Ultimate Guide to Improve your Sleep Hygiene!!
Updated: Nov 5, 2023
Hi friends, many of us have difficulty having sleep once in a while. But sometimes, these sleep difficulties persist for many days to weeks. Poor sleep not only spoils your nights but also affects your whole day. After poor sleep, we feel tired throughout the day and also have difficulty concentrating at work. Some might even feel irritable the whole day. Some might begin to have anxiety and worries about whether they would be able to get proper sleep the coming night or not. One of the most common reasons for sleep disturbance is one's lifestyle.
For a major population, sleep disturbances can be resolved by a few tweaks in the lifestyle. That is by following proper sleep hygiene, which basically is just some healthy ways to improve your sleep quality and quantity. Here I’m sharing some sleep hygiene tips with you:
Regular Sleep Intervals: You should try to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. That would help maintain your biological clock. Regular sleep timings should ideally be followed all the days which means during the weekends also as we require an average duration of 6-8hrs of sleep. Irregular schedules might result in poor sleep which may affect the mood and performance the next day.
Avoid Daytime Naps: Sleeping in the daytime might result in delayed onset of sleep at night again affecting the sleep-wake cycle.
Avoid bed use in the daytime: The bed should be used only for sleep and sex. Avoid using the bed for work.
Bedroom environment: Create a sleep-inducing environment in the bedroom. There should be dim lighting in the bedroom. The bedroom should be in such a location where the disturbance from outside noise is least. Keep dark curtains to block lights from outside. You can use an eye mask and earplugs if needed. The mattress and pillows should be comfortable. Maintain the room temperature and proper ventilation.
Avoid alcohol: If one has difficulty in having a good sleep, he/she should avoid consuming alcohol for 4-6 hours before going to bed. Though alcohol has sedative properties, it has been observed to decrease sleep quality. It also worsens sleep apnea.
Avoid tobacco: One should avoid tobacco after the evening as it also causes difficulty in getting sleep. Apart from that, respiratory difficulties arising from tobacco also worsen sleep quality.
Avoid caffeine: Of course, caffeine has to be avoided after evenings as it has stimulant properties and would, therefore, cause difficulty in attaining sleep.
Exercise: You should exercise for at least 30-45 minutes, not less than 4-5 hours before sleep time. Exercise will get you tired which would help in better sleep. And be regular at it every day!!
Avoid heavy meals at night: Avoid having a heavy dinner. If you feel hungry even after dinner near your bedtime, you can have some light snacks.
Avoid light-emitting devices: Using light-emitting devices like laptops, TV, tablets and mobiles confuse the brain with daylight. So you should avoid/limit the use of these devices post-dinner. If you require some entertainment then prefer listening to audio songs. It helps induce sleep in some individuals.
Avoid force sleeping: If you are not able to sleep after lying down for 15-20 minutes. You should get to another room for some time and try doing something boring like reading a book/newspaper. Avoid doing interesting/refreshing activities.
Remove the clock from the bedroom: Sometimes, repeatedly checking the time while unable to sleep further develops or worsens the anxiety resulting in sleep disturbances.
Following proper sleep hygiene may help in solving sleep-related problems in the majority of the population. But still, some with severe sleep disturbances might require help from experts and avoid self-medication. In that case, they are encouraged to visit a psychiatrist for further assessments.
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