Rieko Saitoh, a publicist for Matsushita Electric Works, demonstrates the company's 'Sleep Room,' in Tokyo in this June 10, 2004 file photo.
Hey you! Dozing at your desk! Wake up, go home and get more sleep!
That could be the message from a survey released Monday by the National Sleep Foundation. The survey of 1,000 people found participants average six hours and 40 minutes of sleep a night on weeknights, even though they estimated they'd need roughly another 40 minutes of sleep to be at their best.
Roughly one-third of those surveyed said they had fallen asleep or become very sleepy at work in the past month.
Just how big a deal that is depends, of course, on your job. Last week, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission acknowledged it should have done more to investigate a tip that security guards routinely took naps while on the job at a Pennsylvania nuclear plant.
It wasn't until a videotape of guards sleeping in a "ready room" at the Peach Bottom plant in south-central Pennsylvania surfaced several months after it got the tip that the NRC announced in September a special investigation.
While sleepy workers know they're not performing as well as they could during the day, work is what's keeping them up nights, according to the survey, which found workdays are getting longer and time spent working from home averages close to four-and-a-half hours each week.
It seems people are also trying to squeeze in more time for themselves and their families, even if it means less sleep. The average wake up is at 5:35 a.m. and it's followed by about two hours and 15 minutes at home before heading out to work, according to the survey. Average bedtime is 10:53.
嘿！上班时间打瞌睡？！快醒醒，回家补觉！
这可能是美国全国睡眠基金会于本周一公布的一项调查得出的结论。这项共有一千人参加的调查发现，调查对象在工作日期间每晚平均睡眠时间为6小时40分，不过他们觉得自己仍需要补充大约40分钟的睡眠才能达到最佳状态。
约三分之一的受访者称，在过去一个月中，他们曾在上班时间睡着或感到昏昏欲睡。
这个问题到底有多严重？这当然取决于你的工作。宾夕法尼亚一家核电站曾传出保安经常在上班时间睡觉的消息，美国核管理委员会主席于上周承认，对这一事件的调查力度还不够。
宾夕法尼亚州中南部的Peach Bottom核电站的保安在“待命室”内睡觉的录像在美国核管理委员会得知这一秘密消息的几个月后曝光。之后，美国核管理委员会于九月份宣布将展开一项特别调查。
调查表明，睡眠不足的员工知道自己的工作表现不够理想，但工作忙是导致他们晚睡的主要原因。调查发现，如今人们的工作时间越来越长，每周在家工作的平均时间接近四个半小时。
此外，人们仍在尽可能地为自己和家人挤出更多的时间，尽管这意味着睡眠时间会减少。调查显示，人们每天的平均起床时间为5点35分，出门上班之前能在家待大约两小时十五分钟，平均就寝时间为10点53分。
Vocabulary:
nuclear plant:核电站
work from home: 在家工作
