A restless night may leave you feeling tired at work, but what if your work is exactly what’s disturbing your sleep?
People with highly sedentary jobs face a significantly higher risk of insomnia, according to a new decade-long study published January 7. in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.
“We already know that sleep is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet for employee productivity and well-being, but the way work design has changed is putting sleep health at risk,” said Dr. Claire Smith, lead author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at the University of South Florida.
How the type of work affects your sleep
The research, which analyzed data from more than 1,000 workers over a 10-year period from the national Midlife in the United States study, examined how job design impacts employees’ sleep patterns.
Job design, as defined by the study, includes elements such as the amount of technology used at work, physical activity levels and work schedules, specifically the time of day that employees work.
Participants reported their sleep habits at the start of the study (2004 to 2006) and again a decade later (2013 to 2017) using six indicators of sleep health: sleep duration, regularity, insomnia symptoms, napping habits, daytime fatigue and the time needed to fall asleep.
To track changes in sleep patterns over 10 years, the study identified three categories Distinct sleep health features: good sleepers, sleepers with insomnia and recovery sleepers .
Good sleepers are those individuals who exhibit ideal sleep patterns, including regular cycles with low levels of daytime tiredness. Sleepers with insomnia experience short sleep cycles and higher levels of daytime fatigue. Recovery sleepers fall between these two groups and often rely on naps or extra sleep on weekends to compensate for irregular sleep patterns.
Workers who operate non-traditional schedules, particularly those who work overnight, were 66% more likely to fall into the recovery sleeper category due to their night shifts.
Smith noted that white-collar workers were more often categorized into the groups of good sleepers or sleepers with insomnia, while blue-collar workers were more likely to be recovery sleepers due to their demanding shift schedules.
Employees who develop poor sleep patterns due to job design are also at risk of dealing with these habits for years. Ninety percent of sleepers with insomnia had ongoing symptoms up to 10 years later. Sleepers with insomnia also face a 72% to 188% higher risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression and frailty, according to another study co-authored by Smith.
The study’s large sample size and statistical technique, which allows volunteers’ sleep patterns to be tracked over an extended period, make the research incredibly valuable, said Dr. Luis Buenaver, director of the behavioral sleep medicine program at the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University.
Unlike other sleep studies, which tend to focus on the quantity or quality of sleep, Smith said this research considered many factors that could provide a deeper understanding of common sleep problems.
“By using this approach, we are able to access a whole new population of people (recovery sleepers) who are having sleep problems that are typically overlooked,” said Smith.
Although researchers expected extensive computer use to worsen sleep health, they found little correlation between the two factors. While this is surprising given that the devices are known to emit light that can disrupt sleep, Smith said increased use of technology could offset these negative effects by increasing employee efficiency while protecting their sleep health.
How to improve your sleep
Smith acknowledges that changing careers to better align with sleep needs is unrealistic for most people. However, if possible, she recommends “job crafting” — making small adjustments throughout the workday to better align with personal needs — to address sleep issues.
For sedentary workers, these adjustments may include taking short breaks throughout the day to move around. Brief bouts of physical activity, like walking briskly around the office, can help you feel more tired at bedtime and help some people avoid musculoskeletal problems that disrupt sleep, Smith said.
To ensure you don’t forget to take breaks, Buenaver advises people to set an alert on their phone as a reminder to move. He added that taking stairs instead of taking the elevator is another simple way to add more physical activity to your day.
If your job allows it, setting firm boundaries around work hours can prevent nighttime tasks from interfering with your body clock, which can lead to a reliance on compensatory sleep, Smith said.
Buenaver recommends unplugging smartphones and computers two hours before bed to avoid disturbances and setting up a charging station outside the bedroom to avoid temptation. If avoiding screens isn’t an option, Buenaver suggests using the blue light filter on your device to minimize the impact on sleep.
For those who work night shifts, Smith said employees can find relief by using light exposure to readjust their circadian rhythms. Lastly, Buenaver advises people struggling with sleep issues not to give up hope if they find themselves stuck in bad sleep habits.
“I want to send a positive message that you can change,” he said. “Even small behavioral changes can result in significant changes if you are persistent.”
This content was originally published in Sedentary work increases the risk of insomnia, reveals a study on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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