Proper Sleep and Job Performance: 5 Tips to Achieve Better Professional Results

In this fast-paced, hectic modern world, you’ll often hear the phrase “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” tossed around a lot, especially in professional circles. While there is nothing wrong with grinding your way to the top and working your butt off to achieve your professional goals, let’s get one thing clear – a lack of sleep can severely impair your long-term health. But if you’re not that worried about your well-being, then you should be worried about what poor sleep is doing to your performance at work.

Even machines need some downtime to recharge their batteries to be able to operate at full capacity, so what makes you think that you can go by on five hours of sleep a night? The truth is that if you want to boost your brain power and cognitive functions, you need to get a solid seven to nine hours of sleep every night.

But you already know that, so let’s talk about how you can make it happen and take your personal and professional success to the next level.

Stress and anxiety are hindering your downtime

Unfortunately, stress and anxiety have become “normal” parts of our modern lifestyle, and somehow instead of treating these conditions we have learned to live with them so that we can get things done. This is, of course, the worst possible way to go about it, as there are many ways that stress and anxiety can hinder your performance at work.

While there might not be much you can do to make your job less stressful or time-consuming, you can work on reframing your mindset, exercising regularly, meditating daily, and learning to stand up for yourself and your needs. By committing to these changes, you can start to build a better work-life balance, which will allow you to sleep better as well.

Do this for a while, and you will see just how a good night’s rest is helping you overcome the challenges at the office.

You might not be getting enough exercise

It’s not a secret that regular exercise provides a myriad of health benefits, all of which can help you with treating stress and anxiety as well. But when it comes to healthy, restful, and uninterrupted sleep, exercising may be the key element you’re missing from your daily routine. If you don’t think you can squeeze a daily workout in, just remember that there are many brilliant fitness ideas for every full-time working gal, so there’s always a way to find time for fitness.

The key thing to keep in mind here is that regular exercise will help your body produce more of those healthy hormones like serotonin and dopamine that help put you in a more productive mood as well, so getting in a workout session in the morning will prime your body for a productive day. What’s more, regular exercise will help you get quality shut-eye, so working out is definitely a win-win.

Build the perfect sleeping environment

When it comes to better sleep and maximizing the potential of every sleep cycle, nothing is more important than your sleeping environment. You might not notice it, but there could be a number of things ruining your sleep in the bedroom, such as poor-quality bedding, poor temperature control, too much noise, poor lighting, too much technology in bed, and more.

One of the most important elements is comfort, of course, but also whether or not you’re too cold or warm in bed. That’s why innovative brands like Wake in Cloud have created some of the most beautifully crafted fabrics that provide year-round temperature control, keeping you cool in the summer but equally warm during those cold winter months. It’s important to choose high-quality bedding like this to ensure a good night’s sleep and be as comfortable as possible.

Create a sleep schedule and stick to it

Aside from creating a comfortable sleeping environment, it’s also important to have a sleeping schedule. Yes, it might seem a little over the top at first, but when you think about it, a strict sleeping schedule can help you organize your entire life. Going to bed and rising in the morning at the same time every day is an amazing way to stabilize your circadian rhythm and teach your body when it’s time for bed and when it’s time to be productive.

Make an effort to stick to a sleeping schedule, even though it might seem like a difficult task when you’re managing a remote team and when people are working in different time zones. No matter what happens, you will go to bed at the same time every night during the work week, and you will quickly start seeing the benefits of your decision.

Power off before you go to bed

Last but not least, leave your gadgets out of the bedroom. If you think you need your phone to set an alarm for the next morning, why not get one of those adorable old-timey clocks instead? There is always a solution, you just have to want to make a change.

Staring at your phone or laptop before bed is ruining your sleep, because the blue light emitted by these devices are suppressing the production of the hormone melatonin, which is your body’s cue that it’s time for some shut-eye. Don’t ruin your health and your performance at work, instead, ditch the smartphone and relax before bed with a good book.

Over to you

We are all career-driven people here, and we have what it takes to achieve great things in your fields. But we can’t do it without consistent, healthy sleep. Make sure to use these tips to improve your sleep cycle and set the stage for a lifetime of health and professional success.

AUTHOR BIO:

Sophia Smith is a lifestyle and social media blogger, and graphic and UX designer. She is an aesthete and photography lover by heart who absolutely loves everything that includes visual communication. Lately, Sophia  writes about digital marketing topics, from content to social. She has contributed to a number of publications including Women Love Tech, Leader Maker, Legal Reader, BizCover, Businessing Mag, Ruby Connection, Monterey Premier, Pix Teller and many others. You can find out more about her writing by following her on Twitter.