My 3 Favorite Tips for Restful Sleep
And How to Increase WFH Effectiveness
Ever wake up exhausted, stressed, and feeling like last night’s sleep did everything but recharge you? Have your eyes felt strained as soon as you open them in the morning? Yes? You are NOT alone! I felt this way more times than I can count and it sent me on a path to figuring out what the F*$% was happening.
Here’s what I learned: more often than not, we have blue light to thank. Not only is it the culprit for much of our eye strain and constant fatigue but for our sleep challenges too! Naturally, my next question was how exactly am I supposed to “cut down” or omit blue light from my life?! It’s everywhere. After some trial and error, I found the three things that made all the difference. And the greatest side-effect? I became more productive in my work-from-home life. Now remember, each of us is unique, and what worked for me may not work for you. But, if you’re feeling what I was, keep reading!
Manage Your Blue Light/Decrease Your Screen Time
Blue light is the silent enemy: chipping away at our eye health and our restful sleep. Lucky for us, blue light is everywhere (cue confetti and an eye roll). It’s the first thing we see in the morning (checking our phones), the last thing we see before falling asleep (phone and tv), and almost every minute in between (computer, phone, tv, iPad). Blue light comes from our work and our relaxation; we can’t escape it!
With more and more people working from home, the commute has gone from 30 minutes to 30 feet. The time people used to spend commuting is now at the computer! We used to take breaks during the day by stepping away from our desks to chat with a coworker; now those “breaks’’ are spent looking at a different screen. Such subtle changes in our daily routines cause our screen time to skyrocket. Couple this with our “sleep when you’re dead mentality,” and it seems like unless we’re sleeping, we’re absorbing blue light. Instead of leaving the office when the clock strikes 6:00pm, all you have to do is head to the living room couch. With the computer still right there, we’re inclined to think why not just do one more work task? As we continue to ignore the boundaries we set, this mindset has most certainly increased our screen time. Therefore, blue light once again creeps back in, affecting us in more ways than one.
According to the Sleep Foundation, blue light is one of, if not THE, most important factors in aligning our circadian rhythms (our finely-tuned, 24 hour cycles that help our body know when to carry out bodily functions). Blue light triggers parts of our brain that make us feel alert. This is awesome for the morning; not awesome for bedtime. In response to blue light exposure, your body temperature can rise, along with your heart rate. This is the opposite of the biological conditions for rest and sleep. With such disruption to our circadian rhythms and sleep, you may experience depression.
On the same note, blue light also has the ability to decrease our body’s production of melatonin, the hormone that makes us drowsy. If our body is unable to produce the amount of melatonin we need to be able to get tired, it is almost impossible for us to fall asleep.
Timing exposure to blue light, specifically during the day, has been proven to treat numerous sleeping disorders. According to the Sleep Foundation, properly exposing yourself to blue light may help your body to realign with your circadian rhythm. This will help improve your sleep, which in turn helps improve energy and focus and therefore productivity. For this reason, if work must be done on a screen, let’s try to get it done during the day, to the extent we can.
Overall, there is a simple rule to keep in mind when re-evaluating how often and when you use blue light: once it gets dark outside, shut it off! I know this can be difficult, especially during the winter months when it seems to get dark before our day is over, but small steps can make a big difference. Instead of watching Netflix all night, maybe consider picking up a good book (not on an electronic device), or meeting a friend for dinner outside. These activities will rest your eyes from the blue light, help reset your circadian rhythm, support your body in producing melatonin, allowing you to fall asleep without putting your health at risk.
Get Moving!
Did you know that not moving our bodies is detrimental to our sleep? It seems like an easy concept to understand, but it’s not surprising how many people still choose to push it aside. Especially in today’s world, the busy routines that got us up and moving are put on hold working from home, interfering with a good night’s sleep. Making movement a priority every day will lead to restful sleep and give you the chance to step away from your office, or any other place that may be causing you stress! According to InMovement, your movement throughout the day is directly correlated to your optimal brain function. In other words, the more you move, the better your brain works! Along with this, spontaneous movement throughout the day can lead to improvement in things such as motor function, attention, and cognition. And if you haven’t put it together already, all of these things directly affect your work productivity.
Along with the benefits that come from simply moving your body, the more you get moving, the more you disconnect from your screens. Yes, blue light comes from our electronic devices, such as our computers, phones and TV screens, but it also comes from things such as fluorescent and LED lighting. When you hit a midday slump, get moving and away from screens by taking a walk, going on a bike ride, or even catching up on household chores! You’ll be surprised how little acts like these will increase your work from home productivity. And in turn, the more productive you are, the better you will sleep (also because you decrease your screen time! See, it’s all connected!).
Set an evening routine you can stick to!
Another major change you can make to increase your productivity and get a restful night’s sleep is to set a bomb evening routine. The key to sticking to it is it doesn’t need to be a million steps long! Let’s take a step back and look at your current one: what can you change? What is lacking? Once you identify the problem triggers, we know where to start!
When evaluating your current routine, consider this: the ultimate night routine is anything that works for you and sets you up for a successful, productive morning. Not everyone’s evening routine looks identical. For example, if taking a bath, listening to calming music, or meditating before bed doesn’t work for you, don’t try to force yourself into it! Pick something that you enjoy which calms you down and avoids blue light (aka: not involving any electronic devices!). Along with this, a small but impactful change you can make to your evening routine is to plan your next day. When you go to bed with less on your brain, the faster your mind will slow down and the quicker you’ll fall asleep. I know this may seem mundane, but especially with more of us working from home, it is important to find steps you can actually stick to. Eventually, your body and mind will begin to develop a pavlovian response to starting a routine and before you know it, you’ll be doing it like the back of your hand!
Another key factor for sleep is the body’s release of a hormone called melatonin. This hormone is meant to calm us and helps make us tired which is why many people take it before bedtime. A successful evening routine will signal our body to produce melatonin. FYI blue light inhibits melatonin production as it signals daylight to the brain which stimulates the production of excitatory neurotransmitters (the opposite of what we want). A great way to avoid this is to simply turn down the lights in your home starting a couple hours before bedtime. Similarly, reducing the temperature in your bedroom helps the body relax and find the sleep state!
Determine your personal evening routine and repeat it daily, the same steps in the same order. In time, the body will associate the behavior pattern with sleep and even if you don’t feel tired when you begin the routine, you will be by the end. Think Pavlov’s dogs; get it? I talk all about this on my podcast, Salad With a Side of Fries, so take a listen if you want to know more!
Asking you to decrease your blue light exposure to improve your sleep and increase work from home productivity sounds like an oxymoron. It did to me! Then I tried it. These few small changes — decreasing screen time, getting moving throughout the day, and setting a simple evening routine — were the answer to my restful night’s sleep and productive workday. I wish you the sweetest of dreams~ (and don’t shove this under the pillow to forget about it!)
