3 sleep tips from sleep expert Dr Moira Junge
CEO of the Sleep Health Foundation, Dr Moira Junge, recently joined us for a customer-exclusive webinar. Read on for some of her top sleep tips.
How often do you hear the words “I’m tired” in your workplace?
Employee fatigue – also known as worker fatigue – is becoming increasingly common. According to the Philips Global Sleep Survey, 62% of adults around the world say they don’t sleep as well as they’d like and 44% say their sleep has gotten worse over the past five years [source].
We’re living in tiring times.
And when exhaustion is the status quo for so many, this poses workplace health and safety risks, as well as problems related to employee performance and wellbeing.
What can employers do to reduce worker fatigue?
It’s true that encouraging great sleep is beyond most employer’s remit. Sleep is incredibly personal.
But something employers can do is play an important role in spreading awareness about healthy sleep habits.
That’s why we invited renowned sleep expert and CEO of the Sleep Health Foundation, Dr Moira Junge, for a customer-exclusive webinar.
Dr Moira joined Groov VP Clinical Dr Fiona Crichton for an engaging conversation about all things sleep.
Groov customers and their people flocked to this webinar to learn more about healthy sleep habits and overcoming sleep anxiety.
You can access the full webinar recording – and more sleep advice for workplaces – by signing up to Groov.
For a sneak peek of the conversation, read on for some of the sleep tips Dr Moira shared with the Groov community!
3 sleep-saving quotes from Dr Moira to share in the workplace
Dr Moira and Dr Fiona covered a lot of ground in their 60-minute webinar, but there were definitely some stand-out words of wisdom. Here are three of Dr Moira’s most share-worthy quotes for you to share with your team.
1. Let go of the myth of ‘perfect sleep’
If you’re someone who feels anxious about getting enough sleep, it can help to remind yourself that this is normal and ‘perfect sleep’ is a myth.
“The best thing is to reduce any expectations that you must have any kind of perfect sleep. To understand that waking in the night is normal. Every single person wakes. Every time they change body position, they wake.”
Next step: Keep this quote handy for when you next wake in the middle of the night to remind yourself this is normal, and you’re not alone!
2. Focus on what you can control
Is there anything more frustrating than trying to force sleep? Dr Moira advises focusing on what you can control instead of what you can’t. Often this starts with making small changes to your lifestyle.
“The core of what I do, particularly with my background as a health psychologist, is not to make people anxious about sleep and to reassure them not to panic. You can’t get a good sleep by trying too hard and worrying about it and equipping yourself with too many gadgets. You actually have to lean into managing stress and lean into the light/dark cycle and lean into good food and exercise.”
Action: What are three things you can control about your lifestyle that could lead to better sleep?
3. Your body already knows how to sleep
Many of us think of sleep as something we must control and influence, but if we set ourselves up for sleep success, our body knows the way.
“We all know how to sleep. There’s a natural cycle, and it’s called these internal processes and external processes that help us with sleep. There’s this internal thing called the homeostatic mechanism. It’s basically like a sleep pressure that builds and builds like hunger and thirst that helps regulate what we do.”
Try this: School up on the homeostatic mechanism to understand your body’s natural sleep rhythms.
Sign up to Groov to watch the webinar recording
The above tips are just a fraction of the wisdom Dr Moira shared with the Groov community! For a recording of the full conversation, sign up to Groov. You’ll also get access to our full workplace mental wellbeing platform, including an app, wellbeing channel, e-learning platform, and more.
Feedback from attendees
Here are some of the comments we received about Dr Moira and Dr Fiona’s conversation about all things sleep.
“Loved ‘don’t beat yourself up if you can’t sleep, get what you can and try not to worry about it’.”
“Always handy to glean new info and gain reassurance from what I’m already doing!”
“Was great! And covered a good range of ideas and issues.”