Getting quality sleep that allows you to stay asleep longer and wake up feeling rested is essential for your health, productivity, and well-being. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep per night to feel well-rested. How you spend your daytime and the habits you follow at bedtime have a significant impact on how quickly and soundly you dope off, as well as how long you stay asleep through the night.
Using tips to establish good sleep hygiene, minimize stress, keep consistent sleep schedules, prepare for bed properly, and maintain a dark and quiet sleep environment can help you make falling in sleep sooner, sleep more soundly, and feel sleepy earlier. Implementing these best practices will help you back to a restful, rejuvenating night of sleep so you can wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day.
1)Establish a consistent and relaxing bedtime routine
Creating a relaxing and repeatable bedtime routine is key to improving your sleep quality and sleeping through the night.
Follow these tips for a perfect bedtime routine:
Establish a consistent sleep schedule – Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. This helps regulate your body’s internal clock and optimize your sleep. Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep per night for adults.
Wind down with calming activities – Avoid screens, bright lights, and strenuous exercise close to bedtime. Instead, read a book, take a warm bath, light candles, or do some light stretching.
Limit caffeine and nicotine – Cut off coffee, tea, and nicotine 2-3 hours before bed to reduce the likelihood of trouble falling asleep or staying asleep.
Practice relaxation techniques – Meditation, deep breathing, or a gentle yoga session can help calm your mind and body. Listen to relaxing music, a podcast, or an audiobook.
Establish a calming and consistent pre-sleep routine – A routine that helps you unwind at the same time each night, such as a shower followed by light reading, works best. Keep the lights dimmed.
2)Improve your sleep environment
Your sleep environment has a significant impact on your sleep quality and duration. Making some simple changes to your bedroom can help reduce sleep aids, sleep disorders, sleep problems and waking up in the middle of the night.
Here are some tips to improve your sleep environment:
• Keep the room dark. Use blackout curtains or an eye mask if necessary. Darkness helps your body produce melatonin and sleep more soundly. Even a night light or LED lights can disrupt your sleep.
• Use a white noise machine or sound conditioner. If you have trouble falling asleep due to outside noise, white noise can help mask unwanted sounds. An overall relaxing, consistent sound is best.
• Keep the room quiet. Use earplugs, a white noise machine, or sound conditioner if you have excessive outside noise pollution. Dogs, roommates, or other people moving around at night can wake you up or make it hard to fall back asleep.
• Control the temperature. Use breathable bedding materials and keep the room mildly cool, around 60-67 degrees F. Having a cool sleeping environment promotes deeper, longer-lasting sleep.
• Get a comfortable mattress and pillows. If you have chronic back or neck pain from an old or poor-quality mattress, it can be difficult to sleep soundly through the night. Mattress and pillows are worth investing in for optimum sleep.
• Use blackout curtains or an eye mask if necessary. Keeping lights, TVs, electronics, alarm clocks and other lights away from the head of your bed will keep your space dark at night for the most conducive sleeping environment.
3)Reduce stress and anxiety
Chronic stress and anxiety are enemies of good sleep and long, restorative nights. High levels of cortisol and adrenaline, the stress hormones, can make it difficult to fall sleep or stay-asleep.
Here are some tips to reduce stress and anxiety for insomnia relief and healthier sleep:
• Practice relaxation techniques – Meditation, deep breathing, mindfulness, and gentle yoga are very effective for calming the mind and body. Do them daily, especially before bed.
• Exercise daily – Exercise is a great outlet for your anxiety and stress. Aim for 30-60 minutes a day of walking, yoga, strength training, or other moderate exercise most days. But finish exercise several hours before bed.
• Challenge stress-provoking thoughts – Notice the thoughts that cause anxiety and try to adopt a more positive and realistic mindset. Try cognitive behavioral therapy techniques.
• Eat a balanced, nutrient-rich diet – Focus on whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein. Limit excess sugar, caffeine, and processed foods. Staying hydrated also helps reduce stress and anxiety levels.
• Practice self-care – Make time for hobbies, social interaction, and activities that you find relaxing and rejuvenating. Take a bath, read a book, get a massage, or do something you enjoy.
4)Stick to a consistent sleep schedule
Establishing a regular sleep-wake cycle is key to sleeping longer hours at night. By going to bed and waking up at the exact same time every day, even on weekends, you reset your body’s internal clock and optimize your sleep drive.
When you maintain a consistent and relaxing bedtime routine, your body learns to become drowsy at the same time each night.
Over time, sticking to a strict sleep schedule conditions your body to sleep longer and more soundly. By avoiding naps, keeping a dark and quiet environment, and managing stress during the day, you can achieve 7-9 hours of sleep per night for more energy and a healthier body and mind.
Committing to lifelong good sleep hygiene and patience through the adjustment process leads to sweet, uninterrupted sleep for longer durations.
