To put it bluntly- nothing sucks more than barely being able to get out of bed after 4 hours of sleep, knowing you have a full day's work ahead of you. Here's some easy tips on how to avoid that in the first place, and utilize the best productivity tool at your disposal: a great night's sleep.
Why should I care about sleep?
Sleep is literally a legal drug that increases focus, improves fitness, puts you in a better mood, and contributes positively to your all-around well-being. All of these areas can have a positive impact on your remote work performance, and as a result help you secure promotions, get paid more, gain leverage to switch to a better job, and alleviate stress. What's there to lose?
That's not to say you can give yourself a pep talk tonight on how great sleep is and immediately reap the benefits. There’s usually a few lifestyle considerations to make when building your ideal formula for a restful night's sleep. For example: blue light exposure before bed, time allotted for sleep, alcohol consumption, diet & exercise, etc. With these factors, it's typically best to stay on the side of limiting blue light exposure leading up to bedtime, allowing anywhere from 7-9 hours for sleep, limiting or eliminating alcohol consumption, eating a diet comprised of nutrient-dense foods, and pairing that with regular exercise.
With that being said, everyone’s optimal sleep routine/setup looks different. Experiment with those factors and see for yourself how they influence your quality of sleep and feeling of alertness in the morning. Remote workers can especially fall into the trap of working late into the evening, ordering out unhealthy food for the sake of convenience, and sleeping in past a workout. So be mindful of how some of these pitfalls might affect your ability to sleep well and have a productive tomorrow.
Creating your ideal sleep environment
If you're able to (which not everyone is, including me), it’s important to separate your workspace from your sleep space. It's personally a bit of an unsettling feeling immediately waking up and falling asleep to the sight of my "office". Creating separation between the two can mentally help you turn off work mode after a long day, and take some time to wake up in the morning without immediately being hit in the face with the work day to come.
If your living situation doesn't allow for much separation, that's okay. You can still make sure your space is optimized for the best night's sleep possible. Some slight tweaks that worked for me are keeping a fan on while I sleep, using blackout curtains, and investing in comfortable sheets/blankets. Similarly, you might want to think about what's going to lead to minimal noise, ideal lighting, and your preferred temperature as you try and create your ideal sleep environment. Reducing distractions, such as your phone's ringer or a noisy TV, can also lead to minimal interruptions in your night's sleep.
Setting up a sleep schedule
One cool advantage of working remotely- sometimes you can sleep in more! No commute means more time to sleep, or more time to integrate a morning routine that fits your lifestyle. If you're thinking of adding exercise to your morning routine, I discuss that more in this post. Regardless, try and set aside some time before starting your daily grind. Whether it's for coffee, a quick bite, reading a few pages, or whatever floats your boat, diving right into work from waking up can be overwhelming and won't allow you to show up as your best self. Having some sort of a waking routine, even a super brief one like making your bed, can be a great way to start the day off with momentum.
A wind-down ritual is also a great way to ensure you're in the right frame of mind for a good night's sleep. Chamomile tea, reading, meditation, and calming music are all parts of a ritual I've experimented with that have worked well. Personally, limiting food intake at least 2-4 hours before bedtime has also been effective and is shown to help reduce the risk of poor sleep.
Setting a schedule for sleep/wake times can help put more intention behind a good night's rest. If you're not someone who can fall asleep or wake up right away, maybe add some buffer time. For example, if you want to sleep 8 hours and be up at 5 AM, try getting into bed at 8:45 PM the night before and setting your alarm for 4:45 AM the next day (if you need to hit snooze once or twice). Experiment with your schedule and see what sleep/wake times fit best, then stick to it. Your body will get used to winding down and waking up at the same time, and it'll become much easier to consistently build good sleep hygiene.