Sleep Hygiene: 12 Tips to Improve Your Sleep

What Is Sleep Hygiene?

Sleep hygiene involves the behaviors and setup of your environmental setting to facilitate quality sleep. Being mindful of your sleep hygiene is one of the most important ways to maintain effective sleep. Paying attention to scheduling and what you must do to get effective sleep are all part of your sleep hygiene. Stress, change in environment, and other things in your life can all affect the quality of sleep you get.

Why Sleep Hygiene is Important

Sleep hygiene is important because it helps maintain your overall health. Being sleep deprived affects your physical and mental health in many different ways. Being sleep-deprived can lead to impaired mood and emotions, decreased effective judgment and decision-making, reduced capacity for memory, and increased impulsive behaviors.¹

Symptoms of Poor Sleep Hygiene

Although many like to think that a lack of sleep isn’t affecting them, poor sleep hygiene affects everything from our mood to mental health and physical health. There is a link between sleep and depression, as well as a lack of sleep and anxiety.

The  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that we get about 7-9 hours of sleep nightly. However, despite this recommendation, “a third of US adults report that they usually get less than the recommended amount of sleep.”²

Common signs and symptoms of poor sleep hygiene include:

• Feeling fatigued during the day
• Foggy brain
• Irritability
• Slowed reflexes
• Impaired judgment
• Increased appetite
• Having a hard time falling asleep
• Insomnia
• Lack of motivation

12 Basic Rules of Sleep Hygiene to Improve Sleep

Sleep is something that we all need, however, we differ in how much sleep we usually need. While some people require a minimum of 8 hours of sleep, some feel fine with closer to 7 hours.

Remember that we all have different needs. Rather than trying to force yourself to sleep an extra hour or to reduce your sleep need by one hour, focus on improving the quality of sleep that your body needs. Try implementing better sleep hygiene habits to get higher quality sleep.

Here are 12 examples of good sleep hygiene:

1. Create & Keep a Consistent Sleep Schedule

Understandably, keeping a consistent sleep schedule is one of the most difficult things for most people to do. However, it is one of the most important steps in establishing a sleep hygiene schedule. Keeping a schedule means preparing to go to bed around the same time every night- even on your days off!

Setting a set schedule, such as 10 pm, helps you to know when to start preparing for bed. Going to bed at the same time each night helps to set your body’s internal clock to prepare for the sleep cycle to begin. Over time, your body will automatically get tired around 10 pm because it knows it’s time for bed.

2. Establish a Relaxing Wind-Down Bedtime Routine

Much like keeping a schedule is important for sleep, so is establishing a wind-down routine. If your plan is to go to bed and fall asleep at 10 pm, most people can’t just go into the bedroom at 9:58 pm and fall asleep- they need to prepare their bodies by winding down.

Winding down means reducing the amount and intensity of afternoon and pre-bed activities and increasing the number of relaxing activities. This will look different for everyone. Some people can engage in social activities before bed without being too stimulated, others can not.

Below are ways to wind down before bed:

• Take a bath or shower: Taking a warm bath or shower can help relax your muscles and mind.
• Do gentle yoga or stretching: Engaging in relaxing exercises such as yoga or stretching will help calm the muscles and mind and help get you into a relaxing mindset to prepare for sleep.
• Meditation or breathing exercises:  Using a mindfulness app such as Headspace is beneficial for some people to help stimulate relaxation.
• Turn the thermostat to a comfortable setting: Decreasing the temperature by a few degrees can help prepare the body to sleep.
• Read or journal: Quiet activities such as reading and journaling can help calm thoughts to prepare for sleep.

3. Turn Off Electronic Devices

The blue light from devices such as cell phones and tablets reduces melatonin levels in the body and triggers stimulation, causing us to struggle with sleep. Not surprisingly, some studies have shown that there is a link between smartphone overuse and poor sleep. “Smartphone overuse was closely associated with poor self-reported sleep quality, sleep deprivation, and sleep latency prolongation.”³

4. Keep the Bedroom for Sleep & Intimacy only

Using the bed only for sex and sleep programs the body to associate the bed with only these activities. Many people watch television and do other activities in their bed because it is comfortable, but then find that they are unable to sleep when they want to, because their body does not understand that it is time for bed.

5. Exercise Daily

A regular exercise routine can help maintain effective sleep. However, many people need to be mindful about the time that they are exercising, as exercising right before bed can be too stimulating for the body to sleep.

6. Manage Stress

Stress is one of the leading causes of sleep disruption. It can be very difficult to sleep when you have a lot on your mind. While stress is an unfortunate reality in life, taking steps to manage and decrease it will help reduce (since you just used the word decrease maybe “lessen” or “reduce”?) its effect on your sleep.

7. Avoid Napping, Especially Later in the Day

A long afternoon nap can feel so good. But then it can be easy to regret this when you struggle to fall asleep later at night! Limit naps to 15-20 minutes if you feel like you must nap. Otherwise, wait until bedtime so you can fall asleep easier.

8. Be Realistic

If you have recently changed to an overnight work schedule, maintaining a sleep schedule for you will look different than your partner who works the first shift. Trying to force yourself to switch to a completely different schedule on your days off is unrealistic for most people. Similarly, switching your schedule completely in only a couple of days is also unrealistic- it takes time to adjust your body to a new schedule.

9. Be Mindful of What You Consume Before Bed

Many people often lament that they cannot eat ice cream before bed because it will keep them up all night. Others can’t eat anything caffeinated or seasoned. Each body is different, and we have to be mindful of how things affect our body to prepare best to sleep.

10. Watch Alcohol Consumption

Although many people think that alcohol helps them sleep, the opposite is actually true. “Alcohol is traditionally known to have a relaxing effect. However, persons who consume alcohol in excessive amounts suffer from poor sleep quality and patients with alcohol use disorders commonly report insomnia.”⁴

11. Make Your Room Comfortable

Investing in a decent, comfortable mattress and getting black-out curtains to better darken the room will help to create a space that is conducive to sleeping. If you are struggling to sleep in sheets that do not feel comfortable or the room feels too hot, this will affect the quality and duration of your sleep.

12. Put on Some Comfy Pajamas!

The act of changing our clothing to prepare for the next activity will help signal to the brain that we are preparing for bed. Putting on sweatpants and a loose t-shirt and changing out of stiff work or school clothing will help create a relaxed mindset.

When to Seek Professional Help With Sleeping

There is a direct link between sleep and mental health. Thus, behavioral and psychological treatments such as CBT for insomnia have been found to be effective for those who are struggling with sleep problems. Look for a therapist specializing in sleep disorders by using an online therapist directory or contacting your insurance company.

In My Experience

In my experience, sleep hygiene is something that can greatly change a person’s relationship with sleep. I struggle with insomnia during certain times in my life, and maintaining a routine has helped decrease my need for medications or other interventions to help with sleep. I have found that ensuring adequate time to wind down helps greatly with my sleep.

For me, winding down means reducing – and often even eliminating- afternoon and pre-bed social activities to make more time for quiet and relaxing activities such as reading and writing.