misses the sounds of the late night show from the old theatre next to his bachelor pad. He goes back to record the din, plays it to himself, and it, of course, is the lullaby that puts him to sleep in the star hotel.

But are hotels really that silent? Listen to K. Sandesh, an event manager who spends most of his waking hours in them. He says though he misses out on most of the everyday noise, what he really cannot stand is the hum of the air conditioner. "You just can't escape it. Right from the conference halls to your room, there is that constant drone in the background. People say you get used to it but after more than three years in the field, I haven't been able to. Sleeping is the biggest problem, because the hum just doesn't allow me to doze off completely. I try my level best to get a room with an air conditioner that can be turned off but nowadays everybody has central air conditioning."

The perils of working in U.S. Time has been well documented due to the city's experience with the call centre industry. Disturbing the biological sleep rhythm has been documented to result in everything from psychological to hormonal disorders. Perception is that these employees sleep through the day but a significant percentage of them almost get no sleep at all, just ask college professors.

"We actively discourage students from doing night shifts at call centres. But there is not much control we have over them off campus. We can identify the ones who have not slept for days immediately. They have their own reasons for working, some of them really do need the money but they also need the attendance, so they just come and sit in class. They try hard to not doze off but some try to hide behind others just to get a nap. When we did a counselling session for some of these students, we were shocked that they hardly slept for four hours in a day," says a professor in a prominent city college.

Power naps

Power naps were billed as the answer to sleep deficit. It lasts about 15-20 minutes and was coined by Cornell University social psychologist James Maas. It is said to maximise the benefits of sleep versus time. There was much hype about the corporate sector utilising power naps, but things seem to have sobered of late.

S. Ramya is a human resources manager at a software firm, and she says the policy in her company now is to encourage healthy work schedules.

"We tried everything from piped music to power naps. But we found what works better is getting work schedules organised better. We rather prefer our employees had a good night's sleep at home. We do have dormitory facilities on our campus which can be used for a nap, but it is mostly utilised by employees who end up working too late to go home."

ANAND SANKAR

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