It is 3 o’clock in the afternoon and you have been fighting drowsiness all day. Every time the pace of work slows down, the battle begins again. While this scenario may be rare for you, many people suffer the same trial day in and day out. Drowsiness has become as common to the workplace as file cabinets and water coolers. Sixty three million Americans get sleepy in the afternoon, and most of them are sleep deprived.

People in the United States have learned to live in perpetual sleepiness. After all, America tends to treat sleep and success as mutually exclusive. For example, those who want to get ahead can expect to make a habit of "burning the midnight oil." This way of thinking to which Americans subscribe is definitely taking its toll, as statistics bear out.

According to a recent National Sleep Foundation Gallup Survey entitled "Sleepiness in America," as many as one third of adults in the U. S. experience a hazardous amount of sleepiness. Of those 63 million people, only half recognize that they suffer the consequences of sleepiness during the day.

"It appears that ever since Edison invented the light bulb, people have been getting less sleep," says David Rosenfeld, M.D., of the Kaiser Permanente Sleep Laboratory in Los Angeles. "They used to sleep one or two hours more." To quantify, most people need at least eight hours of sleep, but are only getting seven. This sleep deprivation costs the nation an estimated $150 billion a year in stress and productivity.

Not only is sleep necessary, but it can be of tangible benefit to both employers and their employees. According to Kaiser Permanente M.D. Bill McCarberg, "The greatest advantage sleep provides is efficiency. For ironically, while workers try to spend more time at work to do the job well, what they really often need is just a good night’s sleep."

Dr. James Maas, author of Power Sleep, compares sleep deprivation to a credit card. "You can’t look at the face of a card and see the debt," he says. "But at some point you’ll get the wake-up call that you’ve reached your credit limit, or your sleep deficit has been exceeded." The question is when—and where—this happens.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 13 percent of all fatal accidents are attributed to drivers who fall asleep at the wheel. In addition, almost 30 million work days and $13.34 billion are lost due to sleep-related on-the-job accidents every year.

What if getting more sleep could cut your overhead and improve your ability to meet deadlines? Doctors seem to think it can. According to Rosenfeld, "If your sleep isn’t good at night, your functioning in the day won’t be any good either. Sleepy workers are not eager workers."

Lack of sleep has been scientifically shown to impair learning, creativity and motivation, while sleep-deprived people don’t do well on tests that measure reasoning and hand-eye coordination. Even missing a few hours of sleep makes it harder to keep track of details that are crucial to optimal business performance.

In recognition of the value of sleep, some overseas negotiation contracts currently require that the visiting negotiator must first overcome the fuzziness and headaches caused by jet lag before any meetings take place. In addition, because the body’s sleep cycle is naturally attuned to light, many hotels in Japan come equipped with light boxes so guests can take advantage of short "light baths" to give them a quick boost.

According to Kaiser Permanente M.D. Andy Golden, "Sleep can help you make on-the-spot decisions and improve your mood, while sleeplessness can lead to depression and irritability, neither of which are conducive to a quality work environment."

According to San Diego physician John Gillick, 30 million Americans suffer from allergic rhinitis-sinusitis that, if untreated, causes daytime fatigue as well as restless sleep because of nasal stuffiness, post-nasal drip and nightime coughing.

Unfortunately, the over-the-counter cold or allergy remedies regularly used by 30 million of these sufferers can cause daytime sleepiness, attention deficit, impaired driving, learning problems, and decreased quality of performance. However, notes Gillick, allergy treatment with topical nasal steroids and/or the newer, safer prescription antihistimines controls allergies and their fatigue without sedating.

The Gallup Survey reveals the startling fact that an alarming 95 percent of sleep disorders go undiagnosed. The following are among the most common:

Sleep Apnea: According to Gillick, 15 to 20 million Americans (including an estimated nine percent of adult females and 24 percent of adult males) suffer from breathing disorders during sleep—a condition that occurs when breathing is obstructed (apnea) repeatedly during the night, causing fragmented sleep and daytime drowsiness. Sufferers—who usually have loud and disruptive snoring—may wake up as many as 113 times, generally with no recollection of the occurrences. Warning signs include morning headaches, memory loss, hypertension, water retention and weight gain.

"A potentially deadly condition, sleep apnea is an independent risk factor for hypertension, stroke and heart attack," says Gillick. "It is also the precursor to a far greater number of work-related accidents than is generally recognized."

