Sweet dreams..
Many studies have revealed that lawyers are one of the most sleep deprived profession, with accountants not lagging too far behind.
Poor sleep habits have been known to increase chronic health conditions including diabetes, stroke and obesity. Additionally, sleep deprivation has been know to affect brain cognitive function. Mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression have also been attributed to lack of sleep. The link between sleep deprivation – induced euphoria, coupled with stress has also been known to lead to high risk decision making and an overestimation of ones performance as found in recent findings by scientists from UC Berkeley and Havard Medical School.
Good sleep habits have been shown to have a significant impact on brain function. Learning, problem solving, concentration, attention and decision making are key aspects of competency for those within high judgment positions including legal, financial and medical professionals in getting regular good nights sleep.
Here are top 6 sleep management tips to improve your current sleeping habits and health and wellbeing.
1. Set an alarm…..to go to bed. When we think of an alarm, we usually associate this with waking up, but the reality is many of us may need this to prompt us to go to bed at the same time every night, to ensure we have sufficient hours of sleep.
2. Avoid heavy meals just before bed. This is important as our body needs to wind down and prepare itself to rest. Having a heavy meal delays this process and initiates the digestive system to convert food into energy which we do not need, especially at this time of the night.
3. Avoid caffeinated drinks just before bed as this causes us to become more alert. Milk beverages vitamin B have been found to help promote sleep and regulate mood.
4. A warm bath. Helps the body to wind down, soften the muscles and increase blood flow throughout the body promoting relaxation.
5. Creating the right environment plays a key role in improving sleep. Keep your room cool and eliminate any noise disturbance that could interrupt your sleep, so that you can wake up feeling refreshed and energised ready for the day ahead.
6. Write down a to-do-list the night before. This includes any worrying thoughts that could be preventing you from sleeping and review this the following day with a renewed mind and improved brain function.
Sleep plays an important role in our health and wellbeing. Good quality sleep has been proven to have a positive impact on our physical and mental health and overall work productivity.
Let us know your thoughts on which practical sleep tips work well for you and others that you may want to share.
Sweet dreams!
Coretta Edusei is a Chartered Physiotherapist and Founder of Quantra Health. She specialises in health management and wellbeing in the legal, finance and corporate sectors.
For further information, if you or your company would like to book private consultations or health seminars on sleep care and management please email
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