Brain Experts: 80% of Us Are Doing One Thing at Work That Exacerbates Insomnia

Data has shown that at least one-third of Americans say better sleep would be ideal, whether that means the ability to fall asleep swiftly or stay asleep through the night to wake up feeling fresh and rested. If you knew of a simple little tweak to sleep more deeply, it would be worth a try, right?

Don’t snooze on this news: A study published January 2025 in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology suggests there’s something 80% of us are doing during the workday that many could easily troubleshoot to promote better sleep.

The team of eight psychology researchers set out by asking: “Are technology-related changes to job design (i.e., computer use, sedentary work, nontraditional work schedules) related to long-term worsening of employee sleep health?” Indeed they are, the team concluded, adding that prolonged sitting is largely to blame.

The team analyzed the work and sleep habits of 1,000 workers over a 10-year period to explore how job-related technology use, levels of physical activity, and work schedules might alter various measures of sleep quality—specifically, sleep duration, regularity, insomnia symptoms, napping habits, daytime fatigue and how quickly participants had record of falling asleep.

Based on that information, they divided the sample’s sleep quality into three segments:

• Good sleepers: Those with regular sleep habits, appropriate sleep duration, and little to no daytime tiredness
• Catch-up sleepers: Those with irregular sleep habits, who make up for poor sleep patterns with naps or additional weekend sleep
• Insomnia sleepers: Those with short sleep cycles and some or a lot of daytime tiredness

The research team determined a strong correlation between activity levels during the workday and sleep quality. “Sedentary work is linked to the insomnia sleeper phenotype,” they report. They also noted that those with nontraditional work schedules, such as nighttime work or irregular shift work, were more likely to be “catch-up sleepers.”

This is not the first study to link inactivity and poor sleep. A 2023 study published in the journal Scientific Reports found that regularly being this sedentary—defined in the study as “any waking behavior characterized by an energy expenditure[greater than or equal to] 1.5 metabolic equivalents (METs) while in a sitting or reclining posture”—is directly related to sleep quality. This held true “independent of physical activity levels” during one’s active hours.

Both studies emphasize another important point: Poor sleep could have a much broader impact on your health, such as risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, mental health issues, dementia, stroke, diabetes, blood clots, kidney disease, obesity, and more.

So, it may be time to consider that stand-up desk or movement breaks. Think about it: five minutes of moderate movement for every hour of an eight-hour shift is 40 minutes of exercise that does a body good.

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