What Is 'Sleep Hygiene'?
- Amber Tout
- Jun 6, 2022
- 6 min read
Updated: Sep 24
Sleep hygiene is an unusual term that has nothing to do with levels of cleanliness, but certain practices can be helpful for those looking to optimise their sleep.
Sleep hygiene is an unusual phrase that polarises sleep in a strange way. The word hygiene implies that good sleepers are 'clean' compared to those who struggle to sleep. This is unhelpful and untrue.
Put simply, sleep hygiene refers to a collection of tips and practices that can help to optimise sleep. These practices are often the first thing that doctors suggest for those with minor sleep complaints.
As a general rule of thumb, if you fall asleep fairly quickly, stay asleep throughout the night and wake-up feeling refreshed without the need of an alarm clock, then you are probably sleeping well! If this sounds impossible, then you're not alone – in fact, over a third of adults struggle to get a good night's sleep.
Here, it is important to know that while sleep hygiene practices may help to optimise sleep, if you are suffering from a more serious sleep problem like insomnia, then sleep hygiene might not be enough.
While temporary insomnia can sometimes be a natural reaction to stressful life events, if you have experienced the following issues 3 or more times a week, for a duration of 3 or more months, then you should consult your GP:
Difficulty falling asleep
Difficulty staying asleep
Waking up in the night and being unable to get back to sleep
Waking up too early
Feel unrefreshed upon awakening
Difficulty with normal daily functioning and fatigue
For those looking to optimise their sleep, the following are a list of healthy sleep practices:
Keep a Consistent Sleep Schedule
Consistency is key when it comes to sleep. To help your body-clock, it is best to go to bed and wake-up at the same time every day – even on the weekends.
While many of us like to sleep-in on a Sunday, spending too much extra time in bed can shift our body-clocks too far, making Monday mornings even harder.
The difference in weekday and weekend sleep-timing can lead to something called 'social jetlag' on a Monday: extreme sleepiness caused by an inconsistency in sleep timing.
Expose Yourself to Light First Thing in the Morning
Exposure to bright, natural light first thing in the morning is one of the best things you can do to synchronise your body-clock and shake off sleepiness. Light helps to shut-off the release of melatonin (the sleepy hormone) and makes us feel more alert. To get more light in the morning, try taking a walk or having your first cup of coffee in an outdoor space.
Avoid Blue Light in the Evening
As bright light inhibits the release of melatonin (the sleepy hormone), it is best to limit your exposure to light in the evenings before bed. In an electric-filled society, the use of low lighting and the avoidance of bright screens can help to prepare your brain for sleep. Additionally, making sure your bedroom is dark can help you to stay asleep, so why not invest in some good curtains!
Keep Cool
During sleep, your core body temperature drops by 1ºC, making it important to keep a cool bedroom if possible (16-18ºC). It may sound counterintuitive, but a hot bath or shower before bed can help to lower your body temperature by sending the blood to the surface of your skin. This helps to release heat and cool you down. You can also reverse-engineer this process by scheduling your heating to come on in the morning half an hour or so before your alarm clock – this will bring your body temperature back up to waking levels.
Avoid Stress Before Bed
It's easier said than done, but try to limit any stress-inducing activities before bed. In order to sleep, you need to deactivate the "sympathetic nervous system" (the system associated with increased heart rate, adrenaline, and the fight or flight response). This means no replying to work emails, or trying to cram in some last minute work or revision! Instead, give yourself time to wind-down in the evening and opt for passive and relaxing activities such as having a bath or reading - try to create a calm and relaxing bedtime routine that you enjoy.
Avoid Caffeine After Midday
Caffeine is a stimulant that activates your sympathetic nervous system and blocks sleepiness. It can take up to 12 hours to leave your body, so try and avoid it after midday if you want to sleep before midnight. Even if you can still fall asleep after a cup of coffee, the caffeine will still suppress the restorative, slow-wave sleep we need, causing us to feel unrefreshed when we wake-up in the morning (and ironically, reaching for another cup of coffee!)
Avoid Using Alcohol as a 'Night-Cap'
Alcohol is another thing to avoid if you want good quality sleep. Although it may feel as if we get to sleep more quickly after a drink, it is important to note the difference between alcoholic sedation and sleep. Sedation is not natural sleep. Sleeping with alcohol in our system prevents the ordinary structure of sleep and leads to mini-night time awakenings, which in turn impacts our ability to function well the next day.
Keep Technology out of the Bedroom and/or Turn off Notifications
If you can, keep your phone out of the bedroom, or at least turn off your notifications. Phone-use exposes us to bright light, is cognitively arousing, and also leads to 'time displacement' (mindless scrolling!), which all eat away at precious sleep time.
Remove Negative Associations
Our brains are association machines! If we spend time working or revising in bed, then we will begin to associate the bed with being awake, cognitively aroused, and stressed. Try to keep the bedroom for sleep and intimacy. If you have no choice but to work in your room, see if you can position your desk away from your bed.
Similarly, if you find yourself wide awake in bed and struggling to sleep, then get out! Try not to get into bed until you are really tired – think drifting off on the sofa and drooping eyelids tired. This way we associate the bed with sleep, rather than staring at the ceiling!
Avoid Day-time Napping (unless you are a shift worker!)
If you struggle to sleep at night, but nap during the day, then stop. Like snacking before a meal, napping for too long before bedtime can remove some of the 'sleep pressure' needed to fall sleep.
If you're a shift worker, your body-clock might have been disrupted by your work pattern, making it hard to get back to a 'normal' sleep routine. If this is the case, you may try to use naps before a shift or after a shift to increase your overall sleep time. Short 20-30 minute naps are best.
Find ways to Reduce any Racing Thoughts and Worries
If sleep is the time when your thoughts and worries start to shout the loudest, try writing them down. Getting your thoughts and plans for the next day out of your head and onto a page can be a helpful evening activity. It is also important to think about good things that have happened, the good things you are looking forward to, or the things you are grateful for (you can read about the link between gratitude and sleep here). Gratitude research shows that writing down Three Good Things before bed can improve sleep quality and quantity (read more about here).
Treating a bad night's sleep with mindfulness and self-compassion is also helpful – everyone struggles to sleep every now and then, and recognising that this night just happens to be a bad night for you is okay (read more about mindfulness and self-compassion).
Create a Sleep Sanctuary
Liking your bedroom is important! Creating a tidy space that you enjoy retreating to and relaxing in and the end of a long day can help you to look forward to sleep. We spend a third of our lives in bed, so why not invest in a decent mattress and duvet?
Exercise
Exercise is good for you regardless of sleep, but getting in 30-minutes of physical activity per day can also help to create the sleep pressure and fatigue needed to initiate sleep later on.
Avoid Eating Too Late
Trying to sleep on a full stomach is difficult! Avoiding glucose-spiking foods (sugary snacks) and heavy meals before bed is also a good idea.
Hopefully, these tips have given you something to think about, but it is important to accept that changing sleep takes time! If you find that you have consistently tried all of the above and are still struggling with sleep, then do think about speaking to your GP.
