How to Improve Sleep Habits for Better Work Performance

Your sleeping habits directly affect your physical and mental health. If you fall short, it can negatively affect your weight, emotional balance, productivity, and daytime energy. Despite the adverse effects, many people regularly turn and toss at night to get the much-needed sleep. It may seem like an impossible thing to get a good night’s sleep, but you can have a quality sleep by improving your sleeping habits to perform better at work. Unhealthy lifestyle choices and daytime habits can leave you turning and tossing at night and negatively affect your vitality, creativity, immune system, heart and brain health, and mood.

The Fundamentals of Sleeping

Sleeping is a daily activity that most people take for granted. Sleep is an essential and often underused component of brain functioning. Sufficient sleep will result in better work output and consequently being more productive and save time. Healthy sleep has three elements; quality, quantity, and regularity. Each aspect works to ensure your body and brain rest well and is ready to work to their optimum.

Quality

While it is vital to get a whole night’s sleep, it has to be quality sleep. Although you might be asleep, your mind and body may still be restless. You can add to your sleep quality by avoiding activities that disturb your sleep, such as substance use and stimulating activities, which will guarantee deep sleep.

Quantity

Your daily amount of sleep is essential. Some people require more sleep than others; however, less than seven hours of sleep a night puts you at risk of being deprived. Having a scheduled bedtime, even when not working, plays a significant part in ensuring that you get a whole night’s sleep.

Regularity

The body’s circadian rhythm helps determine sleep patterns. The circadian rhythm acts as an internal clock that regulates melatonin production, which is a hormone produced by the body to induce sleep. The light that gets into our optic nerves partly governs circadian rhythm, which is why you should not watch television or scroll through your phone before bedtime as it disrupts sleep. Maintaining a predictable and regular sleep pattern will help the circadian rhythm remain regular.

How to Improve Sleep Habits

Know your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle

Knowing your body’s sleep-wake cycle is one of the most effective approaches for better sleeping. If you maintain a regular waking and sleeping schedule, you will wake up more energized and refreshed.

Try and have a fixed sleeping and getting up time every day. This will help the body adjust its internal clock and maximize your sleep quality. Go to bed when you usually feel tired to avoid tossing and turning in bed. If you get sufficient sleep, you do not need an alarm to wake you. If you can’t wake up without an alarm, you may require an earlier bedtime.

Avoid sleeping in even during weekends or holidays. If you have a different sleep schedule for weekdays and weekends, you will experience bad jetlag-like symptoms. If you have to recover sleep because of staying up late, a daytime nap is better than sleeping in. Taking a nap during the day will allow you to make up for deprived sleep hours at night without disturbing your sleep-wake schedule.

Although it is good to make up for lost sleep through napping, it can cause more harm if you have difficulty sleeping at night. Daytime naps should be 15-20 minutes during the early afternoon.

Do Not Take Caffeine At Least Six Hours Before Your Bedtime

Caffeine is a stimulant that makes you take longer to fall asleep and disrupt your sleep quality. Avoid having coffee or other caffeinated beverages at least six hours before your bedtime. Alcohol and cigarettes can also interrupt your sleep quality and disrupt your sleep cycle. Avoid alcohol and nicotine products before going to bed.

Daytime Exercise

Engaging in vigorous exercises is an ideal way to tire your body. However, the training should not be done too close to bedtime as it can make you restless and keep you awake. Exercise in the morning or before midday to promote better sleep patterns.

Avoid Stimulating Activities

These are activities that involve electronics, such as playing video games or watching television. Avoid the activities before going to bed as they elicit excitement, reactions and stress, in addition to flooding your eyes with blue light. Blue light disrupts your circadian rhythm as it closely imitates the light produced by the sun during the daytime.

Prepare Your Bedroom For Sleeping

Your bedroom should be calm, quiet, and dark to enable you to have a restful and deep sleep. Remove all distractions from the room. If you work the night shift and sleep during the day, install light-blocking curtains to make the room as dark as possible.

Conclusion

The way you spend your day determines how you will sleep at night. Do not engage in activities that will make you stay up at night or have disturbed sleep. Do not forget about the bed as an uncomfortable bed can also lower the quality of your sleep. Consider buying a modern style teak wood bed as it is sturdy and comfortable, which will make you sleep better.