Off the Record: How to make a more productive Singapore

I never thought I’d have another thing to blame for those days when I’m slightly less productive than usual, but it appears I can now point the finger at my bladder.

Apparently, those who get up during the night to use the bathroom are 25% less productive at work the next day than those who have a peaceful, undisturbed night’s sleep.

That article describing why nocturia (yes, getting up in the middle of the night has a name) can make you less-than-useful at work got me thinking – if something as simple as answering nature’s call can affect how much work you get done the following day, then what else is contributing to our flailing productivity levels?

After all, there’s been a lot of talk about Singapore not fairing too well on the productivity scale. In 2012, labour productivity fell by 2.6%, and has been falling continuously for a while now.

Earlier this year, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said Singapore's productivity is “well below” that of most developed countries.

Now, the country has a target of growing productivity by two to three per cent each year – a big stretch when you consider most developed economies average about one to two percent per annum.

Surely, us good people who get up and go to work everyday can be doing more to help the country’s productivity drive?

Rock-a-bye-baby

For starters, we can stay asleep for longer. According to a Harvard study, sleep deprivation – also caused by interrupted sleep – costs American companies $63.2 billion (S$79 b) a year in lost productivity.

Off the back of this, another study was done to check the effects daytime naps have on productivity. Researchers found that when night shift air traffic controllers were given 40 minutes to nap — and slept an average of 19 minutes — they performed better.

If you’ve ever needed a valid reason to snooze at your desk, this is it. Tell your boss it’s a matter of life and death.

‘Ice Ice baby’ vs. ‘It’s getting hot in here’

I have always believed the temperature in the office makes a difference to how much work I get done (and there’s a constant battle in this office over the air conditioning unit controls). It looks as though I could be on the money.

Apparently, office temperature can affect a worker’s productivity – with 21 to 22 degrees Celsius appearing to be the optimum temperature for getting stuff done and making fewer mistakes.

Workers are typically less productive when the temperature drops below 18.8 degrees or above 23 degrees.

Your desk is not a dining room table

In order to be more productive, I should also apparently stop eating lunch at my desk.

I admit, it’s a bad habit I have gotten myself into, but I always feel as though I’m running out of time and there’s not enough hours in the day to finish my work.

According to a survey by Right Management, one third of employees eat lunch at their desks, which over time can diminish their engagement levels and lower their overall productivity.

So, ask yourself this next time you dabao: Are you bringing your food back to the office because it’s an expression of devotion to your job, or is it a negative consequence of unrelenting pressure from your organisation to get more done in a day?

Science says holidays are good

Workers in Singapore love to work. Or maybe we’re all just afraid to take enough holidays?

According to a Robert Walters study from 2011, a whopping 67% of Singaporeans do not take all their vacation leave. Less than half (42%) took between 50%-75% of their annual leave allowance, while 25% took somewhere between nothing and one quarter of their allowance.

Other than making sure you take holidays, you can also relaxing about watching cat videos online during work hours. The National University of Singapore found those who spent less than 20% of their time at work looking at s*** on the Internet were 9% more productive than those who resist going online.

So keep reading those food blogs, planning your leave, taking long lunches and sleeping for a long, long time.

If your boss questions you for being lazy, just say that actually you are working hard to become an integral part of the push for productivity growth in Singapore. Then send him a link to this article.