Sleep is one of the best activities you can do to promote stress recovery time, to ensure you are more effective at work. Research has shown that a lack of sleep has a tremendous impact on wellbeing and health, and it also has a negative impact on companies and on the economy.

Many people do not get more than six hours of sleep a night when 7-9 is needed for productivity. Some companies have begun to recognize the importance of sleep for employees. For example, if you are lucky enough to work for accountancy firm PwC you may have undertaken a module on why sleep is so important as a part of a resilience training program.

The rest of us need to figure it out for ourselves, so we get sufficient, good quality sleep. Luckily, there are many steps that you can take to improve your sleep. One important one, now we are surrounded by phones, tablets, laptops and a myriad of electronic screens, is to make sure to turn these off long before bedtime. It is best to have an hour or more without these on before going to bed, as they are disruptive to relaxation. The same is true of the television.

Apart from casting aside those screens, there are other steps to take as well. Doing some meditation or breathing exercises before bed can be very beneficial for improving your sleep. This is because these activities get your body into a relaxed state, ready for sleep. As far as possible, making sure to keep a regular pattern of getting up and going to bed at the same time each day is also important, to increase your chances of sleeping well. Getting some good exercise in during the day is also very helpful.

We offer coaching and support to help improve sleep, recovery and resilience for greater personal effectiveness. Contact us or visit our Solutions to find out how.