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Is your job robbing you of sleep?

It's official, work is taking over our work/life balance so much it's even stopping us sleeping

If you feel like you spend half the night lying in bed worrying about tomorrow's to do list, you're not alone.

It seems that most of the working population are lying equally sleep-less, unable to get their 40 winks because they just can't switch off from work.



Bankers, teachers and nurses are the biggest worriers, according to a new survey by travelodge.co.uk, but many other professions see work-life seeping into their nocturnal routines. And coupled with the fact that we're all addicted to checking our emails late into the night, it's not surprising we're all gagging for good night's sleep.

Surprisingly, the higher up in the work place you get, the less you actually worry and the more sleep you manage. Senior managers get an average of seven and a half hours sleep a night and only take 11 minutes to put work out of their minds.


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But those of us further down the ladder struggle for an hour or more to do the same.

The research also showed that British workers are likely to sacrifice sleep for socialising, as well as working, with almost half failing to even lie in at the weekends because they have too much to do.


Go to sleep

But sleep is vital for all aspects of our lives and if we continue to behave as though we can do without, we'll become increasingly unproductive at work, distracted with friends, unhealthy and irritable.

A fifth of the workers polled in this survey said they'd called in sick as least once due to not sleeping over work worries. Which only makes us even more unproductive.

It's a vicious cycle. But experts agree that you just have to prioritise sleep. Only one in 10 of us currently gets the recommended eight hours, but sleep is very individual and finding your own rhythm is vital. You may be a morning person (a lark) or a night person (an owl), which you'll have to learn to work with.

First step is to switch off and reduce your stress levels. Try meditating during the day and these stress-busters.

Then make sure you and your sleeping environment are set for a good night's sleep - our expert explains how.

And finally, make a pact with yourself to go to bed earlier. Give it a couple of weeks to get used to and to feel the benefit and you'll never look back.

If you're not getting enough sleep but still struggling to actually nod off, speak to your GP.