(but proper management can reverse the effects)
How to Reclaim a Restful Night’s Sleep: 10 Proven Strategies
Did you know that globally, sleep issues constitute a widespread epidemic that threatens health and quality of life for up to 45% of the world’s population?
This staggering figure highlights a critical issue affecting countless professionals daily: lack of sleep due to stress and overwork.
If you’re constantly feeling exhausted and overwhelmed, you’re not alone—and it’s time to address this problem head-on.
Lack of sleep due to stress and overwork is a common problem that significantly impacts personal well-being and job performance, creating a vicious cycle where stress leads to poor sleep, reducing productivity and increasing stress levels.
Picture this: you’re juggling work, family responsibilities, and personal time, all while trying to stay afloat in a sea of emails and deadlines. The stress builds up, making it hard to fall asleep at night. You wake up tired, struggle through the day, and the cycle repeats.
Sound familiar?
This relentless pattern drains your energy and affects your mental and physical health.
The Relationship Between Stress, Work, and Sleep
When you feel stressed and overworked, it can mess up your sleep in various ways.
Stress can make it quite hard to fall asleep because your mind is all caught up in work and can’t relax. Even if you manage to doze off, stress can still cause you to wake up a lot during the night, and when you do sleep, it might not be the good, restful kind that leaves you feeling refreshed in the morning.
Poor sleep quality due to stress and working too hard can significantly affect job performance.
Sleep deprivation can have several negative impacts on performance and well-being.
Firstly, it can lead to decreased focus and attention, making it challenging to concentrate on tasks and complete them, resulting in increased errors and omissions in work. Additionally, a lack of quality sleep can cause slower reaction times, which can be particularly dangerous in certain professions.
Emotional instability is another consequence of poor sleep, which leads to increased irritability, anger, and vulnerability to stress, potentially impacting workplace relationships and overall productivity. Lack of sleep can also reduce creativity and problem-solving abilities, as sleep is crucial for cognitive functions. Impaired innovative thinking can hamper an individual’s ability to develop effective solutions and ideas.
“Good sleep isn’t just a luxury—it’s necessary for a productive and healthy life.”
10 Proven Strategies to Improve Sleep While Managing Work Stress
Here are ten easy-to-follow strategies to help you sleep better, especially when dealing with work-related stress. These tips range from establishing a consistent sleep schedule, creating a peaceful sleep environment, and even considering professional help.
- Maintain a strict sleep schedule: Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends.
- Create an optimal sleep environment: Keep your bedroom dark, quiet, and cool (around 18°C).
- Limit electronic device use before bed: The blue light emitted by screens can interfere with sleep.
- Avoid stimulants: Reduce caffeine and nicotine consumption, especially in the hours leading up to bedtime.
- Establish a wind-down routine: Before bed, take time to relax with activities like reading, listening to calming music, or taking a warm bath.
- Consider professional help: If sleep problems persist, consult a doctor or a specialist in behavioural sleep medicine.
To get started, it’s advisable to start small. Instead of trying to implement all strategies simultaneously—which can be overwhelming and counterproductive—choose one to three of the most achievable methods.
Remember, the goal is to make sustainable changes to your routines and habits, so taking small, manageable steps towards improvement is better.
You can gradually incorporate more strategies once you’re comfortable with these initial changes.
Addressing Stress and Overwork for Better Sleep
It’s essential to tackle the leading cause of your poor sleep – the stress and overwork from your job.
Addressing these issues is vital to breaking the cycle of stress, which leads to poor sleep, reduced productivity, and increased stress levels.
Here are the next few techniques for you to consider:
- Stress reduction: High-stress levels, especially work-related stress, can make falling and staying asleep difficult. Managing stress through relaxation techniques, exercise, and better work-life balance can significantly improve sleep quality.
- Limiting work hours: Overwork often leads to reduced sleep duration and quality. Setting boundaries on work hours and avoiding bringing work to bed can create a mental separation between work and rest.
- Address work-related issues: Communicate with supervisors about workload concerns and seek support from colleagues.
Finally, cognitive approaches, like cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), can help overcome negative thoughts about sleep that often accompany stress and overwork.
The final strategy is below.
A Quick Guide to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)
CBT-I is an evidence-based, structured and highly effective approach to treating insomnia that typically requires 4 to 8 total weekly sessions.
Key components of CBT-I include:
- Cognitive therapy: Identifying and changing unhelpful thoughts and beliefs about sleep.
- Stimulus control: Strengthening the association between bed and sleep.
- Sleep restriction: Limiting time in bed to match actual sleep time.
- Sleep hygiene education: Promoting habits that support sound sleep.
- Relaxation training: Techniques to reduce tension and arousal.
Many see significant improvements from implementing CBT-I in as little as two weeks. Here are some benefits:
- Improves sleep onset, duration, and quality: By addressing behaviours and thought patterns that maintain insomnia.
- Delivery methods: Can be delivered face-to-face by trained professionals like psychologists or GPs, or through digital programs (online, apps, etc.).
- Long-term effectiveness: Considered more effective long-term than sleep medications, with fewer side effects.
- Practical approach: Patients typically keep a sleep diary and complete homework assignments to practice new skills between sessions.
- Broad applicability: Effective for short-term and chronic insomnia, even in people with other mental or physical health issues.
- Accessibility: Digital CBT-I options range from free to paid programs, which can be self-guided or used with clinician support.
- First-line treatment: Recommended as a first-line treatment for insomnia by many medical organisations.
Wrapping It Up
Addressing stress and overwork improves your chances of better sleep and enhances your overall well-being and job performance.
Remember, good sleep is essential for managing stress effectively, so improving one aspect often leads to improvements in the other.
If you’re struggling with stress and poor sleep, implement some of the abovementioned strategies.
Consider also talking to us here at ProActive Psychology for personalised advice and support.
Prioritise your sleep—your health, productivity, and longevity depend on it.
References:
- Sleep Foundation: Stress and Insomnia (https://www.sleepfoundation.org/insomnia/stress-and-insomnia)
- Sleep Education: Job Stress and Sleep (https://sleepeducation.org/war-between-job-stress-sleep/)
- CPA Australia: How to Sleep Better Working Remotely (https://intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au/work-life/how-to-sleep-better-working-remotely)
- Banner Health: How Sleep Can Affect Stress (https://www.bannerhealth.com/healthcareblog/teach-me/how-sleep-can-affect-stress)
- Sleep Foundation: Good Sleep and Job Performance (https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene/good-sleep-and-job-performance)
