Less is more when it comes to productive hours, says CEO
Younger employees often put in long hours, cutting back on sleep to get ahead, and bosses usually lead the charge with a ferocious attitude to red-eyed invincibility.
But Andrew Mackenzie, the chief executive of Australian mining giant BHP, said less was more when it came to productive hours at work.
‘‘The more senior I’ve become, the more important it is that I work fewer hours,’’ he said.
‘‘A rested Andrew can do more in four hours than a tired Andrew can do in eight … [Not being rested] is like a scorpion’s tail; it can undo things,’’ he told Qantas magazine.
‘‘That’s true of everyone’s productivity, particularly in an intellectual role like that of a CEO. A lot of boards don’t get that.’’
Mackenzie said he needed 61⁄2 to seven hours of sleep each night, or eight hours if he had not eaten sensibly and exercised.
Professor David Hillman of the Sleep Health Foundation, an Australian non-profit organisation, said Mackenzie’s comments squared with research on productivity in the workplace.
‘‘It is very refreshing to see that this message has penetrated to important places,’’ he said.
A recent Australian study by Deloitte Access Economics found 39.8 per cent of respondents did not get enough sleep and that sleep deprivation cost the economy an estimated A$66.3 billion (NZ$73.4 billion) in health bills, lost productivity and wellbeing in 2016-17.
Lost productivity included ‘‘presenteeism’’, where workers were present at work but were too tired to be productive.
‘‘A lot of people are trying to get by on less sleep than they require,’’ Hillman said. ‘‘And that has effects on not just productivity, but safety and mood.’’
Ron Grunstein, a professor of sleep medicine at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, also found Mackenzie’s attitude ‘‘refreshing’’.
‘‘Too many times we’ve seen these executives, prime ministers and politicians saying they only need four hours sleep,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s basically rubbish. They usually get more and if they don’t, they are dangerous.’’
Grunstein said younger people often thought they were ‘‘invincible’’ and did not need as much sleep. However, younger people generally needed more sleep than their elders. On average, most people need seven to eight hours of quality sleep.
‘‘As a general rule of thumb, people who on a chronic basis get eight hours of sleep do better than people who get four hours of sleep,’’ Grunstein said.
‘‘I’ve seen executives who’ve had very bad sleep apnoea function surprisingly well because they clearly have brains that can withstand that sort of insult. But over time they crash.’’ –Sydney Morning Herald