Healthy sleeping practices that support restful sleep are referred to as sleep hygiene.

Because obtaining enough sleep is essential for maintaining both your physical and mental well-being as well as your general quality of life, it is imperative to practice proper sleep hygiene.

Your actions during the day, not only right before bed, might impact the quality of your sleep. This may consist of:

• Food and drink choices
• Schedule
• Evening routine

If you have trouble falling asleep, there are a number of things you may do to help, both during the day and right before bed.

Let’s examine these 12 suggestions in more detail so you can get better sleep.

Even on weekends, make an effort to go to bed and wake up at around the same times each day. By supporting your body’s natural sleep cycle, or internal clock, this can help you go to sleep and get up more easily each day.

Maintaining a regular routine may also aid in lowering afternoon drowsiness.

Make sure you can obtain 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night at the time you choose to go to bed.

Maintaining a regular sleep pattern helps you sleep better overall and stay more awake during the day by regulating your body’s internal clock. In order to align with your body’s natural rhythms, they include going to bed and getting up at the same time every day—even on weekends. This behavior promotes more restful sleep and aids in the treatment of insomnia and other sleep problems.

You may relax and get ready for sleep by following a soothing nighttime ritual. Maintaining consistency throughout the process aids in your body’s recognition of nighttime. You might be able to get to sleep faster with this.

About 30 to 60 minutes before you go to bed is the ideal time to begin your regimen.

You can do whatever that helps you feel the most at ease as long as it doesn’t require using a blue light-emitting gadget. Here are some suggestions:

• Have a warm shower or bath. Not only does the water feel soothing at the time, but the subsequent dip in body temperature as you cool down might put you to sleep.
• To aid with the relaxation and release of tension in your muscles, try some yoga or mild stretches.
• Take a few minutes to meditate to help your mind and body relax.
• Try focusing on your breathing as you listen to some relaxing music.
• Take some time to read a book, but steer clear of blue-light-emitting electronic reading gadgets.

Steer clear of anything too intense or demanding, such as laborious discussions or projects.

A peaceful nighttime routine can significantly enhance the quality of your sleep. Establish a regular bedtime, turn down the lights an hour before bed, do something calming like read or practice meditation, stay away from electronics, and make sure the bedroom is cool and cozy. For a nightly ritual to be beneficial, consistency is essential.

Blue light, which is emitted by electronics like phones, can lower melatonin levels in the body. It’s comparable to how exposure to sunlight may heighten feelings of awakeness.

The hormone that regulates your sleep/wake cycle is called melatonin. It might be more difficult to fall asleep when your energy levels are low.

Blue light-emitting devices can also keep your brain active, which makes it more difficult to fall asleep.

Even if you’re not aware of it, keeping your phone next to your bed might cause sleep disturbances. Your sleep may be disturbed by unexpected light bursts in the middle of the night, buzzing, and message alerts.

Aerobic exercise, even for just 30 minutes a day, can enhance your general health and quality of sleep. The advantages of exercising outside may be amplified since exposure to natural light helps to optimize your sleep cycle.

Don’t worry if you are unable to go outside. Frequent exercise indoors might also improve your quality of sleep.

However, refrain from working out an hour or two before going to bed. Your body temperature and activity levels may rise as a result, making it more difficult for you to fall asleep.

Try practicing stretches or yoga if you feel like exercising later in the day.

After consuming caffeine, its effects might last for three to seven hours (Trusted Source). This implies that you could stay up and aware for far longer than you’d want after having a cup of coffee in the afternoon.

Although it’s generally advisable to restrict your caffeine use to the morning, bear in mind that each person has a unique caffeine tolerance.

While some people might be able to stop drinking by midafternoon, others would need to stop much earlier in order to get to sleep.

You may be more susceptible to the effects of caffeine the less of it you take in.

You could find it easier to fall asleep and remain asleep if you arrange your sleeping space properly.

The ideal temperature for sleeping in a bedroom is usually between 60 and 67°F (15.6 and 19.4°C).

It’s also critical to check that your bed linens, pillows, and mattress are comfy. It could be simpler for you to fall asleep and remain asleep if you are more comfortable.Do you have any recommendations? Explore our marketplace, which offers editor-trusted and expert-verified choices for mattresses and pillows.

A decent set of earplugs or a white noise machine may help you sleep well if you have noisy neighbors or are a light sleeper.

Additionally, to make your sleeping environment as dark as possible, you might want to think about using blackout curtains or an eye mask if your bedroom gets too much light.

Maintain a calm, dark, and cool sleeping environment to get the most out of your sleep. Invest in pillows and a comfy mattress. Cut down on screen time before bed and establish a calming nighttime ritual.

7. Reserve your bed for sex and sleep exclusively

It might be tempting to read, work, watch TV, speak on the phone, or engage in other things while lying in a comfy bed.

But it’s crucial to reserve your bed for sleeping and intimate moments. It becomes simpler to fall asleep as a result of strengthening the connection in your brain between your bed and sleep.

While reading might help you unwind before bed, books themselves have the potential to disturb your sleep if they keep your mind active. Instead, try reading on the sofa before going to bed.

To reinforce the link between your bed and restfulness, keep it reserved for sleeping and having sex. To encourage greater sleep hygiene and closeness in bed, avoid doing things like working or watching TV in bed.

Steer clear of laying in bed and tossing and turning if you’re not exhausted. Alternatively, consider engaging in a soothing pastime until you’re exhausted, at which point go to bed.

Get out of bed if, after 20 minutes in bed, you are still awake. Being unable to fall asleep might lead to frustration or tension, both of which can prolong your awake time.

After getting out of bed, engage in a relaxing activity such as stretching or reading on the sofa until you feel fatigued enough to go back to bed.

Taking a nap during the day might affect your ability to fall asleep at night and increase your risk of waking up throughout the night.

It’s still unknown how much napping affects sleep patterns, although older persons may be more affected than younger adults.

Reducing or eliminating naps might enhance the quality of your nocturnal sleep and help you stick to a regular sleep pattern. While lengthier naps may cause sleep patterns to be disturbed and result in grogginess, shorter naps (20 to 30 minutes) can be advantageous.

You may find that worrying about some things keeps you up at night. How to stop your anxieties from keeping you up at night:

• Before you go to bed, write down your concerns to assist you release them from your mind.
• Put down your to-do list if it causes you anxiety as well. Set your priorities for the upcoming day and the remainder of the week, then make an effort to unwind.
• According to research, using a weighted blanket can have advantages akin to deep pressure treatment for treating anxiety and sleeplessness.
• To help you relax before going to bed, try meditation.