Many of us experience disruptions to our sleep when we are busy or stressed. This can be due to our brains being switched into “flight or fight” mode. When this mode is on our body and brains are alert and actively looking for danger, which makes sense if our danger is from a wild animal but doesn’t make quite as much sense if our “danger” is from a high workload. This sense of alertness is the polar opposite to that state your body needs to be in for sleeping. In these situations, you might find yourself having trouble getting to sleep or waking in the middle of the night with a racing mind. This can leave you feeling tired and exhausted the next day, which may make you less effective at work, which in turn contributes to more stress! 

Here's some tips for sleep during stressful times: 

- If you can’t get to sleep or wake up in the middle of the night, don’t lie in bed for more than about 15mins – if you haven’t fallen asleep by then you’re probably not going to anytime soon. Get up and out of bed and do something boring until you feel tired again. If you have a racing mind sit down with a piece of paper and simply write down everything in your head until your brain has dumped it all out. Then try sleeping again 

- Try to resist the urge to sleep in, at least during weekdays. Keep a consistent wake up time as this helps anchor your body clock and can help prevent sleep problems getting even worse 

- Avoid napping during the day, unless you can keep the nap to 20mins or less. Sleeping too much during the day will have a flow-on effect to nighttime sleeping 

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