Gillick emphasizes that sufferers greatly benefit from evaluation by a sleep specialist. Remedies include treatment of allergies (particularly those caused by household dust, mites and mold), weight loss (as 30 to 60 percent of those with sleep apnea are obese), upper airway surgery and dental appliances.

"In addition," he says, "the condition may be improved by simple means such as sleep positioning (disordered breathing is often only present when a person sleeps on his back and goes away with side sleeping), clearing stuffiness and watching the pre-sleep diet."

Narcolepsy: Sufferers are characterized by sleepiness during the entire waking period or sudden sleep attacks that last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes.

Insomnia: This is an inability to sleep or stay asleep for prolonged periods of time. While defined as a disorder, it is also a symptom. Ninety percent of all cases are psychologically related and usually tied to depression.

Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS): People with RLS suffer from discomfort in the legs, ranging from pins and needles to uncontrollable muscle twitching, which often goes away only with walking or vigorous exercise.

If you suffer from any of these symptoms, the best thing is see a doctor who specializes in sleep medicine, which is now recognized and board certified. In fact, sleep clinics are located in every major city in the U.S.

One of the hottest topics in the sleep field has been the nap. "The importance of naps is somewhat controversial," says Rosenfeld. "Almost all children less than four need them, but the same isn’t necessarily true for adults." Although naps have traditionally been relegated to the lives of children, some doctors disagree. Also in contention is the optimal duration of a nap. Some say we should sleep no more than 20 minutes, while others claim as many as 30 minutes are advisable.

Who is right? After all, naps comprise part of the culture of two-thirds of the world. In many countries, it is not unusual for adults to take a mid-day snooze or "siesta." So the question arises, with the strict nine to five (often longer) schedule dominating U.S. business, are we trying to force our bodies to do something they were not meant to do?

"There is no general rule," Rosenfeld notes. "Some people do better with naps as long as their jobs permit them. Other people may do worse." The danger, he warns, is that taking naps in the middle of the day can throw off your body’s natural sleeping cycle.

If you suffer from insomnia, avoid daytime naps at all costs. They will only make it more difficult for you to fall asleep at night.

If you need a nap and do not have a problem sleeping at night, restrict the length to 20 minutes. Also try to get up from a nap 30 minutes before you need to be alert. While an occasional nap can help offset fatigue, if you are running yourself ragged on a regular basis, you are only applying a bandage to a serious problem.

"Sleep hygiene is the buzz word right now," admits Bill McCarberg, M.D., "but it really helps." Just as we take care of our teeth with regular brushings and visits to the dentist every six months, we need to develop a regular routine that is conducive to sleep. Doctors suggest that the following habits are helpful.

Follow the same steps each night before going to bed that signal your body it is time to sleep.

- Avoid alcohol. It will put you to sleep only to wake you up later that night.

- Eliminate late night caffeine, which makes it difficult for your body to achieve deep, recuperative sleep.

- Incorporate exercise into your daily routine, but not too close to bedtime. Studies show that regular exercisers sleep deeply and do not wake up at night as often.

- Get up at the same time every day, even when you go to sleep later than usual the night before.

- Try going to sleep in the position you wake up.

- Do not do stressful things before bed. For example, it’s better to read than to balance your checkbook.

- Retain your sleep schedule on the weekends. While this might put a kink in your social life, it could mean a big improvement if you have a difficult time sleeping.

- Use your bed for sleeping and sex only; do not watch television or do work there.

Despite all this advice, don’t forget that sleeping habits change as you get older—adults wake up much more frequently than children do. Doctors agree that the worst thing you can do when experiencing sleep difficulties is to worry about it. Relax instead; your body will get what it needs if you provide the opportunity and remove obvious obstacles.

This quick test will help determine if you are obtaining the sleep your body needs to function optimally.

- Are you often sleepy during the day?

- Do you suffer from loud snoring or sleepwalking?

- Do you use alcohol or drugs to sleep better?

- Would a boring lecture literally "put you to sleep?"

- Do you nod off when you need to be awake?

- Is your sleep fitful?

- Is it hard for you to focus and concentrate at work?

- Even with a regular wake-up schedule, is it difficult to get out of bed?

- Do you stay up past the point when you feel sleepy?

- Are you dependent on coffee to get you going in the morning?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need to consider that your body probably needs more sleep than it is getting.

Excerpted with permission from Small Business Success, Volume XI, produced by Pacific Bell Directory in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration.