We think about our hygiene in certain situations: we know, for instance, to shower after a gym session, or wash our hands after using the toilet. But nobody really talks about sleep hygiene.
If you’re sleeping poorly, it might be because your sleep hygiene practices are poor – or non-existent.
Sleep hygiene isn’t actually anything to do with staying clean. It’s about making sure your daily routines and bedroom environment set you up for a good night’s rest. By setting (and sticking to) a consistent sleep schedule, following a wind-down routine before bed, turning your bedroom into a sleep sanctuary and practicing healthy habits while you’re awake, you can optimize your sleep hygiene.
No matter who you are and what your sleep preferences, you can produce your own tailored sleep hygiene plan to help you sleep soundly through the night. If you can’t remember what it feels like to wake up with a clear head, ready to start the day, you’ll learn everything you need to know about sleep hygiene in this handy guide.
Does Sleep Hygiene Matter?
Yes – more than most people think!
You might think that sleep is overrated, but if you’re feeling grouchy, unproductive, physically tired, or even struggling with poor mental health, it may be connected to poor sleep. Getting enough sleep can improve your overall quality of life in people of every age and background. And considering you can’t have good sleep without good sleep hygiene, it stands to reason that sleep hygiene is important.
It’s difficult to form good habits – we all know that it takes several months of repeatedly doing something before it starts to stick. But once you have that beneficial routine in place, your healthy habits will start to feel natural, rather than like a chore. It’s much easier to form bad habits, as you’ll well know if you’re a late-night scrolling addict or you can’t control your snacking hobby.
Luckily, with a bit of willpower, you can ditch your unhealthy habits entirely and focus on those that are productive and beneficial to your mind and body.
When it comes to good sleep hygiene, you’ll need to look at two factors: your habits and your environment.
While your habits may take a while to develop, your environment is something that you can change immediately.
Considering it doesn’t cost anything beyond mental strength (and perhaps a few worthy investments in the best sleep pillow and temperature-regulating sheets), there’s no reason to delay your journey towards better sleep – so let’s get started!
But First – How Do You Know If You Have Poor Sleep Hygiene?
The most noticeable sign of poor sleep hygiene is feeling unrested when you wake up. If you have good sleep hygiene, you shouldn’t be waking up feeling like you haven’t had the quality of sleep you would have liked.
Aside from the obvious, other signs of poor sleep hygiene are:
- Finding it difficult to fall asleep
- Waking up in the night
- Feeling sleepy in the day
Even if you think your sleep hygiene practices are pretty good, if you’re still struggling with any of the above, there’s a good chance that you could still make further improvements.
Good Sleep Hygiene Tips
Prepare to take notes – this section will discuss exactly how you can improve your sleep hygiene from this moment onwards.
We’ll be covering several tips: setting a sleep schedule, following a before-sleep routine, practicing healthy daily habits, and optimizing your bedroom.
It’s a lot to take in, but you don’t have to implement every single one of these practices into your life straight away. Start with the tips that you feel you’ll benefit from the most, then work your way up until practicing good sleep hygiene feels second-nature.
Tip 1: Implement A Sleep Schedule
If you currently go to bed at whatever time suits you, and set your alarm for different times depending on your work, your brain and body will become confused about when you’re actually supposed to go to sleep. You’ll likely find that you struggle to sleep whenever you attempt to go to bed earlier, but waking up for your alarm seems to get harder and harder every day.
To counteract this, set your alarm for the same time every day. Yes, it can be tempting to have a lie-in on the weekend, but if you sleep for an extra three hours on a Sunday morning, do you really think you’ll want to go to bed at your usual time that evening? Then come Monday morning, you’ll be exhausted again. Having a fixed alarm will help you to get into a rhythm of sleep.
It’s not just your alarm that’s important, either. You need to prioritize your sleep at night, whether that means putting down the book you’re reading, switching off your phone, or walking away from the TV. There are so many evening distractions that it’s no wonder we find it hard to wind down, but setting a non-negotiable time for sleep should help you to get into a better routine.
If you want to shift to a healthier sleep schedule, it won’t work to do it all at once. Trying to make yourself sleep at 10pm when you were up into the early hours of the morning yesterday isn’t practical. Instead, adjust your sleep by half an hour to an hour until you’re properly adjusted to your new schedule.
Here’s a bonus point for good measure: avoid daytime napping. While a nap can give you an extra burst of energy when you need it most, it’ll mean you’re far from tired when it’s time for you to go to bed. Stick it out if you can – and no falling asleep in front of the TV!
Tip 2: Establish a Nightly Routine
Now you know when you want to go to bed, you need to determine how. Sleeping is one of those things – the more you think about it, the harder it is. But if you’re struggling to drift off in the evening, it may be because you don’t have a proper nightly routine.
Do you often find yourself agreeing to random evening Zoom calls with your friends? Or do you sometimes decide to do a spot of evening baking or pick up some work that just can’t wait until tomorrow? These sporadic, spontaneous activities are hardly the recipe for a good nightly routine.
