Have you heard the term 'Good Sleep Hygiene'? It's often used to refer to your night-time habits, and whether your practice of good or bad sleep hygiene can have an effect on your sleep pattern. If you want to get a better nights sleep, the answer often begins with improving these habits, but how do you start to build good sleep hygiene?
What is Sleep Hygiene?
Our sleep behaviours and patterns are referred to as sleep hygiene, similar to body hygiene. If you are often pulling all-nighters, or sleeping in at weekends to catch up on lost sleep, these are examples of poor sleep hygiene. If you follow a regular sleep schedule and avoid caffeine late at night, these are examples of good sleep hygiene.
Education on sleep hygiene is an essential part of the cognitive behavioural therapy used to treat insomnia and correct disruptive sleep patterns.
Why is Sleep Hygiene Important?
Sleep hygiene is important to ensure that you enjoy restful and restorative sleep. Enjoying good sleep on a regular basis is critical to maintaining good mental, emotional and physical health. Making sure that you get enough quality sleep helps you stay alert and focused during the day, regulates your mood, and helps you function on a daily basis.
What's Bad Sleep Hygiene?
If you wake up feeling tired in the morning, wake frequently during the night, or struggle to fall asleep at night, there's a good chance that bad sleep hygiene is messing with your sleep (1).
What's Good Sleep Hygiene?
The four most important elements of good sleep hygiene are:
1. Temperature-your bedroom shouldn't be too hot or too cold.
2. Darkness-the darker, the better.
3. Quiet-peace and quiet makes the ideal sleeping environment.
4. Comfort- a comfortable place to lie down and fully relax.
Top 10 tips for good sleep hygiene.
1. Say no to caffeine late in the afternoon and evening.
2. Avoid alcohol late in the evening and night time as it disturbs sleep.
3. No heavy meals late at night, midnight feasts will not help you sleep.
4. Keep a regular bedtime and wake up schedule, even at weekends.
5. Use black-out curtains or blinds, or an eye mask to block as much light as possible.
6. Try earplugs to prevent noise disturbing your sleep, especially if a shift worker.
7. Have a warm bath or shower an hour before bed.
8. Listen to calming music or try mindfulness techniques to relax before bed.
9. Avoid watching TV or scrolling online as blue light will disturb your sleep.
10. Take exercise several hours before bedtime.
If you are having sleep issues that are affecting your daily life, it may be time to see your GP. Use these notes to start a discussion with your GP, or, even better, keep a sleep diary for a couple of weeks to illustrate the problems that you've been having (2).
Footnotes
1. https://www.healthline.com/health/sleep-hygiene
2. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/insomnia/
