the average person will spend at least 20 years the sleep of his life.
Of course, if you’re getting enough sleep – which many of us aren’t.
One in three people will suffer from a sleeping disorder: some point in his life, reports the American Sleep Association. And a poor night’s sleep schedule can have dire consequences: Sleep deprivation is linked to high blood pressure, heart disease and cognitive impairment, as well as other health problems.
There’s a hidden culprit that’s also disturbing our sleep: our jobs. “What you do during the day and at work can really affect how well you sleep at night, and how you feel the next morning,” Dr. Rachel Salas, a sleep medicine specialist and assistant medical director at the Johns Hopkins Center for Sleep and Wellness, tells CNBC Make It,
An associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital who studied sleep, Dr. Poor sleep can also affect your work performance, making you “crankier and less productive,” says Ilene Rosen.
According to experts, three ways our work lives are decimating the quality of our sleep—and how to wake up happier and more refreshed instead:
drinking caffeine in the afternoon
Your late afternoon coffee (or tea) habit may help propel you through a day of meetings and deadlines, but chances are, you’ll pay the price later.
Caffeine stimulates the body’s central nervous system, keeping you awake and alert—and such effects can last for four hours or more, making it harder to wind down before bed, Dr. Phyllis Zee, chief of sleep medicine and professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
If you’re more sensitive to its effects, Salas recommends cutting out caffeine by 4 p.m. or noon. Instead, replace your afternoon mug with sparkling water, juice or other caffeine-free beverage; take a brisk walk outside; Or stretch to increase.
long logging
Sometimes, working overtime is unavoidable — but logging more hours means spending less time on activities that will help you sleep, or doing them too late at night.
Exercising after dark, for example, “can disturb your sleep,” Rosen says. That’s because cardiovascular exercise raises the body’s core temperature even one to two hours after a workout, disrupting the body’s natural process of “cooling off,” which helps us fall asleep, she explains. . Rosen suggests avoiding exercise within three hours of your bedtime.
The same rule applies to a late dinner or post-work happy hour, because consuming a large meal or drinking alcohol within two hours of bedtime can disrupt your sleep, says Zee.
Eating too close to bedtime can lead to indigestion and acid reflux, while alcohol, although initially sedative, can stimulate the brain as metabolically, prevent you from falling into a deep sleep and leave you feeling groggy in the morning. can.
Working late can also cut into your bedtime routine – those habits, whether it’s a hot bath or reading, are important because they signal to your brain that it’s time to sleep and help you fall asleep faster. Yes, Rosen explains.
To sleep better even after working late into the night, save your workouts for the next morning or afternoon and take a dinner break at least two hours before bedtime.
‘Catching Up’ on Sleeping Over the Weekend
The secret to a good night’s sleep isn’t how much sleep you’re getting—it’s the timing of your bedtime.
While it’s possible to recover from acute sleep debt accrued by turning extra eyes on weekends during a busy work week, if you do this regularly, “you’re never really ‘catching up,’ you’re just sleep-deprived, Salas says.
Sticking to the same bedtime and wake-up times with an unpredictable work schedule can be challenging, but the more consistent you are, “the more you’re enhancing the quality of your sleep,” says Salas.
You still want to aim for eight hours, and follow your body’s circadian rhythm (its natural sleep-wake pattern) as closely as possible. You can find your circadian rhythm by adjusting your body’s natural wake time for a few days, without an alarm, and for 30 minutes as needed.
Paying attention to how you’re sleeping will not only help you feel more refreshed, but it can help reduce anxiety, increase productivity, and improve focus.
“Sleep is a basic human need, and a lot is at stake if we don’t get enough of it: our cognition, our memory, our digestion.” Salas says. “I can’t think of one thing for which sleep isn’t important.”
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