30% of Americans Lose Sleep Over Work—Here Are 11 Things That Might Help

When you’re so focused on your career, it can be easy to forget that what you do after work might be just as important as what you do at the office. That goes for hobbies, exercise, and especially sleep.

Written by Stav Ziv for The Muse

But even if you know that sleep is important for your productivity and success at work and are trying to make it a priority, you might have trouble falling and staying asleep. And sometimes it’s work itself that’s causing the problem.

Nearly a third (30%) of Americans said they occasionally lose sleep because they’re worried about work, according to a recent survey of 1,000 Americans performed by GfK Custom Research for Bankrate. It’s even more prevalent among Gen Xers and millennials—at 37% and 39% respectively—compared with 22% of baby boomers.

Work didn’t quite top the list of topics that worried Americans; 41% said they occasionally lose sleep over relationships and 36% said the same about money. But the latter might very well be tied to work too.

Whether it’s work, money, relationships, health, politics, or something else on your mind that’s making it hard to get the rest you need to get ahead, a lack of sleep could seriously interfere with the career goals you’re working so hard to reach.

So here are 11 things to try if you can’t quite figure out how to fall asleep:

1. Stop watching TV before bed
2. Make your to-do list at night
3. Use Night Shift, Flux, or another tool to adjust the light your devices emit before bed
4. Better yet, stop looking at your phone and other devices right before bed
5. Try this simple breathing technique
6. Listen to the Sleep With Me podcast
7. Stick one foot out from under your blanket (yes, you read that right)
8. Ask your boss to stop sending you non-urgent emails at night
9. Instead of thinking about how you can’t fall asleep, recount your day
10. Design your bedroom and change up your organization habits
11. Hold a yoga pose

30% of Americans Lose Sleep Over Work—Here Are 11 Things That Might Help was originally published at The Muse.

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