Sleep Tips for Working Stiffs

It’s the time of year when most of us buckle down and work, work, work.  We just got past the three day Martin Luther King Day weekend, and may still have a backlog left from the end of year holidays from last year.  Unfortunately for our health and safety, however, all of this work is not always compatible with sleep.  Between overtime at the office or at home, the stress of thinking about how much work we have to do, and perhaps even working more than one job, sometimes there’s simply no time for laying in bed for long periods of time.

Here are a few tips to help you balance working and sleeping:

• If you are sleeping during the day and working at night, it is imperative you make your bedroom as dark as possible. Your body reads light as “awake time” so you need to make it dark so your body is willing to fall asleep and stay asleep in a natural, uninterrupted way.
• Make sure you are getting enough sleep to feel rested after you wake up. If this means you need to go to bed earlier, then try to find a way to go to bed earlier.  If this means shutting off the TV sooner, that may have to happen.  Sleeping will help you more than TV.
• Schedule your errands or other chores on your day off, particularly if doing them after work will keep you from getting a full night’s sleep.
• Don’t expect to catch up on sleep during your days off.  It’s not possible to catch up on sleep.  In fact, oversleeping on your day off can make your sleep deprivation problem worse, not better.

While some of these suggestions may sound difficult, one thing to keep in mind is that a proper night’s sleep will help your efficiency at work.  Perhaps it will even help you get your work tasks done sooner, so you get home earlier!

For more information on getting a good night’s sleep, read our 17 Healthful Sleep Tips!