Just because we're working from the comforts of home during the pandemic does not mean we can no longer feel fatigued from a day of work. Remote work may have cut down our hours of commute on the road, but it isn't all sunshine and rainbows. A new study by the United Kingdom's National Centre for Social Research suggests working from home has negatively impacted the mental health of employees, linking remote work to increased levels of mental distress and loneliness.
When working from home, it’s hard to say just when work ends and rest begins. If you find yourself working beyond office hours and have difficulty sleeping due to excessive screen use, then it may be time to calibrate your habits. Here are five tips to help you get good sleep while working from home.
Avoid Screentime Before Bed
While some may consider watching cute doggo clips on YouTube or funny videos on TikTok as their downtime after work, it's important to balance one’s use of gadgets before bed. The National Sleep Foundation recommends to turn off your electronics one hour before bedtime.
Follow a Routine
Try to follow a routine as much as possible by adhering to set times for sleep and wake. We hate alarms just as much as the next person, but if waking up to a blaring siren is what it’s going to take for you to get up on time, then we say go for it.
Routines also don’t just apply to sleep and wake hours, but what you do throughout the day. If work ends at 6 p.m., make sure that you do not make a habit of working overtime even when at home.
Separate Your Workspace from Your Sleeping Area
To help you establish a stricter line between work and rest, try to separate your workspace from your sleeping area. Avoid working in bed if you can and instead consider investing in a proper work desk and chair with good back support. Make a ritual out of shutting down your laptop, tidying your desk, tucking your chair, and changing to comfier clothes after work to remind yourself that it’s time to rest.
Get Moving
Allot some time for regular exercise! Exercise has a lot of benefits not just to your sleep, but also in alleviating your stress and improving mood. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, while researchers may never completely understand how exercise improves sleep, they do know that "moderate aerobic exercise increases the amount of slow wave sleep you get. Slow wave sleep refers to deep sleep, where the brain and body have a chance to rejuvenate."
Avoid Drinking Coffee in the Afternoon
Having a cup of coffee in the morning should be fine, but consuming caffeine in the late afternoon and in the evening can disrupt your sleep, as per the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. This 2013 study on the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine has shown that coffee taken six hours before bed still had disruptive effects on sleep. This should go without saying, but try to consume coffee only in the morning, people!
