COVID-19 has truly altered our usual schedules. Gone are the days of getting up early and going to work.?
Now, for most of us, work starts as soon as we¡¯re up from our bed, with our morning coffee on our desk as we browse through emails to respond to.
Even for the non-working folks, students who used to head to school in the morning, the sleep schedule is not like it used to be, People have been getting up later than usual. However, despite most people getting more sleep, they haven¡¯t been restful.
This is according to a study (published in Current Biology)conducted by researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland, where they analysed sleep patterns of 435 people at a time when the lockdown was in its most stringent state in Austria, Germany and Switzerland -- between March and April.?
Studies revealed that working from home allowed for people to adjust the sleep schedule to match their biological rhythms -- staying up late and sleeping for longer periods with sleep being more consistent between weekdays and weekends.?
Researchers claim that this has added an average of 15 minutes of sleep per night, but this has come at a cost of a decline in the quality of the sleep, as reported by the participants of the study.
Study co-author Christine Blume explained in a statement, "Usually, we would expect a decrease in social jetlag to be associated with reports of improved sleep quality. However, in our sample, overall sleep quality decreased. We think that the self-perceived burden, which substantially increased during this unprecedented COVID-19 lockdown, may have outweighed the otherwise beneficial effects of a reduced social jetlag."
She added,?"Not surprisingly, this unprecedented situation of the pandemic and the lockdown increased self-perceived burden and had adverse effects on sleep quality. On a positive note, though, the relaxation of social schedules also led to an improved alignment between external or social factors determining our sleep-wake timing and our body's internal biological signals. This was also associated with overall, more sleep."
For improving sleep quality, Blume recommends engaging in physical activity outdoors that will help you sleep better at night.