As scientific research has progressed these last few decades, we’ve come to understand the essential nature of sleep and rest for health, performance and wellbeing.
With the network of experts in our Wow portfolio, we can provide you and your teams with both the knowledge and tools needed for better sleep and rest. In turn, enhancing your team’s productivity and wellbeing. Read on to find out more…
Sleep and Rest Defined
Although sleep and rest have a symbiotic relationship, they are not the same.
Sleep is a complex, unconscious biological experience during which your entire body completes certain essential functions.
Rest is much more expansive and a conscious process – broadly speaking, it is the regulation of your nervous system through active measures, like deep breathing, or from passive side-effects of activities, like nature walking.
Investing in employee sleep and rest
These days our work lives are no longer seen as separate, compartmentalised aspects, but an integrated part of our identities, health and wellbeing. Indeed, companies have started investing in facilities for employee sleep and rest, like sleep pods and meditation app subscriptions.
But why are companies investing in such facilities?
Well, the research has been clear: sleep deprivation and lack of rest negatively impact in all areas of life, including employee performance. It can reduce alertness, impair memory and diminish quality of life. Long-term, more serious health issues tend to follow.
It’s therefore no surprise that work performance and relationships will also be impacted, so it is in companies’ interests to invest in this aspect of employee health.
Action Plan
So, what are some of the things you can do to encourage better sleep and rest in your teams?
DIY
Firstly, you can educate and encourage your employees to apply some DIY improvements.
Surveys show that nearly one-fifth of people consider technology to be a source of stress. So, encourage your employees to take a more curated approach to their digital lives:
- Turn off push notifications
- Switch phones to grayscale
- Keep mealtimes technology-free
- Limit yourself to using only one screen at a time
- If you cannot keep the bedroom technology-free, then get creative e.g. use a projector to play shows on the bedroom ceiling. This prevents scrolling on a tiny screen and keeps you focused on one thing.
Gadgets
Secondly, the following are a few gadgets that may help your team members improve their sleep and rest:
- Lumie Bodyclock. A light device with changing light intensities to improve your sleep patterns – either to invigorate or to wind down
- Dodow. A contracting and expanding, gentle, blue light guides you in rhythmic breathing to slow your breath and enter a more relaxed, sleep-friendly state
- Netatmo Indoor Air Quality Monitor. Measuring air quality, humidity, temperature and noise in your bedroom, the device indicates if these are at sleep-friendly levels
Retreats
Third, you can organise company retreats to destinations specifically designed for sleep and rest. Some destinations we can arrange for you with our travel concierge services include:
- Sheldon Chalet in Alaska – no Wi-Fi or cell coverage, and numerous outdoor activities from aurora borealis-watching to hiking and picnics
- Chiva Som in Thailand – discouraging the use of electronic devices in communal spaces, guests are invited to reconnect with themselves through expert-led treatments
- Villa Stéphanie in Germany – detox digitally with the flick of a switch, that shuts of all Wi-Fi and electronics in your room; then head out to enjoy the spa
- Petit St. Vincent in St. Vincent and the Grenadines – with no Wi-Fi available in the resort, guests can focus on the activities and views on offer
Wow Experts
Fourth, you can bring in the experts. One of the hallmarks of our travel concierge services is the global network of experts in our Wow portfolio. Among the variety of areas and topics covered, they include sleep, rest and breathwork.
For example, you and your team can learn directly about the Sleep Guru’s Ayurvedic system for better sleep, attend a masterclass in the art of rest and sleep, meet with a sleep expert who is a regular guest on TV wellness segments, and much more.
One of the unique aspects of our Wow portfolio is that our experts can travel direct to you. This could be at your office location, or any destination you choose – including one of the sleep retreats we mentioned above!
Our experts can deliver talks in the office, mark the start of kick-off meetings or sales meetings with a presentation, or even provide a virtual keynote address. In addition, your employees can all undertake in-depth questionnaires and reports to learn more about their sleep and rest habits, and how they can personally improve these.
There are a variety of ways to incorporate a Wow expert into your wellness offerings for your teams. We’d be delighted to walk you through these in more detail.
If the ideas in this article interested you, and you think there’s room for improvement with your team’s sleep and rest, then get in touch!
At A2D we create bespoke, tailored offerings to best suit you and your business’ needs, and we collaborate with you to make sure we always hit the mark.
