What is sleep hygiene?
Sleep hygiene refers to the healthy habits and practices that help us get sufficient, high-quality shut-eye on a regular basis. Good sleep hygiene is crucial for allowing our bodies to fully recharge and recover each night.
When we have poor sleep hygiene habits, it becomes much more difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night. We may end up tossing and turning, or waking up frequently. This leaves us feeling groggy, irritable and unfocused the next day. Over the long-term, chronic lack of sleep resulting from poor sleep hygiene can take a major toll on both our physical and mental health.
Key Tips for Improving Sleep Hygiene
Here are some of the most important sleep hygiene tips to follow:
- Stick to a regular sleep schedule: Try to go to bed and wake up at about the same time each day, even on weekends, to sync your circadian rhythm.
- Create an optimal sleep environment: Make sure your bedroom is cool, dark and quiet. Consider blackout curtains, a fan, comfy bedding and a white noise machine if needed.
- Limit blue light exposure: Avoid bright lights and screens like your phone, TV and computer in the 1-2 hours before bedtime. The blue light from these devices makes it harder to fall asleep.
- Wind down before bed: Spend the last hour before bed doing a calm, relaxing activity like reading rather than high-intensity exercise or work.
- Avoid large meals, caffeine and alcohol: Consuming any of these too close to bed makes it tougher to fall and stay asleep.
- Exercise regularly: Moderate activity helps regulate melatonin and our sleep-wake cycles. But make sure to avoid vigorous exercise for a few hours before bedtime.
If you continue having significant difficulty sleeping despite trying these sleep hygiene tips, speak to your doctor. An underlying health condition could be interfering with your sleep. For instance, insomnia and other sleep disorders are quite common.