Special times require special solutions, one of those solutions is to work from home as much as possible. We no longer have to tell us how important sleep is to us. However, the COVID-19 pandemic, a changed schedule and additional stress can cause a disruption in our sleep-wake rhythm. Sleep doesn’t just make us feel rested. It also ensures that we can concentrate, can multi-fuel and that we stay healthy. But how do you maintain a healthy sleep-wake rhythm while working from home? We will explain that to you in this article.
The following tips help with an optimal sleep-wake rhythm
Perhaps an open door, but the sleeping environment must be ideal. For example, make sure your bedroom is completely darkened, as quiet as possible without any electronic devices.
Although we may miss our colleagues and the different environment, there is also a ray of hope in working from home. You have more time to sleep. Many people have a chronic sleep shortage, so working from home is the ideal opportunity to make up for this.
It is important that you get up at the same time every day, so set your alarm at the same time every day. Not only the time you go to sleep, but also the time you get up is important for an optimal rhythm. In addition, this ensures that you fall asleep more easily at night.
Sufficient daylight is essential, especially in the first hours after getting up. Daylight causes our body to produce cortisol, which causes the body to start up and wake us up. During the dark days it is often difficult to absorb enough daylight, especially right after getting up. After all, it is still dark when we get up and dark a lot faster in the evening. Fortunately, Propeaq can help with this.
Blue hues in the light influence your rhythm of sleeping and waking, whether that light comes from the sun or from screens and lamps. If you sleep less well than you’d like, it could be caused by exposure to blue light at the wrong time. In that case, the solution is simple: light therapy. In the morning, provide active extra blue light that generates your energy. In principle, half an hour a day is sufficient. In the evening before going to sleep, you damp that energy by filtering the blue light.
Another useful tip is sports, something that is no longer as obvious as it seems. Try to go out for a walk around the same time every day (for example lunch). This ensures that you can absorb natural light which is beneficial for our health and the sleep-wake rhythm.
The biological rhythm benefits from a well-separated day and evening. This means that our body benefits from having a well-lit environment during the day in which we work and perform other tasks. While the body also benefits if our environment is a bit more dim in the evening, and we perform relaxing tasks such as reading or watching television.
Last but not least, we’ve said this before. Do not use electronic devices before going to bed. Try to turn off the screens at least an hour in advance. This gives your body a chance to notice that it is time to go to bed because it is getting darker.
