Three Ways Your Work is Affecting Your Sleep

Finding a healthy work/life balance is incredibly difficult. We all aspire to be productive and adept when it comes to our jobs, but we're also aware that other facets of our lives should be prioritized, as well. However, we often find things such as exercise, a healthy diet, and quality time spent with family and friends fall to the wayside when a busy, and at times stressful, week/month/year at work falls upon us.

We spend so much time fretting over the details of our job that we feel as though there just is not enough time in the day to concentrate fully on other things. One of the most important things that gets compromised when we are overworked is our sleep. Unfortunately, it’s not terribly uncommon to see employees suffer from exhaustion, which accumulates throughout the week due to a lack of decent sleep. Remember that it’s important to get between six and eight hours of sleep per night. Here are a few ways that your job can affect your sleep:

#1: You are spending too much time in front of a screen.

Oftentimes, our work demands that we constantly check our email and potentially social media, as well. This requires us to be in front of a screen, whether it be a phone, tablet, or computer. A study published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes found that people who used their phones after 9 pm, tended to have poorer sleep cycles, due to overexposure to the blue light that they emit. Try to keep your gadget usage to before 7 pm on most nights, in order to help regulate your sleep.

#2: Your job is stressing you out.

It’s pretty well understood that stress is not conducive to a good night’s sleep. When we are feeling anxious about our work, it causes us to toss and turn, because our brains simply won’t rest. All of this can cause us to feel lethargic and devoid of the energy that we need in order to be productive and happy. Furthermore, links have been shown between chronic stress and ongoing insomnia.

#3: You aren’t taking the time to do other things.

Activities such as exercise are undoubtedly important when it comes to relieving stress and sleeping well. When our lives are solely revolving around work, we tend to stop exercising, which ultimately can negatively affect our sleep. Aim to get at least a few minutes of exercise each day, even if that means taking a short walk during your lunch break.

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Used under Creative Commons Licensing courtesy of Tim Pierce