S leep hygiene isn’t about how clean you are before you go to bed. It’s about how healthy your sleeping habits are, and how well you are sleeping. Sleep is one of the most important things required for human survival and necessary brain functioning. Therefore, it is important to have good sleep hygiene practices.
Keep a Consistent Sleep Schedule
Keeping a consistent sleep schedule automatically trains your body’s circadian rhythm, which is your natural alarm clock. Well, sort of. It’s what dictates when you will be sleepy and when you will wake up. The best way of having consistent sleep schedules is setting a proper bedtime and sticking to it no matter what happens unless it’s a very serious emergency.
Whatever you’re doing can wait, and you can get to it tomorrow. If you have a consistent sleep schedule, you will likely be fresh throughout the day and will not suffer from daytime sleepiness.
Create a Bedtime Routine
If you have trouble sleeping, you should try creating a bedtime routine. This could be related to doing something for yourself that would relax you enough to sleep, or this could be related to doing something healthy for your body such as skincare.
You can incorporate things such as yoga, calming stretches, warm baths, lighting candles, using essential oils, or even reading a few pages of your favorite book. This will get your mind to unwind and help you sleep better.
Stop Using Your Phone
Do not use electronic devices such as your phone or your tablet (no, not even a Kindle) before you get ready for bed. Stop using your electronics about an hour before bedtime, so that the blue light from your devices does not make your sleep go away.
Your body will naturally regulate melatonin and remind you it is time to sleep if you do not interfere with your devices. Also, keep your phone on silent, if possible. The sound of notifications can ruin your sleep.
Drink Less Caffeine
Wanting to sleep better doesn’t mean you have to give up coffee, it just means you have to try and drink less of it. Also, just a reminder: tea contains caffeine too! While caffeinated beverages may work differently for everyone, such as putting some to sleep, caffeine generally keeps you awake and alert.
You may be more sensitive to caffeine if you barely consume it, so make sure you don’t drink it late at night or in the evening. This will prevent the effects of caffeine from ruining your sleep schedule.
Cultivate a Comfortable Sleeping Environment
Is it shocking, at all, to know that you won’t be able to sleep well in a room with a window that lets in a lot of light? Make sure your room is comfortably dark, but not so dark that you can’t see anything at all. A few rays of moonlight are enough, but if that’s not possible, you can put up a night lamp or some fairy lights to turn on as you sleep. If you prefer, you can spray some nice and soft scent before you sleep and the pleasantness might make it easier for you to fall asleep.
Use Your Bed for Sleeping (Only)
This one might seem obvious, but if you’re the sort of person who works, reads, eats and does everything else in between on your bed, you should stop. You should only be sleeping on your bed or using it for other non-sleep-related activities. This will help your brain associate your bed with sleeping, and the moment you lie down, it will be easier to fall asleep instead of tossing and turning.
Avoid Napping
Leave the tiredness for the night. If you can make it through the day without sleeping or napping in between, do it. This will make sure that you’re fatigued enough by the end of the day to sleep properly and uninterruptedly. If you take a nap, you will replenish your energy, and by the time you should be sleeping, you will not be tired enough.
Exercise Regularly
It might sound absurd at first, but exercising regularly can help you sleep better. It doesn’t have to be an hour-long workout, but just about 30 minutes a day of exercise can drastically improve your sleep levels and also your general well-being. However, make sure that you do not exercise right before bed, as this will only make you less sleepy.
Now that you know all about good sleep hygiene practices, we hope that you will implement them in your life and sleep comfortably for at least 6 to 8 hours a day.
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- hygienic sleeping
- hygienic practices to sleep
