Spending a lot of time fixatingon data from smartphones is the new normal, especially in thebusiness world. And it may be robbing millions of smart phone usersof untold hours of sound sleep.

A team of researchers from the University of Florida, MichiganState University and the University of Washington surveyed 82 mid-to high-level managers to gauge the affects of their constantexposure to smartphones on their sleep.

Following up on this, the same academics tested their hypothesison 161 employees from a variety of industries. What they found wasthat people who kept their smartphones next to them during thenight didn't sleep very well and that lack of sleep may have madethem less effective at work the next day.

“Smartphones are almost perfectly designed to disrupt sleep,”said Russell Johnson, MSU assistant professor of management who wasamong the researchers behind the study.

In its website story on the study's results, the U of M notedthat more than half of adults in the U.S. own smartphones and citedresearch that suggests just “40% of Americans get enough sleep onmost nights and (that) a commonly cited reason is smartphone usagefor work.”

In light of these two stats, the researchers concluded that agrowing body of smartphone owners who are never far from theirphones are likely to drive that 40% much higher.

What is it about the nightitme proximity to their smartphonesthat deprives folks of their rest?

One element is that people don't disengage properly from workwhen they're tethered to their phones. But another factor could be“blue light.”

“In addition to keeping people mentally engaged at night,smartphones emit 'blue light' that seems to be the most disruptiveof all colors of light. Blue light is known to hinder melatonin, achemical in the body that promotes sleep,” the study said.

Not only does this lack of sleep lead to sub-par workperformance the next day, but it also contributes to increaseddeviant and unethical behavior on the part of thesesleepwalkers.

“So it can be a double-edged sword,” Johnson said. “Thenighttime use of smartphones appears to have both psychological andphysiological effects on people's ability to sleep and on sleep'sessential recovery functions.”