Technology can be really helpful for tracking and improving our quality of sleep. Apps can monitor things like calorie intake, number of steps taken, physical activity, sleep patterns and so on. But technology can prevent a good night’s sleep if we don't have enough time away from our screens. Ofcom recently found that UK adults spend an average of eight hours and 41 minutes a day on media devices, compared with the average night's sleep of eight hours and 21 minutes!
On average we need around eight hours of good-quality sleep a night. Good-quality sleep is more important than the amount of sleep that you get which helps to keep you feeling healthy.
There’s a huge amount of research available which highlights the effect poor sleep has on work productivity, and how constantly being plugged in makes it more difficult for us to switch off. Regularly missing sleep can reduce your:
1. Attention and concentration. Do you notice your mind drifting or find it hard to focus?
2. Reaction time. It also makes commuting by car riskier. It not only takes longer to notice brake lights in front of you on the road, it also takes longer to stop.
3. Decision-making. If you're still waiting for that bright idea, get more sleep. Without it, you're less likely to step outside the box and be creative.
4. Memory. You may have trouble holding multiple things, like three or four numbers, in your head at once.
Whether your work is based at home, in Leeds, Redhill, Canary Wharf or South Africa, TGP wants employees to carry out actions safely, feel happy and stay alert. To do this we want you to try at least one of the following to see if it improves your sleep and wellbeing:
1. Expose yourself to more light during the day, particularly in the morning try to have breakfast by a window or outside. Let as much natural light into your home or workspace
2. Don't drink caffeinated tea or coffee before you go to bed, it’s been proven to make people restless during their sleep
3. Get yourself in a routine of going to sleep and waking up at a set time that suits you best – look at some free apps that can help you with this.
4. Improve your air quality, open your windows, don't let your room get stuffy.
5. Reduce your screen brightness as much as you can as it gets dark, do not look at any screen/monitor 1 hour before you hit the bed. Looking at screens prevents our brains from releasing melatonin, a hormone that tells our bodies it's night time. Make sure you turn off flashing lights or noises on your device before you go to sleep.
