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WellbeingtoolkitRest & sleep

We spend a huge proportion of our livessleeping. It’s not time wasted - it’s essentialto helping our brain and body perform attheir best.

Both rest and sleep allow us to build vital recoverytime into our day, helping our mind and body torecharge. Without enough rest and recovery time in our dailyroutines, we're not able to perform at our best,professionally or personally. In this factsheet, we’ll be looking at two different waysour body recovers - rest and sleep and ways to makesure you create enough time for both.

Rest & sleep

How to build in recovery timethroughout the day

What happens when we sleep

Sleep hacks

In this factsheet

Rest

Have you ever noticed that when you're strugglingwith a task the solution seems so obvious whenyou come back to it after a break? There is plenty of scientific evidence to suggestthat the brain needs downtime in order to processrecent learning, solve problems and storememories. By building in regular, proper amounts of rest intoyour day, you are giving your brain and body theprocessing and recovery time it needs. Here are three top tips for building in recoverytime throughout your day.

When we think about rest and recovery, wenearly always think about sleep, butmanaging your energy levels throughout theday is also important for being productiveand feeling our best.

Look at what needs to get done,professionally and personally,and decide on your priorities forthe day. Sense check whether the list ofthings you’ve identified isfeasible for one day so you’renot putting too much pressureon yourself. You'll need to take into accountany other commitments such aschildcare or caringresponsibilities. As well as planning what youneed to do, think about the besttime to do it. Many of us are working at homeat the moment, and it’s easy forthe boundaries between workand downtime to get blurred. Lastly, make sure your plan forthe day includes regular breaksto help boost concentrate andbuild in moments to rest andrecover.

Plan out your day

1

Staying in the same place orfocusing on the same task forhours at a time puts ourbodies and brains underpressure making it difficult toperform at our best. Whether you take just a fewmoments to stretch or a fewminutes to make a cup of tea,regular breaks help boostconcentration, minimisephysical strain injuries andsafeguard that vital recovery time. If you're struggling toremember to take regularbreaks, try setting acountdown timer on yourphone or downloading an appthat reminds you it's time fora break.

Take micro breaks

2 When we’re in our usualworkplace, walking out of thebuilding and beginning ourcommute home helps signal toour brains that it’s time toswitch off from work and relax. With many of us now workingfrom home, it’s easier forboundaries to blur and recoverytime to get eaten away. Help set expectations by sharingwith your colleagues the timesyou're available and theadditional responsibilities youmay be juggling at the moment. Reinforce those boundaries bysticking to the working hoursyou’ve set and resisting thetemptation to answer a coupleof emails late in the evening orpick up the phone if yourmanager calls outside thosetimes. Doing so will help you stay moreproductive and motivated in thelong run.

Set boundaries

3

Sleep

With the added stress of worrying about loved onesor job security due to coronavirus, it can be evenharder to get a good night’s rest.  But sleep is absolutely essential to our wellbeing -both physical and mental. Though we can boost our energy levels with breaksduring the day, it’s at night when our bodies reallyget the chance to repair and restore.

We’ve all heard the guidelines about getting8 hours of sleep a night, but a significantpercentage of UK adults don’t manage that.

What happens when we sleep?

There are two types of sleep: non-REM and REM. Eachtype includes different stages, forming the sleepcycle.  The first stages you experience when sleeping are‘Non-REM’. During this type of  sleep, there is nomovement and the muscles are relaxed. The bodyuses this time to repair and rejuvenate itself. REM (rapid eye movement) sleep is the final stage ofthe sleep cycle and is when the brain actively re-organises itself. During this stage, the body and muscles areparalysed, but the brain is awake and your eyescontinue to move quickly behind your eyelids. It’s impossible to regulate the time spent within eachstage, but giving yourself enough time to sleep willallow the body to find its rhythm and get the rightamount of each stage.

The different stages of sleep

When you’re starting to driftoff, you may hear things around you andhave a sense of awareness, but yourheart rate slows down as your bodyprepares to sleep. Described as ‘lighter sleep’,you have now fallen asleep but couldeasily be woken or disturbed. The braintakes this time to repair and processmemories. The final stage of Non-REM iswhen you fall into a deeper sleep wheremuscles are relaxed and recovery cantake place. This stage is when your heartrate increases and you experience REMsleep. The most active point ofdreaming, this stage is important for thebrain as sorts through memories andemotions.

Stage 1:

Stage 2:

Stage 3:

Stage 4:

Sleep hacksKnowing that sleep is so important butbeing aware you’re not getting enough cancreate even more stress, making it harderto fall asleep and creating a vicious cycle.

Here are our top tips for creating the rightenvironment and cultivating the right habits toget the rest you need.

The foundations for a good night’s sleep are laidduring the day.  Staying active and getting enough exercise is agreat way to make sure you feel tired at the endof the day and ready to head to bed.  It’s also important to watch your caffeine intake.Caffeine’s half-life is about 5 hours. That means ifyou had a cup of coffee at 4pm, half of thecaffeine would still be in your system at 9pm. Try to limit caffeine intake to the morning andearly afternoon to avoid it disturbing your sleep. If you struggle to fall asleep because of worrying,try and set aside time to acknowledge and reflecton those worries before the end of the day toavoid them going round your head as you'retrying to go to sleep.

During the day

After the working day, it’s essential to find waysto switch off and relax. What this looks like will be different for everyone,but having enough time to process the day, putaside the stresses and do something you enjoywill help you unwind ready for bed.  Whilst drinking in moderation is ok, keep in mindthat alcohol significantly effects sleep quality,keeping us in the lighter stages of sleep ratherthan the much-needed deep sleep phase.  If you’re having an alcoholic drink, early eveningis better to minimise the impact on sleep quality.

During the evening

We’re creatures of habit: one of the best ways toget more sleep is to create a routine around afixed bedtime and wake-up time.  As it gets nearer to bedtime, start to fade downartificial lighting, moving from a bright overheadlight to a softer lamp.  Avoid watching TV or using other screens,including your phone, for at least an hour beforebedtime: the blue light these devices emit cantell our brains it’s time to wake up, not sleep.

Getting ready for bed

Bedrooms should be a relaxing, calming place tosleep. Creating the right sleep environment canhelp you get the quality shut-eye you need.  Firstly, try to minimise any potential distractions,such as noise or light. Using ear plugs or a white noise app can helpreduce the chances of you woken up by noise. If your bedroom gets lots of natural light,consider investing in blackout curtains or an eyemask to minimise disruption.  The other thing to consider is temperature. Thebody regulates its core temperature throughoutthe different sleep stages. Being at a cool, comfortable temperature meansour bodies don’t have to work as hard tomaintain that temperature and can focus insteadon resting and repairing.

Create the right environment

Did you know... The ideal temperature for abedroom is around 18  degrees celsius.

Wellbeing toolkitThis factsheet is part of ourWellbeing Toolkit aimed at helpingteams stay well during thecoronavirus outbreak. Each week, a new pair of factsheetscovering mental and physical wellbeing isreleased. Take a look at westfieldhealth.com/covid-19 for access to all resources.