Why Working From Home Perturbs Sleep Patterns | 1 News

Prior to Covid-19, when a study was done on how good sleep was when working from home, participants said they liked it because they got more sleep. But that is not always true.

In fact, there are disadvantages to working from home and it affects sleep patterns because the boundaries between work time and personal time are less clear.

Dr Jennifer Martin, a professor of medicine at the University of California’s David Geffen School of Medicine, said one aspect that has emerged since Covid-19 was established on Sunday morning was the “contamination” of personal time with work hours. I told you. When people work from home, she said there are now fewer boundaries between the two.

“Especially during the pandemic, there seems to be no end of work. One of the challenges is that during the pandemic, there was no proper plan for people to consciously transition to work from home.”

“They weren’t always ready and organized as people who might have always worked at home, and they were always part of their job.”

People suddenly plunged into it and found that they were now doing more work in the evening, even after finishing a full day’s work.

While working from home, it was important to pretend to be still in the office. “Because we are made to have a consistent sleep schedule every night, ensuring a solid start and end time for the day is of paramount importance to getting a good night’s sleep after going to bed at night. That’s one way.”

Dr Martin, who is also a director of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, said from her own experience that she could sit very quickly without even preparing to leave the house (get dressed, have breakfast). work.

“The physical separation between our work and personal life is probably one of the things that helped people in the past forget their stress when they came home…high stress, very busy during the day. People who are working can still sleep if they can separate the stress and anxiety from work days and bedtime.”

Dr Martin said that the steps people can take require some effort.

Creating a physical barrier is useful when the workspace is next to the bed. It is recommended to have a dedicated work space away from the bedroom.

Electronic devices emit many blue wavelengths of light that mimic outdoor sunlight, letting the body’s circadian clock know when it’s still awake, and forming melatonin that helps people fall asleep. Prevent.

“Most of us are engaged in things on devices that aren’t particularly calm and calm, so read on the number of Covid cases in certain parts of the world and the political issues about Covid. Is not a calming thing, and a good night’s sleep.

“Most devices now have the ability to filter blue light, and some people find it useful: wearing glasses that block light in the blue wavelengths.”

Dr. Martin said most news outlets were aimed at keeping the device in the hands of people, and smart social engineers designed products to keep people interested.

People could set an alarm and turn off the TV or tidy up the device 30 minutes before going to bed.

Studies have shown that naps may be both good and bad. In societies like Southern Spain, they were accepted routines that did not harm people. However, in other cultures where naps are unusual, a person’s regular need for long naps can be a sign of cardiovascular risk.

Early studies from Italy and China have shown that people have spent more time in bed since the beginning of the pandemic, but they do not sleep more and have better quality sleep. It wasn’t.

“Now people have a little more time to spend in bed, but they aren’t always doing it right… there are some advantages to working from home… but how many There is a drawback.”