Instead, try to follow the same steps every night before bed. Make little rituals out of putting on your pajamas, brushing your teeth, washing your face and so on. By doing this, you’ll be teaching your body that when you do these things in this order, it’s time for bed.
There’s no point getting straight into bed when it’s time to sleep, by the way. You need at least 30 minutes of wind-down time, whatever that looks like to you. Put down your phone and figure out the best way to calm down, whether that’s stretching, listening to a podcast or soothing music, or reading a book.
Bright lights will make it harder to implement a good evening routine because they can hinder melatonin production, which makes us feel sleepy, so be sure to dim your lights before bed. But that doesn’t mean looking at the TV or your phone screen in a dark room – these blue lights stimulate your brain and also hinder the production of melatonin, so keep them away for at least half an hour before sleep.
Thinking about going to sleep usually just results in frustration when you can’t sleep, so change your goal. Tell yourself that you just want to relax, and do whatever makes you feel that way. You’ll be ready for bed in no time at all.
Finally, if you do find yourself unable to sleep, don’t lie there getting more and more frustrated for hours on end. The general rule is that if you can’t sleep after 20 minutes, you should get up and do something relaxing in another room. When you’re ready to try again, come back to bed in a refreshed state of mind.
Tip 3: Practice Healthy Habits
You might assume that getting a good night’s sleep is linked only to the things you do at bedtime, but actually, our daily habits have a lot to do with the quality of our sleep.
The body’s internal clock, known as the circadian rhythm, helps us to feel awake in the day and asleep at night. Our daily behavior can support the circadian rhythm and ensure we’re setting ourselves up for a good night’s rest.
The most important tip is to make sure you’re getting plenty of daylight exposure during the day. If you work from home, sit by a window and try to leave the house to take a walk outside at least once a day.
You should also make sure to get in some daily exercise – anything that increases your heart rate – which will make you feel more physically tired at night. Just make sure to not exercise too late into the evening, as you want to wind down before bed.
It goes without saying that you shouldn’t smoke – for various reasons that we’re all aware of, but also because nicotine can stimulate the body and disrupt sleep. Alcohol, too, can disrupt sleep and result in decreased sleep, so try and avoid enjoying your favorite tipple before bed.
Unsurprisingly, caffeine in the evening is another big no-no, being a stimulant that will make you want to get up and party rather than lie down and sleep. Caffeine isn’t just in tea and coffee; it’s also in chocolate and some types of nuts, so cut down on any caffeine-containing foods in the afternoon.
Speaking of foods in the afternoon, make sure you eat your dinner at least 2 hours before bed, and don’t eat anything too heavy. Big meals can disturb your digestion, which results in poor sleep.
Last but not least, when you actually get into bed, you should only be using it for winding down. Don’t do anything too stimulating in bed (sex excepted) – working from bed is a big no-no. You want to associate your bed with sleeping, relaxing, and nothing else.
Tip 4: Optimize Your Bedroom
Our final tip is one of the easiest to follow, because it’s all about making suitable changes to your bedroom environment to improve your sleep quality. No difficult habits to practice here – just a few smart one-time purchases.
For a start, if your mattress and pillow aren’t comfortable, you’re going to struggle to drift off when you get into bed. Think carefully about what works best for you. The Dozase cooling adjustable pillow, for instance, is best for hot sleepers, but if you’re exclusively a side-sleeper, you’ll need to prioritize comfort with the Dozase side-sleeper pillow.
For some people, a standard pillow can never be comfortable, no matter what it’s made of and who it’s for. In this case, you might want to consider a special therapeutic pillow like the Dosaze therapeutic pillow, which is designed to promote proper sleep posture and is especially handy for neck and shoulder pain.
Sleep surface aside, your bedding also does a lot more than you probably give it credit for. There are many different cooling sheet sets out there, made from different materials like bamboo and proprietary cooling blends. A cool sheet will prevent overheating, which is one of the most common causes of poor sleep. On the subject of overheating, make sure your room temperature is always nice and cool, whether by opening a window before bed or switching on your air-con unit.
Dust and bacteria can quickly accumulate in your mattress and pillow, so it’s wise to invest in a good mattress protector and pillow protector, which will prevent these things from affecting your sleep.
Finally, consider making adjustments to the light and noise level in your bedroom. There’s not much you can do about living on a noisy road, but heavy blackout curtains and an eyemask can prevent light from getting in, and you can use earplugs or white noise to drown out any outside sounds.
Putting Sleep Hygiene Into Practice
Sleep hygiene may look a little different to everyone, but the tips mentioned in this guide are designed to help the majority of adults in the US. Remember, there’s no need to change everything at once – just take small steps towards the better quality of sleep you’re looking for.
It may be easier to adjust your bedroom environment to begin with, and you might find that simply using a pillow that ideally suits your side-sleeping habits or buying a sheet set that helps you to sleep cool makes a huge immediate difference.
If you practice the above tips and find that nothing works for you, you may need to seek medical advice. A doctor can get a better idea of your situation and offer a plan that’s tailored to your particular needs.
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