Win this World Sleep Day!
Friday 14th March marks World Sleep Day – an annual event to promote sleep health and awareness globally.
Did you know we spend one third of our lives sleeping, with adults needing between 7-9 hours of sleep a night? However, due to shift work and being on call, it can often be difficult for those working in the blue light community to get a good night’s sleep and maintain a healthy sleep pattern.
This World Sleep Day, we’ve teamed up with Simba Sleep to give our members the chance to win a hybrid mattress and two hybrid pillows – the perfect prize to help you get the best rest possible after a long shift.
To enter this competition, simply head over to our Instagram account before Monday 17th March and comment a 😴 on our Simba Sleep post.
Plus, find out more about how you can save with them here: https://bluelightcard.co.uk/company?cid=6906&oid=6651
For those who work nights and ‘unsocialable’ hours it may be difficult to get your sleeping schedule back on track. Simba Sleep have also shared some of their top tips to help avoid any broken sleep or difficultly drifting off: These include:
· Setting a consistent routine, getting up and going to bed at the same time every day.
· Try eating your last meal or consuming alcohol no later than three hours before bed.
· Use black out blinds or a sleep mask to minimise light interference.
· Create a healthy wind-down routine, such as banning screens one hour before bed, practicing meditation or taking a bath.
If you’re working nights, you can use similar strategies to keep your sleeping schedule as consistent as possible:
· Wake up as close as possible to the start of a night shift but don’t go to sleep as soon as it ends.
· Drink caffeine at the beginning of the shift but cut off 3-4 hours before it’s complete.
· Use a biphasic or split sleep pattern by sleeping in two segments, so sleeping as soon as you get home from work, getting up, and then taking a longer nap before the next shift starts.
Finally, here are some extra top tips to help you ‘switch-off’ and maintain a healthy sleep cycle:
· Establish proper sleep hygiene - fix your sleep schedule by creating a solid wind down and bedtime routine.
· Ban screens and phones from the bedroom - resist the urge to answer calls, late requests, or work emails.
· Make your bed in the morning so that it’s a nice sanctuary to return to.
· Clear the immediate bedroom zone of clutter.
· Listen to white noise, music, or podcasts to help switch off your mind.
· Drinks that have been shown to encourage a good night's sleep include: chamomile tea, warm milk, almond milk and coconut water.