Sleep Awareness Week – Why Plan to ‘Hit the Hay’?

Sleep Awareness Week – Why Plan to ‘Hit the Hay’?

We all know we need to get sleep right? It’s easier said than done, whatever the age. From the days of early youth with newborn babies needing 14-17 hours of shut-eye to that time that we fall asleep in front of the tv on the rocking chair. Good sleep patterns and habits are important for our physical and mental wellbeing. However, something called life can get in the way.

Multiple factors such as stress, a hyper-sense of the activity or a restless mind can contribute to the frustrating feeling of not drifting towards a peaceful sleep. Hence, since 1998, the National Sleep Foundation has recognised the seven days before daylight saving time begins as an important moment to highlight sleep awareness as a necessity. Thus, Sleep Awareness Week was born. Rise and shine!

Why is Sleep Important for Workplace Safety

Without stating the obvious answer such as to not endanger the life of yourself or others (think operating heavy machinery or a vehicle on the road), a good night’s rest allows everyone to function to the best of their ability.

The working life can quickly take a turn for the worse if you suffer just a few bad nights’ sleep. It can impact focus leading to poor job performance, cause accidents, lead to frustration and anger causing arguments with colleagues, create unhappiness through poor mental wellbeing and even make you miss work and your agreed salary!

As an employer, it can not be underestimated how vital it is for your workforce to rest well. Studies even show it potentially improves knowledge, learning capabilities and even memory.

In contrast, bad sleep can lead to reduced alertness, impacts memory and contributes to bad decision making, which all create a dilemma in the workplace. Support yourself and your colleagues throughout the sleep awareness week by discussing the event, how you can find the best time to rest and even help each other in any way possible.

Here’s How to Maximise National Sleep Awareness Week

This plan shouldn’t just take place during Sleep Awareness Week but all year round. Nevertheless, sleeping well is partly formed by creating good habits that get the body used to set patterns. You can do this by doing the little things right. Make a plan that works for you. That can be little additions like specific calming music to help you sleep, turning phones off earlier than usual as the blue light emitting from your mobile phone or laptop makes it more difficult to fall asleep and wake up. That’s because it impacts the productivity of the melatonin hormone. So, maximise your sleep by turning the screen off a couple of hours before bed! Plus, it stops you from thinking about things like social media, work and challenges for the next day.

Other things you can do include:

• Think about downloading some useful apps such as Calm which have several different features, playlists, stories and melodies to help you fall asleep
• Create a sleep diary, write some words on paper, read a book (the old fashioned way)
• Why not consider a new comfy mattress if it can help you rest
• Consult a doctor if you’re struggling to fall asleep

You can read more about World Sleep Day here, which is officially on the 18th of March 2022. For the 15th anniversary of the event, the slogan will be Quality Sleep, Sound Mind, Happy World.

We spend a third of our lives sleeping. Therefore, it’s great to overcome the effects linked with bad sleep, such as diabetes, depression or obesity and celebrate what good rest can do for us instead – improve our quality of life, positivity, careers, family time together and so much more.