Nobody likes to wake up early, not even a work-at-home mum. The number of hours you sleep just doesn’t feel enough, and all you’ve got to look forward to is another day of work. It’s very common to feel disoriented and groggy when you wake up in the morning while your body recovers from sleep then your brain gets ready for the day. Although not all mornings are like this, sometimes better and sometimes worse. In most cases, it’s just impossible to beat the early morning tiredness and have a better day ahead.
As we’ve also suffered several episodes of turning and tossing at night and waking up tired, we’ve created some of our favorite tips for you.
Do not work in your bedroom; just sleep
For work-at-home moms, it’s always quite challenging to create separation. The line that separates work life from family life starts to become blurred when you do everything at home. The first thing you should do is start seeing your bedroom as a place to only relax and not think about any issues related to work life. That means you shouldn’t catch up on episodes of your favourite shows, text colleagues, and most especially, work in bed. When you create a dedicated place to rest, you’ll start to subconsciously see your bed as a place to sleep and not do other things that’ll make you stay awake at night. For a better night’s sleep, you should get a comfortable mattress. The most popular size of mattress today is the queen size as it’s comfortable while also helping you make best use of your space.
It’s necessary to manage your space and ensure you do not have any distracting items around. One thing you can do is avoid putting a television in your bedroom. Now that we all have smartphones, another thing to get rid of from your room is your phone. From what we know, we are sure that there’s an alarm clock available for all styles and budgets. We know that this can be quite difficult to do, but doing this will help you have a better night.
Set up a restful environment
Set up a room that is ideal for sleeping. Most times, this means quiet, dark, and cool. It can be more difficult for you to sleep when you are exposed to light. You should not use light-emitting screens for a long time right before bedtime. Since you work from home, you’re most likely guilty of this. Just before bedtime, you can decide to do some other things apart from staying in front of your phone or computer screens. You can decide to use relaxation techniques or simply take a bath as this can promote better sleep.
Try to use a fan, earplugs, room-darkening shades, or other devices to create your preferred environment.
Reduce caffeine intake
Even though this may seem counterintuitive, you may sometimes feel disoriented and jittery after drinking too much caffeine. Everyone’s reaction to coffee is different, so if you become anxious after you drink coffee or any beverage that has caffeine, try to limit your intake.
Having said that, it can be a good thing for you to take a small amount of coffee in the morning, and it can be effective to help you wake up; just know the quantity you’re comfortable with.
Implement mindful breathing
When you’re stressed, and if we’re being realistic, almost all work-at-home moms are frequently stressed; it affects your body and your mind. Anxiety affects you and prevents you from having a better rest, increasing your breathing and heart rate and making hormones race through your bloodstream. An excellent way of combating anxiety without medicine is to implement mindful breathing. This practice is similar to meditation; the only difference is that this doesn’t have transcending emotions and spiritual growth – what is left is the sense of calm. When you practice deep breathing before going to bed, it will help your body slow down naturally. All you need to do is simply deeply inhale via your nose for about 4 seconds, hold your breath for 7 seconds, then finally exhale via your mouth for 8 seconds. Practice this for a couple of rounds to slow down your body.
When you have a healthy sleep routine, it won’t only make you have a better day, it’ll also help you become more productive. There are several advantages to working from home, but if you do not establish separation and have a night of better sleep, it’ll be difficult for you to juggle the activities of the day.
