Sleep Hygiene: Adding Tips and Strategies for Improving Sleep Quality 

There’s no overstating how big of a role sleep plays in a healthy and productive life. It’s also one of the first things that gets disrupted when you experience a lot of stress or pressure on a daily basis. If you’ve been struggling to have a good night’s sleep for a while, it’s time to take a closer at your sleep hygiene and what you can do to improve it. 

How do you prepare to go to sleep? What are your nightly rituals and do you have them at all? Have you noticed how certain events or behaviors affect your sleep patterns? Maybe you haven’t asked yourself these questions before, which is ok, because we rarely do before it’s time to change something. Here are some tips and strategies that you can use to boost the quality of sleep efficiently.

Why is sleep hygiene important?

We don’t talk enough about sleep hygiene and the vital role it plays in our everyday lives. We all know too well the feelings of exhaustion and general irritability after sleeping poorly, and if this happens to you regularly, you should closely examine your sleep hygiene.

Sleep hygiene entails your pre-sleep routine, as well as the factors in your environment that contribute to or take away from your ability to have a good night’s sleep. It covers everything from the things you eat and drink to how dark your bedroom is. When several of those elements are out of whack, your chances of sleeping soundly diminish drastically. If you’re not sure what to look for, these pointers could lead you in the right direction.

Leave Your Phone Behind

It’s no secret we spend too much time on our laptops and phones, and our sleep patterns show it. The endless barrage of reels and doom scrolling wreaks havoc on our bodies and minds that should be getting into a resting state, and are instead overwhelmed by the barrage of information we don’t need.

Add to that the fact that the blue light from our devices messes with the production of melatonin, our main sleep hormone, and we’ve got a vicious cycle forming. The solution to this problem is simple – keep your devices out of your bedroom. At least half an hour before you go to bed, put down your phone, turn off its Wi-Fi, and let your mind and your body get the signal that now it’s time to prepare for sleep. It might be hard to do it in the beginning, but it will do your sleep hygiene a world of good.

Calm Your Body and Mind

Rushing around and constantly worrying about things is a lifestyle for a huge majority of people, and winding down from that state can be incredibly difficult. If your mind doesn’t get the information you’re ready to rest, it’s going to continue to run at full speed, and your body will follow along. That’s not conducive to deep and restorative sleep, if anything, it could amp up your anxiety and overthinking to higher levels. 

There’s something truly magical in slowing down and nowadays there are many different techniques that can help you with stress relief and calming your mind. Gentle stretching and meditation are known to help with being present and calm, as well as journaling, and even writing up a to-do list for the next day. More and more people use a weighted pillow to help with anxiety because the gentle pressure they provide lets your body relax and release dopamine and serotonin, making falling asleep easier. Reading in bed is another great way to let go of the day behind you and get comfortable before you go to sleep. Choose your approach or try them all out, and see how your sleep hygiene improves over time.

Having a Routine Helps a Lot

If you’re not a fan of routines because you’re afraid you’ll be stuck in a rut, it’s time to rethink this attitude. There’s nothing your body craves more than well-established routines throughout the day that will help it understand what’s coming next. Having a strong pre-sleep routine will do wonders for your sleep hygiene, as long as you find the pace that works for you.

The most important step here is to go to sleep at the same time and wake up at the same time every day. This might seem hard to accomplish if you’ve never done it before, but it’s well worth the effort. It might take some self-training to get used to a sleep schedule, but restful sleep is the result, and that will improve every aspect of your life. 

Another good idea is to create little rituals before you go to bed. Be it a skincare routine, brushing your teeth, a warm shower, or just sitting on your balcony, breathing in the fresh air, it will signal your body to cue sleep hormones to do their magic. Pair that with a cool and dark bedroom and you’ve got a winning combo for a great night’s sleep.

Conclusion

While there are many more factors that can impact the quality of your sleep, these three are the foundation of strong sleep hygiene. You want to start yourself off slowly and build your sleep routine one step at a time. 

Otherwise, you’re at risk of thinking about too many things you should do that are conducive to good sleep and that may overwhelm you, which is the opposite of what you need. Make your routine fitting to your lifestyle, and many nights of sound sleep will follow.