Epidemic hybrid schedules, with a few days in the office and other days away from home, can undermine one of the most important foundations for professional success: consistent sleep.
About 42 percent of American workers work on hybrid arrangements as of February, according to a Gallup poll. Hybrid schedules can make it difficult to maintain a consistent sleep routine, because on days when working remotely it is possible to get up later.
Inconsistent or poor sleep can impair performance at work. It can make it difficult to form professional relationships with colleagues when we are stressed or nervous, said Reut Dover, a developmental psychologist at Vaseline University who focuses on sleep research and psychosocial balance.
In order to make sure you sleep well, you should first try to find out what your sleep chronotype is, that is, the natural tendency of your sleeping habits. This can be discovered by answering the question of whether you tend to get up early or be up late. Are you naturally people of the night, people of the morning, or something in between?
Try to ask yourself: If you were on a lonely island with no responsibility and nothing to do, at what time would you fall asleep and wake up?
Then adopt habits – like setting an alarm clock at a fixed time, even on weekends – that help you set a schedule that works with your body’s natural tendency.
“When you fight against your biology, you usually lose,” says Matt Walker, a nervous system researcher and director of human sleep science research at the University of California, Berkeley.
Here are ways that sleep experts say you can work in harmony with your body’s natural tendencies to establish a healthy sleep routine.
Stay consistent
Once you have decided what your optimal sleep schedule is, try to stick to it. Sleep experts recommend going to bed at about the same time and waking up at about the same time, whether it’s a work day or the weekend, a work day from the office or a work day remotely, and whether you slept well or badly.
Lack of a routine in the sleep schedule can lead to a phenomenon known as social jetlag, which refers to a mismatch between a person’s biological clock and his social clock, Dobar said. A late night here and there will not have much effect, she said, just as an occasional slice of cake will not do much harm to a diet that is largely healthy. But a consistent lack of routine can make you feel physically and mentally jealous.
If your employer allows you flexible working hours, try to discuss an earlier or later start time based on your sleep chronotype – and keep a regular time.
Setting an alarm clock at the same time each morning, stopping caffeine consumption at least 12 hours before bedtime and avoiding nap at a late hour of the day will also help you maintain regular bedtime and wakefulness, Volker said.
Do not rely on ‘complete’ hours of sleep
Ha Huang, who recently graduated from the University of Southern California, says it was difficult for her to maintain a consistent schedule during busy weeks of study, especially during the graduation exams. She was in bed for an average of five hours and forty minutes every day between mid-April and mid-May, according to the health app on her iPhone, which estimates how long users are in bed according to their phone usage and bedtime they set in advance. The app can not calculate the time it takes to fall asleep.
After graduating, she wonders if she can still go out and spend the nights and complete sleep on the weekends.
Sleep researchers say: Not really.
“Sleep is not like a bank. You can not accumulate a debt and pay it off at a later date,” Volker said. “We all have a 24-hour biological clock and it looks forward to routine.”
Avoid activities that cause anxiety before bed
Certain behaviors can impair an attempt at regular sleep if they are done too late. Midnight may not be the optimal time to check out the ex’s Instagram page or respond to an email from the boss.
Read a book, listen to music, watch TV, meditate or take a bath, it will help you slow down and calm your mind and body, said Raman Malhorta, president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and professor of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Another possible reason for poor sleep: screen time. Studies from Harvard, the Psychiatric Research Monthly and others show that the blue light emanating from screens can suppress melatonin exports, make it difficult to fall asleep and impair sleep quality.
For those who do not consider giving up technology before bed, Walker offers a successful compromise: If you put the phone in the bedroom, set a rule that you can only use it standing up.
Tracking apps can help create consistency
Devices with sleep monitoring capabilities like the Apple Watch smartwatch, the Oura Ring and the iPhone Health app, can help users identify activities or behavioral patterns that interfere with their sleep, said Tiffany Yip, a developmental psychologist and professor at Fordham University.
“You may notice that on nights you drink alcohol you sleep less well, or if you eat late than you are used to eating you may sleep less well, or if you had a particularly stressful day,” Yip said. “The presence of objective data about sleep can help illuminate the process.”