LGR Holistic Wellness

Everyone knows that sleep is important for health, allowing you to perform better in everything that you do. Unfortunately, even though we know it is good for us, getting enough sleep regularly can be hard to put into practice. However, you need to make sure you do, as sleep helps prevent burnout.

While burnout is mostly associated with chronic stress, there is a connection between sleep loss and burnout. You need to get at least 6 to 8 hours of sleep per night if you want to avoid problems.

Why Sleep Helps Prevent Burnout

Burnout is characterized by fatigue and feeling exhausted all the time, and this is why sleep is so important in rectifying the problem.

Sleep Restores Physical and Mental Energy

In particular, sleep helps restore glycogen and adenosine, which are essential chemicals that structure the sleep-wake cycle.

Glycogen is important for storing energy in the brain, but it decreases during waking hours. If you do not sleep, your body cannot replenish glycogen, so you begin to feel drained and lethargic. Adenosine accumulates when you are awake and is what makes you feel sleepy at the end of the day.

There is no replacement for sleep, as it helps restore your physical, mental and emotional energy!

Regulates Mood

Sleep helps in mood regulation. If you do not get enough sleep, it adds to your stress. It can make you feel irritable, anxious, sad, or wiped out – mentally exhausted. If you get enough sleep, it makes it easier to manage your stress and prevent burnout.

Helps You Be More Resilient

Getting enough sleep boosts your creativity, decision-making, self-control, and emotional reactions, which are all essential components of resilience. Your resilience is important for preventing or recovering from burnout because it helps you to cope with, and manage stress better.

How To Make Sure You Get Enough Sleep

If you are sleep deprived, it is time to work on getting adequate sleep to prevent or recover from burnout. Here are some tips for you.

Change Your Perspective On Accomplishments

If you tend to overwork because you want to accomplish more in a day than is humanly possible, take a pause. Think about your priorities and what matters the most to you to give you a fresh perspective. This can help you be more comfortable with working less. Take one step, or one less step at a time!

Simplify Your Life

Try not to make things so complicated that you get too busy and unorganized. Find ways to simplify your life, and you will soon gain more energy, make fewer mistakes, and have more time!

Listen to Your Body

Throughout the day, your body sends you signals when you need to take breaks, eat, or drink water. You might feel irritable or find it hard to concentrate, which means you have to step away and take a break.

Listen to those signals so that you can rest well and avoid going beyond your limits, which can result in burnout. Your mind and body are not as efficient when you do not get adequate sleep and rest, so you should avoid operating below your capacity.

Establish Good Sleeping Habits

Perhaps you need to work on building good sleeping habits to ensure that you sleep adequately. Train yourself to go to bed earlier, wake up every day at around the same time, and avoid activities that can interrupt your sleep.

Avoid drinking caffeine or soda before bed, sleep in a cool, dark room, and exercise earlier in the day. You can also wind down before bedtime by reading a book or taking a warm bath, to help clear your mind. Just do not use your mobile devices before bed!

In Summary

Getting optimal sleep is good for your overall well-being, helping you manage stress and other demands of life and helping prevent or recover from burnout. You must commit to practicing better sleep habits if your life is to improve.

Remember, sleep should be a top priority in your life. Do not cut into your sleep time for tasks that can be done tomorrow. It may sound dramatic, but your life depends upon it. Put sleep first and everything else next.