What is Sleep Hygiene?
Sleep hygiene refers to the habits and practices that support healthy, restful sleep. Good sleep hygiene involves following a consistent bedtime routine, optimizing your sleep environment, and avoiding things that can interfere with sleep.
Here are some key recommendations for practicing good sleep hygiene:
- Establish a relaxing pre-bed routine. Take time to unwind by dimming lights, reading a book, taking a bath, or doing light stretches. This signals your body that it's time to slow down and prepare for sleep.
- Optimize your sleep environment. Make sure your bedroom is cool, dark, and quiet. Consider using blackout curtains and a fan or white noise machine to block disruptive noise. Also, ensure your mattress and pillows are comfortable.
- Avoid electronics before bed. The blue light from TVs, phones, and tablets can suppress melatonin and keep your brain alert. Avoid using electronics 30-60 minutes before bedtime.
- Limit caffeine, alcohol, and heavy meals before bed. Caffeine and heavy meals too close to bedtime can disrupt sleep. While alcohol may help you fall asleep faster, it often leads to poorer quality sleep later in the night.
- Establish a regular sleep/wake schedule. Going to bed and waking up at consistent times reinforces the body's natural sleep-wake rhythm and can help you fall asleep more easily at night. Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep each night.
- Get regular exercise, but not too close to bedtime. Moderate exercise during the day can deepen sleep. However, vigorous exercise within 2-3 hours of bedtime can have the opposite effect.
- Only use your bed for sleep and intimate activities. Watching TV, eating, working, and using electronics in bed teaches your body to associate the bedroom with wakefulness rather than sleep.
By making small tweaks to your daily habits and sleep environment, you can vastly improve your ability to fall asleep quickly, sleep soundly through the night, and wake feeling rested and recharged. Give some of these sleep hygiene tips a try if you're having trouble getting quality sleep!