Simple habits to improve your rest and recharge your body
And How to Increase WFH Effectiveness
Let’s talk about why you’re waking up exhausted. Do you ever open your eyes in the morning, already feel tired, and wonder if you even slept? Maybe your eyes feel sore or strained before you’ve even left the bed. I’ve been there more times than I can count, and it made me stop and question what was going on. Turns out, the answer was right in front of me, literally! Blue light was messing with my sleep, my energy, and my stress. It was affecting my productivity and my ability to focus while working from home.
I knew I had to make a change. The tricky part was figuring out how to actually limit blue light exposure when our lives revolve around screens. After testing a few things, I found three simple shifts that completely changed how I sleep and work. Everyone’s different, but if you’re struggling like I was, this could help you too.
Cut back on screen time to support better sleep
Blue light is sneaky. It’s not just from your phone or laptop, it’s also coming from TVs, tablets, LED bulbs, and basically anything with a screen or modern lighting. If you work from home, you probably feel like you’re looking at a screen from the moment you wake up until you try to fall asleep. Back when we had commutes, we got breaks from our screens. We talked to coworkers in person or had some downtime on the way home. Now, even our “breaks” are just swapping one screen for another.
When the line between work and home gets blurry, screen time shoots up. It’s way too easy to keep working well past your normal hours, especially when your laptop is always within reach. That’s where blue light becomes a major player in disrupting our sleep and making it harder to focus. According to Sleep Foundation, blue light is a major influence on your circadian rhythm, the body’s internal clock that tells you when to be awake and when it’s time for rest. Blue light exposure keeps your brain alert, which is great when you need energy, but not ideal when you’re trying to wind down.
That alertness from blue light raises your body temperature and heart rate, which are the opposite of what your body needs to prepare for sleep. It also reduces your melatonin production, the hormone that helps you get drowsy. So even if you want to go to sleep, your body might not be able to do it effectively.
The good news is, timing matters. If you get blue light exposure during the day, it can actually help reset your circadian rhythm and improve your sleep later on. That means doing your screen-heavy work while the sun’s still out is ideal for your health, focus, and productivity.
Try this simple rule: once it’s dark outside, it’s time to power down your screens. Yes, it can be tough, especially during those long winter nights when it’s dark by 5pm, but small adjustments go a long way. Maybe swap a few episodes of Netflix for a printed book or go out for dinner with a friend. These activities help ease stress, give your eyes a break, and support better sleep. You’ll also start to notice how much easier it is to focus the next day.
Get Moving!
Here’s something we all know deep down but still forget: movement helps you sleep. It seems obvious, but when we’re busy or stuck working from home, it’s easy to go an entire day without moving much. The less we move, the harder it is to fall asleep and stay asleep. That’s especially true when stress levels are high and screen time is nonstop.
The cool part is that daily movement improves more than just sleep. According to InMovement, when you move throughout the day, it helps your brain function more effectively. Your attention span, motor function, and ability to concentrate all get better. All of that directly affects your work performance and focus.
Plus, when you take a break to move your body, you’re also stepping away from your screens. Blue light doesn’t only come from your phone or computer, it’s also in the lighting above your head. By walking, biking, or even doing chores, you’re reducing exposure and giving your brain a breather. These small actions can make your work from home routine more productive and less stressful. And let’s not forget that the more productive your day is, the more satisfied you feel, and that satisfaction can help you fall asleep easier too.
Build Your (Dreamy) Bedtime Routine
A big part of improving your sleep is creating a simple evening routine. I’m not talking about an elaborate ritual. It just has to be something that helps you wind down and tells your body it’s time to rest. Start by looking at what you’re currently doing before bed. Are there parts that create stress? Are screens involved? What’s something you can do differently?
Your evening routine doesn’t have to match anyone else’s. If soaking in a bath or meditating feels forced, skip it. The key is choosing something relaxing that doesn’t involve a screen. That might be reading, stretching, journaling, or listening to soft music. Whatever brings calm is the right fit for you.
One great habit to include is planning out the next day. When you go to bed with fewer things on your mind, your brain can quiet down faster and help you fall asleep more easily. Especially when you’re juggling a work from home schedule, keeping things organized helps reduce mental stress and support your focus the next day.
Let’s also talk about melatonin again. This hormone helps you wind down, but blue light stops its production. That’s why it’s helpful to dim the lights around your home in the evening. A lower light environment signals to your brain that it’s getting close to bedtime. Another tip is to keep your bedroom cool, a slightly lower temperature can help your body shift into rest mode more quickly.
When you follow the same evening routine every night, your body starts to respond to it. Even if you don’t feel tired at first, by the end of the routine, you’ll likely start yawning. It’s a bit like Pavlov’s dogs, right? It’s just basic conditioning, and it works. I talk more about this on my podcast, Salad with a Side of Fries, if you want to explore it further.
I get it. Asking you to reduce blue light when your entire work from home life depends on screens sounds a little ironic. That’s what I thought too. But trying it made all the difference for my sleep, stress levels, productivity, and focus. It’s about being smart with your time, setting simple routines, and moving your body regularly.
You don’t have to overhaul everything overnight. Start with cutting back on screen time in the evening, make sure you’re moving a bit every day, and choose one calming activity to add to your bedtime routine. Your body will notice the shift, and so will your energy, your work focus, and your sleep.
Wishing you deep rest and a productive tomorrow. And hey, don’t just toss this info under your pillow, put it into action!