Sleep hygiene: a simple routine to sleep better

What sleep hygiene is, and what to expect from it

Sleep hygiene covers the daytime and evening habits that support steady sleep: when you get up, how much light you get, what you drink in the afternoon, how you spend the last hour before bed, and what your bedroom is like. None of them is a hard rule. They're small adjustments that add up and help your internal clock keep better time.

It helps to keep expectations realistic. If you sleep reasonably well and want to sleep better, these habits are often enough. If you've had insomnia for months, they usually aren't enough on their own: the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) advises against using sleep hygiene as the only treatment and recommends cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia instead. There's more on that at the end.

Good sleep matters for your dream journal, too. REM sleep, the stage with the most vivid dreams, comes in longer stretches toward the end of the night. Cut those last hours short and you cut out the part of the night richest in dreams.

Keep a steady schedule, especially your wake-up time

The habit that carries the most weight in sleep hygiene is regularity. Your body runs on a circadian clock that anticipates when to sleep and when to wake, and it works best when you give it similar times every day, weekends included.

The time that matters most is when you get up. The UK's National Health Service (NHS) advises getting up at the same time every day and not sleeping in after a bad night, however tempting it is. Going to bed very early to catch up tends to backfire: you just spend more time lying awake.

As for how much, the AASM and the Sleep Research Society recommend that adults regularly get seven or more hours. Work out your bedtime backward from the time you need to be up, leaving yourself a little room to fall asleep.

Light: plenty by day, little at night

Light is the main signal your internal clock uses to set itself. Natural morning light tells your body the day has started. Bright light late in the evening tells it the opposite, even when it's getting late.

In the morning, open the curtains, eat breakfast near a window, or step outside for a few minutes. In the evening, dim the lights at home for the last hour and favor low, warm lamps over bright white overhead lights. If you get up in the middle of the night, use a soft night-light rather than switching everything on.

Caffeine: stop six hours before bed

Caffeine blocks the chemical signals of sleepiness that build up over the day, and it lingers longer than most people think. In a 2013 study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, a large dose of caffeine taken six hours before bed cut sleep by more than an hour, and the participants didn't even notice. The NHS advises skipping coffee and tea in the six hours before bed.

Check every source, not just your afternoon coffee: black or green tea, colas, energy drinks, pre-workout supplements, and some pain relievers that contain it. If you go to bed at 11, a handy rule is no caffeine after 5 p.m.

Alcohol: it helps you nod off, not rest

A lot of people reach for a nightcap to unwind, but alcohol makes a poor sleep aid. A review of sleep-lab studies in healthy adults found that alcohol shortens the time it takes to fall asleep but breaks up sleep in the second half of the night, with more awakenings, and at moderate or high doses it reduces REM sleep.

In practice, that means waking at 3 a.m. and not getting back to sleep, or waking up feeling as if you never really rested. If you drink, keep it moderate and well away from bedtime. The NHS lists alcohol, along with smoking, among the things to avoid in the six hours before bed.

Screens and the last hour of the day

Screens get in the way of sleep in two ways: the light they give off and what they show you. In a 2015 study at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, people who read on a tablet before bed took longer to fall asleep, produced less melatonin, and were less alert the next morning than when they read a printed book. On top of that, messages, news, and a gripping show keep your mind revved up just when it should be winding down.

The NHS suggests giving yourself at least an hour to wind down before bed. A few ideas for that hour:

• Charge your phone out of reach of the bed, and use a plain alarm clock if you can.
• Read a paper book, listen to quiet music, or take a warm bath.
• Jot down tomorrow's to-do list so you're not running through it in bed.
• Skip heavy late dinners and hard workouts close to bedtime; the NHS recommends no exercise in the four hours before sleep.

Your bedroom: dark, quiet, and just for sleep

A bedroom that invites sleep is dark, quiet, cool, and comfortable. If streetlight gets in, try blackout curtains or an eye mask; if noise is the problem, earplugs. Take a look at your mattress, pillow, and bedding as well. If you wake up sore or overheated, they may be part of the problem.

What you do in bed matters just as much. If you work, eat, or argue there, your brain stops linking the bed with sleep. A classic technique from insomnia therapy, called stimulus control, works like this:

• Go to bed only when you feel sleepy, not just tired.
• If you haven't fallen asleep in about 20 minutes, judged roughly and without checking the clock, get up and go to another room.
• Do something calm in low light, and go back to bed when you feel sleepy again.
• Repeat as often as needed, and keep the same wake-up time.

Naps: short, early, or not at all

A nap can help or hurt, depending on how you sleep at night. If you have insomnia, the NHS advises against napping during the day, because a nap takes away some of the sleep pressure you need at night.

If you sleep well and naps agree with you, keep them short and early. As a general guide, the Sleep Foundation suggests about 20 minutes, no more than 30, and before 3 p.m. Long naps often leave you groggy and make it harder to fall asleep at night.

When insomnia needs a professional

A rough patch of a few nights is normal, especially during stressful times. The NHS recommends seeing your doctor if changing your habits hasn't helped, if you've had trouble sleeping for months, or if insomnia is making it hard to cope with daily life.

The recommended treatment for chronic insomnia in adults is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, known as CBT-I. In 2021, the AASM gave it its strongest recommendation. It usually takes a few weeks and combines changes to your sleep schedule, stimulus control, and work on the thoughts that keep insomnia going. It's offered in person and, more and more, through guided online programs.

It's also worth checking in with a doctor if you snore loudly or someone notices you stop breathing in your sleep, if you feel an uncomfortable urge to move your legs at bedtime, if you nod off in risky situations, or if frequent nightmares make you dread going to sleep. And never drive drowsy: if your eyes start to close at the wheel, pull over somewhere safe.

A routine to start tonight

You don't need to change everything at once. Pick two or three habits, keep them up for a couple of weeks, and notice how you sleep. One possible routine:

• Set your wake-up time and stick to it tomorrow, even after a bad night.
• Cut off caffeine six hours before bed.
• Dim the lights and put screens away an hour before bed.
• Keep a pen and paper by the bed for stray to-dos or, when you wake, whatever you remember of your dreams.
• If you can't fall asleep in about 20 minutes, get up and come back when you're sleepy.