Sleep Hygiene

Good sleeping habits are crucial for developing a healthy lifestyle. It’s important to feel well-rested and energized in the morning prior to starting your day. Paying attention to sleep hygiene is one of the many ways that you can set yourself up for better sleep. Sleep hygiene is the practice of maintaining a relaxing bedroom environment and night routine to promote comfortable and uninterrupted sleep. It’s important for maintaining physical and mental health by improving productivity and overall quality of life.  

It’s recommended that adults get 7-8 hours of sleep per night and children get 8-9. If you are suffering from sleepless nights, daytime tiredness, or experiencing frequent sleep disturbances, it might be time to try some new sleep hygiene tactics to improve sleep quality. 

Maintaining a set routine 

Having a set time to wake up and sleep every night is crucial to develop a consistent circadian rhythm. It’s easy to get into the habit of waking up late on weekends and early on weekdays, however this isn’t feasible for your body. Try to find a time that you can wake up consistently (whether it is a weekday or a weekend) so that you begin to naturally feel sleepy around these times. Additionally, try not to take naps for too long as they can throw off your sleep schedule during the night.  

Cultivate healthy daily habits 

Bedtime habits aren’t the only important part of good sleep hygiene. It’s also key to incorporate positive routines during the day to support your circadian rhythm. These include daily exercise, reducing caffeine intake after noon, getting daily sun exposure, and reducing alcohol and nicotine consumption.  

Optimize your bedroom 

Your sleep environment is the central part of maintaining sleep hygiene. Although comfort varies from person to person, there are a few commonalities that can create a tranquil environment in your bedroom. Having comfortable bedding, setting your room to a cool temperature, and drowning out external noise can help your sleep quality quite a bit.  

Although comfort can vary from person to person, the basic concept of optimizing your environment for better sleep quality applies to just about everyone. For this reason, it’s important to use these tips to test different environmental and personal factors which can improve sleep quality. It’s not, however, the only thing that can impact your sleeping quality. Sleep disorders including insomnia and sleep apnea are fairly common and this may require seeing a doctor to assess your specific needs.