Getting quality sleep is the key to good health. A good night’s sleep also helps to supercharge brain function. We take a look at how sleep improvement boosts focus and helps you be more productive while working from home. 

I’m sure whoever is reading this already knows what sleep is since they tend to do it every single night. But what actually happens to your brain when you don’t sleep. Let’s break it down with a very common live example. Have you ever felt drowsy, lethargic, and foggy cause you didn’t sleep enough the night before? This is because lack of sleep impacts brain plasticity or in other words the ability of your brain to process any sort of input. This means you won’t be able to understand things as quickly as you should and you won’t remember as much either. 

Like your brain, your body too is affected by lack of sleep. One can increase their chances of heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, migraines, and depression. Your immunity is damaged the most thereby increasing your chances of catching contagious diseases, and infections. Your metabolism also takes quite a hit. Not sleeping enough can reduce insulin sensitivity and put your body into a prediabetic state. To add to this, the fact that sleep-deprived people tend to have a larger appetite and eat more is one of the leading causes of obesity worldwide. Lastly, research has also shown that chronic sleep loss could contribute to the acceleration of the aging process.

All of these symptoms and effects can be reversed by just sleeping well and for an average of 7-8 hours a night every night. You’ll be able to see the positive results within a week. Now let’s look at one of the main reasons lack of sleep affects your focus. 

Cortisol can help control blood sugar levels, regulate metabolism, help reduce inflammation, and assist with memory formulation. 

Sleep deprivation leads to increased cortisol levels in the afternoon and early evening and a shorter quiescent period compared with extended sleep periods. This can facilitate central and peripheral disruptions that are associated with glucocorticoid excess. Glucocorticoid is a naturally occurring hormone that helps to control how your cells use sugar and fat and curb inflammation. An excess of glucocorticoid production leads to several mental impairments from memory deficits to cognitive impairment to even psychosis (long-term glucocorticoid exposure). 

Put simply, lack of sleep causes memory loss, and your mental processes of perception, memory, judgment, emotions, reasoning, as well as volitional process, are all impaired. 

It’s safe to say that sleeping better and longer will help boost focus and attention throughout your day. 

So, why can’t you sleep during quarantine?

COVID-19 and the subsequent quarantine has seen one of the biggest spikes in the use of anti-insomnia, anti-anxiety, and antidepressant medications. According to sleep help; 22% have had poorer quality sleep due to the pandemic. With the current environment and dire situation where everything is mostly focused on negativity, global chaos, and not to mention unemployment, anxiety levels are at the highest. This tends to cause broken, disturbed sleep, insomnia, and shifts in regular sleep cycles. On the other hand, more time at home has also led to more time looking at screens like mobile devices, laptops, and TVs. These screens emit blue light that signals the brain to not produce the sleep hormone melatonin thereby making it even tougher to sleep. 

Tips for Sleep Improvement

Here are some tips on how you can sleep better naturally during quarantine that’ll help boost your focus during the day. 

1. Get some natural sunlight

Natural sunlight regulates your body’s sleep and wake cycle. Even if you get 10 minutes in the sunlight that is enough to signal your body to stop producing melatonin and wake up. The sunlight also signals your body to start producing serotonin which regulates your sleep, disposition, and mood.  

2. Exercise

It is not said enough. Exercise helps to not only stay in shape but to also maintain a healthy mental and physical state. Gyms may be shut but you can still go for a run or workout in your living room. It doesn’t matter where you do it as long as you break a sweat. Exercise is known to increase the time spent in a deep sleep. This sleep will help improve your immune system and heart functions and most importantly regulates stress. 

3. Draw a line between work and home life

Right now your work life has become your home life but that doesn’t necessarily mean that your entire day should rotate around work. While it is easy to do house chores throughout the day while you work that is not necessarily the best way to go about it. In essence, you are bringing all your work home with you, and with that comes that stress. Maintain work hours and stick to it. If 9 to 5 are your work hours then focus on work from 9 to 5 and checkout post that. Setting clear boundaries will help you make the most of your personal time too. 

4. Maintain an eating schedule

Regulating work hours is not the only set of hours you should be regulating. Keeping an eye on your eating schedule is just as important. Your body begins to produce melatonin a couple of hours before you go to bed, eating a late-night meal will throw that off and your body will only start to produce melatonin once your meal has been processed. 

5. Read instead of watching something

Read a book before going to bed instead of watching something on a screen. As mentioned earlier; the blue light emitted stops your brain from signaling the production of melatonin. Reading a book will help you drift off naturally

6. Prep your bedroom and yourself for sleep

The best way to fall asleep is to make sure that you and your environment are open and conducive to sleep. Essential oils stimulate calm. Use sleep-inducing gadgets as aids. The iband+ helps you fall asleep naturally with the help of soothing sounds, sleeping exercises, destressing, and meditative exercises. It also studies your sleep patterns and helps you make changes so you can sleep better and longer. 

7. Go about your day according to your energy flow

Try to navigate through your day according to how your energy ebbs and flows. If you have more energy during the day then get most of your work done during the day and leave very little for after sunset or vice versa. 

Everyone has their own combination of activities that help them improve their sleep. Find what works for you and stick to it.