Healthy Sleep Tips: Conquer Burnout & Reduce Stress

Why Sleep Is Important for Burnout Recovery

Burnout is more than a state of mere weariness; rather, it is a chronic condition related to mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion.

Poor sleep is among the first symptoms to fail when a person is experiencing burnout. Apart from aggravating burnout, poor sleep creates an environment wherein stress hormones, such as cortisol, stay higher for longer periods, which makes it harder to relax, focus, or recover from emotional distress.

The modernisation of society has changed how we live and interact with one another in so many ways, particularly due to the increased use of technology. This has created a situation in which so many people struggle to achieve high-quality, restorative sleep. Improvement in the quality of sleep can greatly reduce the impact of burnout.

How Stress Disrupts Your Sleep Cycle

Stress disturbs each stage of sleep. For instance, sleeplessness due to racing thoughts will delay the onset of sleep; the increased levels of cortisol will reduce the amount of time one spends in stage 3 and REM sleep.

Because of stress, sleep problems often lead to:

• Difficulty initiating sleep due to an overactive brain
• Poor quality, disrupted sleep with multiple awakenings
• Waking up excessively in the morning, feeling anxious
• Increased tension in the muscles during the night

With the effects of long-term stress constantly present, your body can lose all ability to relax completely when you're resting. This cycle, in which the stress degrades sleep and poor sleep intensifies stress, will make the body continually forget how to relax to the point of feeling no stress relief.

Early Signs Your Sleep Is Feeding Burnout

Although most people think that burnout is a result of being burnt out, many signs of exhaustion start to manifest themselves much before the actual state of burnout has occurred. Some of the first sleep-related symptoms can be identified by feelings of high levels of stress.

Some of the symptoms include:

• Waking up tired even after several hours of sleep
• Stiffness and soreness while waking up
• Daytime headaches or difficulty concentrating (brain fog)
• Using high levels of caffeine just to get through the day.
• Feeling emotionally numb or feeling no energy, even though you feel hot or overwhelmed.

All these are signals that your body has not been able to reach the deep restorative stages in sleep, which are needed for recovery.

Healthy Sleep Tips to Calm the Nervous System

1. Set up a Regular Sleep Schedule
The best ways to maintain a good internal clock are by consistently waking up at the same time and going to sleep at the same time every day. This will help train your body’s internal timekeeper to help reduce anxiety at night and improve overall sleeping habits.

2. Establish a Technology Cut-Off Time
Screen exposure in darkness has been proven to activate the brain and decrease melatonin production. It would thus be advisable to switch off all electrical gadgets at least an hour before sleep, such as the TV, computer, and cellphone. This will help your brain signal that it is time to relax.

3. Practice Slow, Intentional Breathing
Box breathing and 4-7-8 breathing are some of the breathing methods that can calm your body and reduce the physiological responses related to being stressed out.

4. Lower Light Levels in the Evening
A softer light in the evening is gentler on the body, transitioning into sleep, than is a bright, intense, overhead fluorescent light.

5. Keep the Bedroom Cool
Your body will experience deeper sleep, and you are less likely to wake up during the night when it is only just a little cooler, around 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

6. Release Physical Tension
Doing some stretching or yoga right before bed will help release physical stress brought on by the day.

7. Avoid heavy meals and drinking before bedtime.
You disrupt your sleep cycle through the digestion of food and consumption of alcohol, leading you to wake up in the middle of the night.

Bedroom Habits That Reduce Stress Naturally

The bedroom is supposed to be a restorative, not an extension of your daily stress.

The following are some easy things you can do to foster relaxation:

• Reduce the clutter found on your surfaces to limit mental overstimulation.
• Use soft textiles such as cotton, linen, and bamboo.
• Incorporate colours that create tranquility such as beige, soft grey, and muted green.
• Keep work-related items out of the bedroom.

A peaceful environment helps train your mind to know and relate to that area as a destination for rest. Once the mind is trained this way, it should help you fall asleep faster and also allow you to have deeper sleep.

Want to know about specific sleeping habits to reduce stress? Read our blog on the importance of good sleep for stress management, so you can confidently choose what feels to you to be the right method towards waking up stress-free.

How the Right Mattress Supports Stress Recovery

The physical indications of stress can be manifested in the body through tense muscles, pressure sensitivity, inability to sit still, or feeling too hot or cold, aside from having a poor-quality mattress that makes these physical problems worse.

Having a good quality and supportive mattress will assist in alleviating such physical stressors to the body by:

• Relieving the pressure on your body's hips, shoulders, and spine during sleep due to poor body posture.
• Supporting the spine and allowing it to have healthy alignment while sleeping.
• Reduce the amount of motion transferred from one person to the other while sleeping, so that both are well-rested.
• It allows for increased airflow to keep your body cool during sleep.

Wowbeds has designed its mattresses specifically for recovery from stress. The Wowbeds Duo features zoned pocket springs, breathability thanks to the use of bamboo fabrics, and cooling gel-infused memory foam, while the Dreamer features plush comfort, reinforced edges for further support and motion isolation. 

Creating a Sustainable Sleep Routine

You don't have to make extreme changes in your life to get back from burnout. Consistent small improvements will get you long-term results.

Choose one or two of the following to focus on first:

• Create a bedtime sleep routine.
• Improve how you set up your bedroom.
• Change out your mattress for one that is more supportive.

You will be resilient to stress, and your energy level will be more stable with an improved sense of emotional balance once your sleep improves.

Healthy sleep is about creating a platform where your body can recover, not about achieving perfection.

FAQs

1. Can better sleep actually curb burnout?
Yes. Adequate sleep reduces the levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, lifts your mood, and renews your body from chronic stress.

2. How much sleep does a stressed adult need?
Most adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep, but getting a good night of restorative sleep is just as important as the number of hours you sleep.

3. Why do I feel exhausted even after sleeping?
Stress can prevent you from reaching the deeper stages of restorative sleep, and that will make you not feel as well-rested from sleep.

4. Does the bedroom environment affect stress levels?
Absolutely, since it is based on elements like light, clutter, temperature, and comfort level that define how restful your nervous system feels.

5. For stress-related sleeping problems, which Wowbeds mattress is the best?
Both Wowbeds Duo and Dreamer Mattresses are designed to eliminate pressure points, heat build-up, and motion transfer since these are the prevalent causes of sleep stress issues.