Is it important to take a day of rest?
December 13th, 2007
The short answer is “yes.” Even those Kings of Intensity, the International Game Developers Association recognize this in their very good article “Why Crunch Mode Doesn’t Work”. Although written for software developers, there’s lots of information applicable to the rest of us about productivity rates, sleep deprivation, etc.
Here’s an interesting statistic:
In our study, FDC [artillery Fire Direction Center — ER] teams from the 82nd Airborne division were tested during simulated continuous combat operations lasting 36 hours. Throughout the 36 hours, their ability to accurately derive range, bearing, elevation, and charge was unimpaired. However, after circa 24 hours they … no longer knew where they were relative to friendly and enemy units. They no longer knew what they were firing at. Early in the simulation, when we called for simulated fire on a hospital, etc., the team would check the situation map, appreciate the nature of the target, and refuse the request. Later on in the simulation … they would fire without hesitation regardless of the nature of the target.
Next time I’m in the hospital, I’m asking that resident how much sleep he’s had lately.
