“If you achieve all kinds of things in the material world, but you lose your health or your peace of mind, you get little or no pleasure from your other accomplishments.”
Brian Tracy
Exhaustion often masquerades as ambition.
Millions of people today juggle several jobs, projects, and commitments in their pursuit of success, sacrificing sleep, rest and wellbeing and missing the warning signs of burnout.
True ambition should not cost your health. If chasing goals harms your wellbeing, it is not real ambition.
In today’s productivity culture, long work hours are worn like a badge of honour.
Late nights signal dedication.
Early mornings suggest discipline.
Being ‘busy’ is now seen as a status symbol. As a result, rest is often viewed as something you have to earn rather than a basic human need.
That shift is more dangerous than we realise.
Sleep Is No Longer Protected Time
Sleep is often the first thing sacrificed when work spills into evenings and weekends.
Notifications don’t sleep. Shift work blurs routines. Economic pressure pushes many into longer hours or multiple jobs.
Over time, constant tiredness starts to feel normal, and that is when the real risk begins.
Poor sleep is more than grogginess. It disrupts hormones controlling appetite, blood sugar, stress, and immunity.
Over time, it raises the risk of heart disease by up to 48%, diabetes by around 29%, depression and anxiety by 21%, and burnout rates can reach over 50% in some high-pressure industries.
The body keeps track, even when our schedules do not slow down.
Productivity Culture Rewards Depletion
“Our cultural assumption that overwork and burnout are the price we must pay in order to succeed is at the heart of our sleep crisis”
Arianna Huffington
Today’s work culture praises high output without considering the cost. Being ‘always on’ is seen as a sign of commitment, while the rest is often mistaken for laziness or a lack of motivation.
But humans are not built for nonstop work. When we treat ourselves like machines, we do not become more efficient—we end up breaking down.
Ironically, not getting enough sleep weakens the very skills that productivity culture values most: focus, decision-making, emotional control, and creativity.
In 2019, Microsoft Japan introduced a 4-day work week. The result? Labour productivity increased by a whopping 39.9%. Over recent years, more companies have joined the workplace wellbeing movement, emphasising employee wellbeing and health, which, surprisingly, has not affected their business efficiency but has considerably boosted productivity.
From these examples, individuals and companies can learn to advocate for flexible working hours or set clear boundaries to protect their health. Implementing small changes, such as scheduling regular breaks or setting limits on work hours, can positively impact both personal wellbeing and professional efficiency. Kickstarter, Buffer, Panasonic, and Atom Bank are global brands that have embraced the employee wellbeing movement by introducing shorter working weeks or alternatives, and all have recorded amazing results.
People work longer hours, produce lower-quality results, and then blame themselves rather than question the system that makes exhaustion seem normal.
Exhaustion is not normal. It shouldn’t be.
Rest Is Becoming Unequal
Rest is no longer evenly distributed.
People juggling caregiving, shift work, unsafe housing, long commutes, or financial insecurity often have the least access to quality sleep.
To address these challenges, implementing small, practical strategies can help. For instance, taking micro-rests or short breaks during the day, where feasible, can provide much-needed relief. Power naps, even as short as 10-20 minutes, can improve alertness and performance without requiring major schedule changes.
Creating a calm sleep environment with affordable measures, like blackout curtains or white noise, can also improve sleep quality. Additionally, prioritising and scheduling sleep as an essential task, where possible, may help adjust to demanding routines.
Chronic exhaustion increases the risk of heart and mental health problems, workplace injuries, and can shorten your life. Those who get enough rest stay healthier.
The Long-Term Health Cost
When rest disappears, illness fills the gap.
More fatigue-related errors.
More stress-driven conditions.
More people burning out before midlife.
Healthcare systems frequently address the outcomes of chronic sleep deprivation, such as hypertension, anxiety, and metabolic diseases.
According to the World Health Organization, hypertension affects a significant portion of the global population, although the exact percentage among chronically sleep-deprived adults is not specified. At the same time, chronic exhaustion itself often remains socially accepted and reinforced by workplace structures and cultures.
The economic cost of treating sleep-related health issues is staggering; it is estimated to contribute billions of dollars annually to healthcare expenses and lost productivity. This represents a significant, yet often overlooked, fiscal burden on society.
Reframing Rest As Prevention
Rest is not a luxury. It is the body’s time for maintenance and is part of our health foundation. When we see rest as essential care, we can make it a priority, just as we would any important system upgrade.
Sleep is one of the most effective and affordable ways to prevent health problems, yet it is rarely protected by workplace rules, public policy, or cultural values.
We optimise schedules, devices, and workflows, but neglect the human body running through them.
The real productivity shift won’t come from doing more.
It will come from understanding that rest is not optional and never has been.
Take action: safeguard your rest and advocate for systems that prioritise sleep. Demand that health care begins not in the clinic, but with how we protect our rest at work, at home, and in policy.
As a small step;
try setting a bedtime alarm tonight to help you wind down for sleep at a consistent time. This simple action can be your first step toward prioritising rest in your daily routine.
Additionally, consider implementing a digital curfew by turning off electronic devices an hour before bedtime to reduce blue light exposure.
Schedule regular breaks during work hours to rest your mind and body, even if it’s just stepping away from your desk for a few minutes.
Embrace mindfulness practices, such as brief meditation or deep breathing exercises, to help lower stress and improve sleep quality.
These easy-to-implement strategies empower busy professionals to take immediate, realistic action to enhance their wellbeing.
“To be able to leave the outside world behind each night when we go to sleep, we need to first recognize that we are more than our struggles and more than our victories and failures. We are not defined by our jobs and titles, and we are vastly more than our resumes. By helping us keep the world in perspective, sleep gives us a chance to refocus on the essence of who we are.”
Arianna Huffington
