Sleep Issues in Your 30s and 40s: A Remote Work Guide

The days when sleep was once sweet...

Once upon a time, you could fall asleep anywhere—airport lounges, noisy hotels, or even at your desk during boring conference calls. When you hit your 30s and 40s, however, your sleep can be as temperamental as those dinosaur dial-up connections. What makes matters worse? You might be working remotely through twilight hours to meet a deadline. And so, you find yourself joining the ranks of the “awake at 3am” club.

Last week, we covered tips on partitioning off your workspace from your sleep sanctuary in your bedroom. This week, we tackle an issue we love to deny: how sleep naturally evolves as you get older

Why Remote Workers in Their 30s & 40s Face Unique Sleep Challenges

Let’s face it—your sleep pattern changes with age. For us folk working from home, these changes add to challenges we face like blurred boundaries between work and home. On top of increased screen time, flexible hours can include late nights. Your sleep may not feel the same anymore.

What's Normal?

According to research published in the journal Sleep Health and supported by the Sleep Foundation, as adults age, they typically experience:

• Waking briefly during the night. As long as you drift back off without opening your laptop, this is considered a normal part of sleep. This include getting up to going to the loo or it could be your brain reminding you about tomorrow's deadline

• Finding yourself ready for bed earlier. Your eyelids might be heavier by 9pm so you’re tempted to roll into bed by then. It might be embarrassingly early, but it's just your body's natural rhythm shifting.

• Becoming a morning person, even if you never were before. With time, you may find yourself slowly converting from a night owl to an early bird. Many remote workers will find this shift actually helps their productivity. For parents, client calls can be over well before your little ones wake up.

• Being more sensitive to your environment. You may become a light sleeper. Even the rustle of leaves might wake up you up before your alarm goes off. That partner snoring or the cat walking across your keyboard at night suddenly seems much more disruptive.

These patterns are supported by studies like those summarized in an article published in Sleep Med Clin., which describes biological changes to sleep starting in midlife.

Red Flags: When to Seek Help

While some changes are expected, others might signal issues that deserve attention, especially if they're affecting your work performance:

• You can't fall asleep despite being exhausted after a day of back-to-back video calls. Chronic insomnia can seriously impact your cognitive function (NHS: Insomnia).

• You're nodding off during important meetings. Excessive daytime sleepiness, even with flexible working hours, isn’t normal and could point to underlying issues.

• Your partner complains about your heavy snoring or notices breathing pauses. Sleep apnea is more common in midlife and can worsen with the sedentary nature of remote work.

• You experience uncomfortable sensations in your legs when sitting at your desk or trying to sleep. Restless Legs Syndrome is linked to prolonged sitting and disrupted sleep cycles.

• Your mood or memory is suffering. If you're forgetting important details or feeling unusually irritable with colleagues, poor sleep might be a factor (NHS: Why lack of sleep is bad for your health).

The NHS Sleep Advice service offers some professional help. Many sleep consultations can now be done virtually, which is great for remote workers.

The Remote Worker’s Advantage

There are pros to being a remote worker. You have unique advantages in adapting to sleep changes. You can:

• Create your ideal sleep environment without office commute constraints

• Schedule power naps when needed. There is no one to judge you, not even your cat if you have one.

• Optimise your work hours around when your energy peaks. This varies between individuals.

• Design a morning routine that supports your shifting sleep patterns. This could include morning meditation outside at around 6.30am to regulate your circadian rhythm to optimize your sleep.

The Bottom Line

Your sleep in your 30s and 40s might not be what it once was, but with some strategic adjustments to your remote working lifestyle, you can still get decent amounts of sleep. Most changes are perfectly normal biological shifts, but don’t hesitate to seek professional advice if your sleep issues are seriously affecting your wellbeing or work performance.

Next week, we’ll explore sleep tracking tools that are particularly useful for remote workers—because if you’re going to analyse your quarterly performance metrics, why not do the same for your sleep?

Disclaimer:

Please note that this blog does not provide professional medical advice nor does it seek to diagnose or cure any medical conditions. Please seek proper medical help if your symptoms gets worse.