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"Hi, I'm Janet Kennedy. I'm a licensed clinical psychologist and sleep specialist in New York
City. You can find out more about me and my work on my website, nycsleepdoctor.com.
There is an expectation these days that we are going to be bringing our work home and
working 24hrs a day, but the problem with that is that it is over stimulating and it
can really start to be stressful and interfere with your sleep. It is important to set some
limits so that you can have a distinction between your days and your night that allows
you to sleep without raising thoughts and without stressful dreams or night waking.
It is important to set limits so that you can have separation between your day and your
night that allows you to relax and get to sleep without thinking about work and trying
to make less even for the next day.
Be realistic; set a time limit for answering emails and doing work at home. It's hard to
do that when you are accustomed to answering email at odd hours and people are used to
hearing from you. Set a limit to yourself that makes sense for you and your life, it
could be ten o'clock, but try to give yourself an hour before going to bed without any kind
of work activity. Turn off your phone and stop reading emails. When you read your emails
before you go in bed, it just gets you thinking and all those problems can wait at that point
until morning.
Don't bring your phone or laptop in your bedroom. Create a work free zone so that you really
can learn to relax without those things. It might make you anxious at first but you will
get used to it and your sleep will benefit. Another tip that can help is as if you find
you are always thinking about the things you need to do the next day, keep a pad and pencil
next to your bed so that you can write down the things that occurs to you as you are falling
asleep or the things that wakes you up in the night. Try to rule out an hour before
bed to unwind as well, clearing your mind to the things that have been going on all
day is really important to the quality of your sleep.
"