Monthly Archives: February 2011

Are you one of the 613,000 employees who were absent from work in October-December last year due to sickness?

Do you curl up into your Goose down duvet and stay off work to sleep off the illness?

According to research by the Office for National Statistics, two million working days were lost during this three month period in 2010 with people not turning into to work.

The analysis looked at the difference between men and women in aspect of sickness absence data as well as variations in age groups, public and private sectors, occupations and religions.

Findings showed that sickness absence had dropped in the recession but then rose again.

Since the beginning of 2000 it was 3.4%, the figure fell to a record low point of 2.1% before rising back to 2.5%.

Over the last decade, sickness absence was consistently higher for women than for men; as in the final quarter of 2010, 2.1% of male employees (264,000) were absent from work, compared with 2.9% (349,000) of female employees.

The top reason for men skiving, other than minor illnesses such as a cough or cold, were musculoskeletal problems whereas, the main excuse for women was stress, depression and anxiety.

Although the general sickness trend has fallen over the last ten years, it still remains higher in the public sector than in the private. In the final quarter of 2010, 3.1 per cent of public sector employees were absent from work, compared with only 2.3 per cent of private sector employees; the widest gap between the sectors for two years.

So next time you call in poorly, snuggle up into a cosy Goose duvet and sleep off that nasty cold!

Social media networks are ever growing and the online platform is said to have hundreds of thousands of followers and users every day.

So you can imagine the power and influence it has, in gathering and bringing people together.

This is exactly the case in California, America.

Twitter and Facebook fans took to the Cesar Chavez Plaza, in San Jose the day before Valentine’s Day to host a Pillow fight event.

At midday nearly 100 people took to their Twitter feeds and Facebook postings and joined in a ‘flashmob’ of feathers; a good old-fashioned pillow fight.

Dressed to the nines in tutus, gorilla suits and pyjamas they came by car, bikes and train; some with their pillow tied to their back.

The twitterers and facebookers lined up on the streets and with a blow of a whistle they met in the middle in a fluffy frenzy.

No injuries or arrests were made, although many feathers were pulled out of people’s hair and even eyelashes.

It only lasted about an hour and then the organisers brought out brooms and bin bags to clean up after themselves.

Flashmobs tend to be groups of people organised by internet postings who gather in public places to do surprising, funny things such as perform a dance routine, or freeze and stand still down shop aisles.

The pillows fight marvel used to be performed at Justin Miller Plaza, in San Fransisco, America before city officials considered a crackdown when a pillow fight on a rainy day left thousands of dollars in clean-up costs.

Ever wondered what you are like whilst your asleep?

Well now you can in a new iPhone application.

Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock monitors your sleeping habits.

It works by placing the phone face down by your pillow at bedtime and it analyses your sleep patterns and activity as you move and wriggle throughout the night, in the different phrases of sleep.

There is an integrated alarm clock that wakes you up in the lightest phase of your sleep cycle when you’re lightly dozing so that you feel more rested. It gently prods you awake with a selected choice of soothing pre-set sounds.

And after a few days you can scroll through the chart produced each morning to assess how much deep sleep you're getting, how often you wake up each night, or how often you toss and turn.

There are other sleep cycle apps available to purchase on other phones.

Make sure you get a good night rest with a quality, comfy duvet.

Almost two-thirds of Brits suffer from some sort of sleep problem, according to a late survey.

Issues such as insomnia, teeth-grinding or sleep apnoea, were found in the largest British study of its kind.

The findings, of more than 5300 people polled, revealed that only 39% of adults sleep well.

The Great British Sleep Study showed that the biggest problem is insomnia, with some 37% of people suffering from an inability to get to sleep, or get back to sleep after waking in the night.

Another 24% have other sleeping problems including teeth-grinding, sleeping too much and sleep apnoea; in which the airway is temporarily obstructed and a person can struggle for breath.

The survey, by the Mental Health Foundation Charity, identified the heavy toll that poor sleeping can have on personal health and wellbeing.

Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said “Whilst great emphasis is rightly placed on the importance of diet and exercise, sleep has for too long been neglected as a major influence on the physical and mental health of the nation.”

Not enough sleep over the long term has also been linked to health problems such as heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

It discovered that insomniacs are four times more likely to have relationship problems than those who get enough rest and three times more likely to have depressed moods.

They are three times more likely to lack concentration during the day and more than twice as likely to suffer from low energy.

Prof Colin Espie, director of the Glasgow University Sleep Centre, said: “The Great British Sleep Survey data show the extent to which sleep disorders can inhibit the very essence of who we are: our relationships, our mood, our ability to complete day-to-day tasks.”

The best way you can get to sleep is to have a comfortable, quality Goose down duvet.