How to Improve Your Sleep as a Remote Worker

If you’re sleeping later, struggling to fall asleep at all, or sluggishly making it through the day, you’re not alone.

While remote work brings many benefits like no stressful commute, the freedom to work anywhere and even a reported a higher level of happiness, many remote workers are grappling with sleepless nights and sleep disruptions. Unfortunately, research has found that since the Coronavirus outbreak one in five remote workers are having trouble sleeping three to five times a week.

To get a good night’s sleep, remote workers need to set clear boundaries and working hours, limit screen time and avoid mixing sleep and work environments.

1. Don’t work from bed

Working from bed sounds idyllic but is actually disastrous. And if you started working from bed during coronavirus when you never did before, you’re not alone. Nearly half of respondents to one study found that people who never worked from bed started during coronavirus — a 50% increase compared to before the pandemic.

Using your resting place as a workspace is a nightmare for you both physically and psychologically. It leads to bad posture, from lying down and slouching, which in turn leads to pain.

It also leads to decreased sleep quality, which leads to groggy days and decreased productivity. Unfortunately, anytime you work from the bed you’re associating your bed with work and wakefulness. You’re teaching your body that the bed is a place of wakefulness, when you need to associate it with only sleep, intimacy and sickness.

If you’re in the habit of working from bed, it’s time to create a new habit. Start working outside of your bed, even if that means working from a dining room table or standing at the kitchen counter.

2. Create a workspace

You don’t need a fancy desk to work from home, but you do need a separate work area, ideally one outside of your bedroom. Just like how working from bed is disruptive to your sleep, working from your bedroom can affect the quality of your sleep. Your bedroom should be your sanctuary.

Whatever workspace you create needs to be ergonomic so you don’t end the day with aches and pains. If you can, use a chair and desk at a good height that promotes good posture. You can’t always avoid distractions, but you can minimize them by selecting a quiet location and by using a room divider or headphones to create privacy.

If you must work in your bedroom, at least try to disguise your workspace from view. A folding screen works well or a desk with a rolltop that closes. You can also just throw a blanket over your desk or shut your laptop down and place it in a drawer.

3. Reduce your alcohol and caffeine consumption

There’s nothing wrong with starting your day with a cup of joe, but it can severely disrupt your routine when consumed in the evening hours. In fact, one study found that a moderate amount of caffeine either three or six hours before bedtime significantly affects sleep. It’s best to cut off caffeine six hours before shuteye; so if you’re planning to fall asleep by 9 pm, stop drinking coffee at 3 pm.

And while you might think that alcohol helps you sleep better, the opposite is true. One 2018 study found that even low servings of alcohol decreased sleep quality. Even if alcohol helps you initially fall asleep, it’ll also be responsible for disrupting your REM cycle later as your liver metabolizes the alcohol. Alcohol can even increase the risk of sleep apnea (a disorder where people breathe abnormally as they sleep) by as much as 25%.

You don’t have to give up alcohol to have a good night’s sleep but you do need to stop drinking it four hours before bedtime. If you’re taking sleeping pills, avoid drinking alcohol.

4. Set clear boundaries with when you start and end your workday

The flexibility of working from home is one of the greatest perks to working remotely, but you need to follow a regular schedule with a firm limit on when you start and stop working. It’s super tempting to hit that snooze button, but doing so can throw your whole day (and night) off. Instead, get up at a regular time, change out of your pajamas and get to work.

You should also create some rituals that signal the beginning and end of your workday. This might mean starting the day by changing out of pajamas, organizing your workspace or lighting a candle.

Signal the end of your workday with something that relaxes and recharges you. A few rituals you can shut your day down with:

  • Yoga or an exercise routine
  • Clearing your desk off
  • Shutting down your laptop and placing it out of sight
  • Go on a walk
  • Play with your kids

5. Step away from the screens before bedtime

You scroll through TikTok in bed and the next thing you know it’s 3 a.m. That’s because your phone emits a blue light that suppresses melatonin and increases alertness. And when you’re intrigued by what’s happening on the screen (whether that’s a funny TikTok or a last-minute read of an email), you’re going to be less interested in falling asleep. If you must be on your phone, at least set the night mode filter that reduces blue light and wear glasses that block blue light.

To get in the routine of setting devices down, try setting an alarm that reminds you to turn off your devices about two hours before you fall asleep.

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