Aim for 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, as consistently dropping below seven hours can lead to objective impairments in brain and body function for most people.
If you would sleep past your alarm, it indicates your body is not done with sleep and you are carrying a sleep debt. Avoiding the snooze button helps you recognize your true sleep need.
High anxiety and stress activate the fight-or-flight nervous system, making it difficult to fall and stay asleep. Addressing mental distress is crucial for improving sleep quality.
Cut off caffeine consumption approximately 10 hours before your expected bedtime, as caffeine has a long half-life and can remain in your system, disrupting sleep onset and maintenance.
Alcohol is a sedative, not a sleep aid; it fragments sleep, blocks rapid eye movement (REM) sleep essential for mental health and hormone production, and can cause you to wake up more frequently.
If you are lying in bed awake for long periods, get up, go to a different room, and do something relaxing in dim light, returning to bed only when sleepy to break the negative association between your bed and wakefulness.
For sleep maintenance insomnia, clinicians recommend limiting your time in bed to build up sleep pressure and improve sleep efficiency, gradually extending your sleep window as continuous sleep returns.
Keep your bedroom cool, as your body and brain need to drop their core temperature by about one degree Celsius to fall and stay asleep effectively throughout the night.
Create a consistent wind-down routine before bed, such as meditation, light stretching, or reading, to help your brain transition from wakefulness to sleep, as sleep is not an instant ’light switch’ phenomenon.
After a bad night of sleep, avoid sleeping in later, going to bed earlier, napping during the day, or drinking more caffeine, as these actions can disrupt your sleep schedule and worsen subsequent nights of sleep.
Understand your natural chronotype (morning lark, night owl, or neutral) and try to align your bedtime with it, as a biological mismatch can lead to difficulty falling asleep.
For chronic insomnia, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBTI) is the first-line recommended treatment, providing tools and knowledge to control your sleep long-term.
Taking a warm bath or shower in the evening can help you fall asleep by drawing blood to the skin’s surface, which then allows for a rapid drop in your core body temperature.
The harder you consciously try to fall asleep, the further sleep gets pushed away, making it counterproductive to force yourself to sleep.
If you’re awake in bed, reframe your situation by telling yourself you’re just going to rest rather than stressing about not sleeping, which often allows sleep to return naturally.
Be aware that even one to two cups of coffee in the early or late evening can decrease the amount of deep sleep you get by 20 to 40%, impacting the restorative quality of your sleep.
Limit your daily coffee intake to about three or four cups, as the health benefits of coffee (primarily from antioxidants) begin to diminish and can become negative beyond this amount.
If you choose to consume alcohol, having a glass or two with lunch is less likely to impact your sleep than consuming it in the evening, as even one evening glass can have measurable effects.
Nicotine is a stimulant and a clear disruptor of sleep, so avoiding it is essential for achieving a good night’s rest.
If you are struggling with nighttime sleep, avoid napping during the day. If you do nap, keep it brief (10-15 minutes) and ensure it’s before 1 PM to prevent it from reducing your sleep hunger at night.
Instead of counting sheep, which is ineffective, try taking yourself on a mental journey, such as a favorite walk or bike ride, to distract your mind and facilitate falling asleep.
If you frequently wake up in the middle of the night, remove all visible clock faces from your bedroom, as knowing the time can increase anxiety and worsen sleeplessness.
If tracking your sleep causes anxiety or hyper-focus on achieving perfect scores (a condition called orthosomnia), take a break from your sleep tracker to avoid detrimental psychological impacts on your sleep.
The best sleep tracker is the one you use most frequently, so prioritize a comfortable form factor that ensures consistent use, alongside its accuracy, when making a selection.
If using a sleep tracker, focus on metrics like sleep efficiency (time asleep relative to time in bed), the balance of REM and non-REM sleep, and sleep latency (time taken to fall asleep) for a holistic view of your sleep health.
Aim for a ‘Goldilocks’ sleep latency of around 25 minutes; falling asleep too quickly may indicate a sleep debt, while taking too long could suggest sleep onset insomnia.