Sleep hygiene is simply about the practices and habits that help us establish a consistent sleep schedule, create a sleep-friendly environment, and develop routines that improve our sleep quality. Just as other areas of your life require you to practice hygiene. For example, to practice physical hygiene, you’d need to brush your teeth, wash your hands, and clothes, use deodorant, and so on. These steps or practices all lead to improving your physical health. So, in the case of sleep hygiene, it’s about doing all the right things to improve your night sleep.
Why is Sleep Hygiene Important?
Sleep hygiene is important because YOU need that high-quality sleep. And because getting quality sleep is vital for your physical, and mental well-being.
When we’re sleeping, our body repairs and regenerates tissues builds bones and muscle, and strengthens our immune system. What’s more, it also helps us process and bring together our memories, learn new things, and regulate our emotions.
Or maybe waking up with a smile on your face every once in a while wouldn’t hurt right? Or waking up in the morning without feeling like crap, and exhausted wouldn’t be such a bad idea?
Poor sleep hygiene can lead to:
- A weak immune system
- Being in a bad mood, or irritable or cranky for no specific reason, due to mood disturbances
- Fatigue and lethargy
- Difficulty concentrating and paying attention to important things or anything at all
- Increased risk of chronic diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart issues
- Non- productivity or lack of interest in doing things that matter
10 Practical Ways You Can practice sleep hygiene and create an optimal sleep environment
These are simple and effective solutions for creating your lovely sleep environment. A way you can relax and reboot for the next day, so be ready to start practicing them today.
1 . Stick to a consistent Sleep schedule
Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, including during the weekends. This will help regulate your body’s internal clock and improve the quality of your sleep.
2 . Create a Sleep-conducive environment
You need to make your room a little more comfortable or sleep-worthy: dark, quiet, and cool. Also, invest in a comfortable mattress and pillows, cause they’re very important when it comes to sleeping. Additionally, consider using earplugs, a white noise machine, or blackout curtains if necessary. The earplugs will come in especially handy if your roommate isn’t so considerate about the noise they might be making. Or you live in a noisy area, and need to block out the noise, they’ll come in handy too.
3 . Set a relaxing evening routine
Develop a calming pre-sleep routine to tell it that it’s time to wind down. Some things you can do include:
- Reading a book or listening to soothing music
- Taking a warm bath or shower
- Practice relaxation techniques, such as meditation and deep breathing or muscle relaxation
Although if you have other ways you usually like to wind down you could do those too. However, ensure that they are genuinely calming activities and won’t be a distraction.
4 . Stay away from Screens before Bed
The blue light emitted from smartphones, tablets, and computers can suppress the production of melatonin (a sleep hormone), which makes it harder to fall asleep. You need to be disciplined enough to practice this habit if you want to improve your sleep hygiene. Also, if it is the reason you’re finding it hard to sleep stay asleep.
Therefore avoid screens for at least an hour before it’s time to sleep. Use blue light filtering glasses, apps, or software, to protect your eyes.
5 . Don’t engage in high-energy activities before bedtime
Steer clear of activities that can stimulate your brain, and body before bedtime, or ones that elevate your heart rate. So, you need to do the following things:
- Avoid intense exercise, playing video games, scrolling on Instagram, and watching vlogs, or exciting movies.
- Try to finish eating at least 2-3 hours before bedtime
6 . Get Morning Sunlight Exposure
Get some Vitamin D by exposing yourself to natural sunlight in the morning helps regulate your circadian rhythms. Two things you can do to make this happen is to:
- Spend some time outside in the morning
- Open your curtains or blinds to let sunlight in
7 . Avoid naps
Now, naps aren’t a bad thing, however, they can interfere with your inability to sleep well at night. Instead, try to limit your naps to 20 to 30 mins, and don’t nap close to bedtime.
8 . Stay active during the day
Doing some exercises or other forms of physical activity can help improve sleep hygiene. So, therefore, aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per day. However, avoid vigorous exercise within a few hours of bedtime.
However, some people find working out close to bedtime helps them sleep better due to tiring out after the workouts. So, you can test it out and see how it feels for you, if it makes it harder to sleep then refrain from doing it.
9 . Manage stress
Stress can keep you from sleeping; falling asleep, and staying asleep till it’s time to wake up. So therefore, engage in stress-reducing activities to help clear your head, and relax your body before bed. Examples of ways you can practice it include:
- Practicing yoga, tai chi, or qigong
- Journaling, meditation, or deep breathing exercises
- Taking an evening stroll
- Going off social media for a bit
- Reducing communication with someone or people who are stressing you out
10 . Limit caffeine and Nicotine
Both caffeine and nicotine can disrupt sleep patterns so reduce your intake, to prevent sleep disturbances. Therefore, avoid consuming caffeine and nicotine at least 4 to 6 hours before you want to sleep.
Here are my special tips for practicing sleep hygiene
1 . Keep a clean room: A clean room is a clean mind, so clean your room, declutter what needs to be decluttered, and create some space for you.
2 . Make sure it has fresh air: Try to ensure your room has some fresh air coming in. Sometimes stale air can make your body uncomfortable, which ends up making you unable to breathe properly, and sleep well. So, find a way to get some different air into your bedroom to clear out the stale air. You’d be surprised at how much a fresh-aired bedroom can do a lotta wonders.
3 . Remove objects or unwanted things from your bed: Why are you sleeping with so many things on your bed? Are they also trying to get some night’s sleep? Try to clear out your bed, and free up space for YOU to sleep in. Remove those clothes, shoes, towels, headgear, and other items from your bed please, they’re not meant to be there. Your bed is meant for you, and not them, clear them today OKAY?
4 . Clean your sheets: Dirty sheets isn’t it please, you’d never be fully comfortable sleeping on them every night. They just wouldn’t feel nice on your skin, which can interfere with how well you sleep whilst they’re on. Take the time to wash them, and get them clean so you can give your body something clean to lie on.
5 . Avoid eating too late: While there are some exceptions to having a very late dinner, eating too late is not ideal. It can cause you to feel so bloated and, therefore uncomfortable. You wouldn’t even know how to lie down cause you’d be so full and struggling to relax and stay calm. Why are you eating so late?
Okay if you have to eat late, then have a light meal, you don’t have to fill your stomach to the point of extreme discomfort.
If you want to practice sleep hygiene, you need to eat earlier and if not possible then a lighter meal at dinner time. There’s no need to do that, it is completely unnecessary, a light dinner can still do the job, so give yourself a break. Besides you can always have some more of that dinner in the morning if you want to eat it.
The bottom line
The point is you just need to pay more attention to your daily habits to find what could be hurting your sleep schedule, and start practicing habits that improve sleep quality. However, keep in mind that it may take some time before you start noticing any difference and that’s okay. And who knows, you could see a difference on the first night.
That said, be patient, and do not hesitate to seek professional help if you continue to struggle with sleep.
