World Sleep Day 2021

World Sleep Day 2021

Most of us have experienced the fatigue, short temper and lack of focus that often follow a poor night’s sleep. An occasional night without sleep can make you feel tired and irritable the next day, but it’s unlikely to harm your health. If you’re experiencing continual sleepless nights however, the mental effects become more serious.

Today is World Sleep Day, which aims to consider and aid those who have sleep problems. It is useful for educating people about the importance of sleep, as well as changing the way people view and experience sleep by giving them valuable resources to help them in their daily lives.

World Sleep Society recommends the following 10 steps to achieve healthy sleep

• Fix a bedtime and an awakening time.
• If you are in the habit of taking a nap, do not exceed 45-minutes of daytime sleep.
• Avoid excessive alcohol ingestion 4-hours before bedtime and do not smoke.
• Avoid caffeine 6-hours before bedtime. This includes coffee, tea and many sodas, as well as chocolate.
• Avoid heavy, spicy, or sugary foods 4-hours before bedtime. A light snack before bed is acceptable.
• Exercise regularly, but not right before bed.
• Use comfortable bedding.
• Find a comfortable temperature setting for sleeping and keep the room well ventilated.
• Block out all distracting noise and eliminate as much light as possible.
• Reserve the bed for sleep and sex. Don’t use the bed as an office, workroom or recreation room.

Helpful resources:

• OneYou website – which has lots of useful information and resources, including a personal Mind Plan to help you help you deal with stress and anxiety, improve your sleep, boost your mood and feel more in control.
• Improving your sleep – online webinar – join this evidence based workshop, run by the Norfolk and Waveney Wellbeing Service, that can help you to understand and manage your sleep better.
• Sleepio – a wellbeing app, which is a clinically evidenced sleep improvement programme that is fully automated and highly personalised, using cognitive behavioural techniques to help improve poor sleep. Big Health is offering one year of free access to Sleepio for all NHS staff until 31 March 2021.  All accounts will be live for one year from the point of registration (for example colleagues who sign up in March 2021 will have free access until March 2022).
• Headspace – a mindfulness and mediation app, providing resources to help reduce stress, build resilience and aid better sleep