Have you been trying to burn the candle at both ends? Working hard and playing hard or simply overworking yourself so much that you’ve put sleep into the category of “nice to have but not essential” is a trap that many people fall into when trying to get ahead in the world of business. However, not only can this be detrimental to your health it can also be absolutely bad for business.
In fact, did you know that businesses lose tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars a year due to sleep-deprived employees? Sleep deprivation can be a killer. It can cause you to have multiple health problems including contributing to early death and can cause you to become less productive the less sleep you get. So if you want to get ahead in your career, improving sleep hygiene or your sleep habits can be important to ensure that you are more productive at work.
Habit 1: Put Your Phone Away
One habit that you can try to improve your sleep for better workplace productivity is to put your phone away or turn it off before you go to bed. The reason why this is an important sleep habit is that phones and other electronic devices emit blue light that can hinder your body’s natural sleep cycle. If you can’t turn off your phone, one thing you can do is to use a blue light filter on your phone. You may not even have to install a new app as most modern smartphones have one already installed
Habit 2: Limit Caffeine
Another habit you can incorporate into your life is to start limiting your caffeine intake six hours before bed. As most people have heard, too much caffeine can contribute to sleep loss and it’s backed up by scientific research. If you want to ensure that you get restful sleep so that your work product is more useable the next day, you really need to stop your caffeine intake approximately six hours before bed.
This may mean that that late afternoon RedBull pick me up has to go. It may be rough the first few days but eventually, your body will get used to not having the extra caffeine and the extra sleep will help you continue to be productive all day long.
Habit 3: Limit Alcohol Before Bed
Wine makes a lot of us sleepy but did you know that alcohol consumption can negatively impact your sleep cycle? If you notice that you aren’t getting restful sleep and you frequently drink an alcoholic beverage before bed, you might want to consider instituting a rule that you stop drinking four hours before you go to bed.
For more sleep hygiene tips, check out the infographic below by sleep experts, SleePare. It’s full of excellent ideas to help improve your sleep hygiene so that you can get better sleep tonight.
