Why Lagosians Don't Get Enough Sleep!

According to a study released by the National Sleep Foundation, the average adult needs 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night to feel well-rested and energized. However, it appears that many Lagosians are falling short of meeting this recommendation.

Living in Lagos presents its own unique set of challenges for those seeking to get enough sleep. There are several factors that contribute to why Lagosians are not getting the adequate levels of rest they need.

The average Lagosian adult has a daily routine of getting up early before sunrise; to beat the traffic to their distant place of work as a number of companies in Lagos do not practice a work-from-home culture. Mr. Amos (real names withheld), who relocated to Ekiti a few years ago said he also had similar experiences during his stay in Lagos.?

According to him, “when I was in Lagos, I used to get home late from work and sleep around 12.00 a.m.? Yet, I must wake up as early as 4.30 a.m. to enable me to get to where I was working, before the 8 o’clock resumption time. If I didn’t do that, I would be held up in traffic and get to work late.”

Considering that Lagos does not yet have an effective train/bus station system like most developed cities, this is not surprising for the overpopulated state. Many Lagosians have a tradition of living on the mainland and working on the Island as the latter has a rather expensive cost of living that they can hardly afford on their monthly salaries. Yet, at the close of day, the average worker struggles to beat the ‘rush hour’, and ends up getting home very late.?

With the culture of unfinished work and meeting up with crazy deadlines, they get stuck in a cycle of working in the office and at home, leading to sleep deprivation.

But there are other factors to consider here. Lagos, being a highly populated and industrialized city, makes it a bane for a number of environmental issues, such as air and noise pollution. This affects people’s ability to get quality sleep, as studies have shown that increased levels of noise pollution can lead to a decrease in sleep quality. Mr. Amos further stated that the noise in Lagos, especially the noise from generators, public address systems and musical players, is another big factor that prevents people from getting enough sleep in Lagos.?

This is further compounded by the poor efficiency of power in Lagos, which leads to frequent power outages during the night. These outages not only disrupt sleep quality, but can also cause psychological stress, as people are left without access to basic amenities such as light and air conditioning.

According to Work & Stress, an International Journal of Work, Health & Organisations, studies showed that promoting sleep during the day and experiencing positive stress-related emotions led to better sleep at night.?

People who do not get enough sleep have higher mortality rates, errors, and absenteeism at work, decrease their productivity, weaken their personal and professional relationships, and have difficulty focusing and learning (Kim et al., 2008; Gais et al., 2006).?

Many studies have shown that sleep problems are a substantial burden on the majority of Nigerians, especially in Nigeria (Oluwole, 2010; Aworemi et al., 2010).

Nigerians continue to die from preventable conditions and diseases due to inadequate measures aimed at addressing them (Adewole, 2017). Developing countries such as Nigeria and others have been listed as the worst affected by deaths from noncommunicable diseases such as hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, which may be linked to sleep deprivation. (Adewole, 2017).?

However, sleep for most Lagosians is not a priority, work is. This is why it is not rare to see people wake up in the morning feeling tired and grumpy on their way to work, and not being able to function optimally during working hours. This hazardous lifestyle comes with its consequences of course.

Here are some tips to help you get better sleep and rest especially if you live in Lagos.

1. Have a nap time at work - Studies have shown that a nap time of 15 - 30 minutes can help you improve alertness and reduce daytime drowsiness especially if you did not get enough sleep at night.
2. Intentionally create time to rest - I know this may sound weird to non-Lagosians, but Lagosians have a habit of working overtime, even during their leave! They hardly rest during weekends as there’s always one “owambe” - party or social function to attend. Intentionally blocking out hours of your week/weekend to rest will help you recover the sleep you lost.
3. White noise and sleep masks - Considering that Lagos is generally noisy, plugging your ears with soft music or white noise can help your brian relax fully while you sleep. Using sleep masks on the eyes will also help to keep the light out when you’re falling asleep and prevent you from waking before you are ready to get up for the day.
4. Have a workout routine - Research has proven that regular aerobic exercise, especially 3 - 4 hours before bedtime can help improve sleep quality.?
5. Follow the sleep rule - The 10-3-2-1-0 sleep rule is as follows:

• Cut out caffeine 10 hours before bed.
• Don’t eat or drink alcohol 3 hours before bed.
• Stop working 2 hours before bed.
• Get away from your screens 2 hours before bed.
• Hit the snooze button zero times.

The importance of sleep cannot be over-emphasized. While sleeplessness is something that cannot be completely avoided, it gets lethal when it becomes a lifestyle. Take a step today to improve your sleep quality.

#Lagosians #Sleep #Rest