5)Limit daytime napping
Limiting daytime napping is one of the best sleep tips for achieving healthy, longer sleep at night. When you nap during the day, it disrupts your nighttime sleep drive and makes it harder to falling in sleep at night.
By avoiding naps, you build up a sleep deficit that your body makes up for by sleeping more soundly and longer stretches at night.
Getting enough continuous sleep at night has significant benefits for sleep apnea, weight management, heart health, and mood. While the occasional short nap is fine, napping regularly or for more than 30 minutes a day reduces your nighttime sleep time and impairs sleep quality.
At night, your body releases hormones like melatonin to ensure you sleep deeply in cycles. Without naps, these hormone releases can be more robust, leading to more restorative sleep.
By sticking to a consistent and nap-free schedule, you condition your body and mind to associate being awake with daytime hours and being asleep at night. This helps create a healthy circadian rhythm and sleep-wake cycle for optimal sleep.Â
6) Avoid large meals, screens, and bright lights before bed
Oh yes, Avoiding large meals, screens, and bright lights before bed helps you sleep longer hours at night for several reasons:
• They stimulate your body and mind, making it harder to fall in sleep. Large meals, screen time, and bright lights activate your body and make you feel more alert. When you expose yourself to these stimuli close to bedtime, it takes longer to unwind and feel sleepy. This delays your sleep time and reduces total sleep time.
• They suppress the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin. Melatonin is released in the evening to make you feel drowsy. Exposure to light, stimulants, and high-energy activities in the hour before bed inhibits melatonin production, making it harder for you to get sleepy.
• They can disrupt your sleep cycles. The sleep cycle has periods of light and deep sleep. Engaging in stimulating activities too close to bedtime can cause you to enter light sleep first, disrupting deeper stages of sleep. This makes you feel groggier upon waking up after a shorter sleep duration.
• They lead to insomnia and disturbed sleep. Avoiding stimuli in the evening helps ensure uninterrupted, high-quality sleep. Exposure to large meals, electronics, bright lights, and stress hormones too close to bed can lead to insomnia, frequent waking, and an enduring state of sleep deficiency. This circadian mismatch prevents rejuvenating sleep.
• Your body never fully relaxes. When you avoid stimulation before bed, your body’s systems can power down for sleep. But exposure to high-energy inputs means your body stays in a powered-up state until later at night or upon waking. This makes it harder to achieve that restorative sleep state needed for 7-9 hours of continuous, refreshing sleep.
In summary, giving yourself 1-2 hours without stimulation before bed through avoiding large meals, screens, and bright lights helps ensure you unwind fully, release melatonin, enter deep sleep stages, sleep more soundly through the night, and achieve longer periods of restorative sleep.
Good sleep hygiene leads to health, productivity, and daytime alertness.
7)Speak to your doctor if needed
Speaking to your doctor about your sleep issues and getting customized tips from them can help ensure you sleep longer and better at night for several reasons:
They can diagnose any underlying conditions affecting your sleep :
Conditions like insomnia, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, depression, and anxiety can interfere with sleep. A doctor can diagnose these issues and recommend effective treatment to improve your nighttime sleep.
They can recommend medication or therapy if needed:
If a sleep condition is present or you are still struggling despite self-help strategies, medical management may help. Doctors can prescribe cognitive behavioral therapy, therapy medications, CPAP machines, and more based on your condition.
They provide tailored advice based on your specific situation :
General sleep tips may help, but a doctor knows your full health history, lifestyle factors, symptoms, medical issues, and more. They can give advice that directly addresses your needs and constraints.
• They monitor your progress and make adjustments as needed :
Working with your doctor on an ongoing basis allows them to evaluate how different strategies are impacting your sleep. Tips and treatments can be revised to keep improving your night sleep duration and quality.
• They consider interactions with any medications you take:
Your doctor is aware of all medications you are prescribed for various conditions. They can ensure sleep recommendations do not negatively interact with or impact other treatments you need. Safety is prioritized.
• They provide accountability and motivation:
When you commit to following the advice of your doctor, you may be more successful in actually implementing recommendations and changes. Doctors also see you regularly, so they can encourage your progress at check-ins.
• They know the latest, most effective strategies:
Doctors stay up-to-date with advancements in sleep diagnosis, treatment, medications, therapy options, and more. The advice they give is evidence-based and follows current medical best practices for optimal results.
Final thoughts:
Following good sleep hygiene tips can profoundly impact how long and soundly you sleep at night. Establishing a relaxing bedtime routine, improving your sleep environment, reducing stress and anxiety.
So, keeping a consistent sleep schedule, limiting daytime napping, avoiding stimulation before bed, and speaking to your doctor if needed can help you fall asleep faster, sleep more soundly, stay asleep longer, and wake up feeling refreshed.
Implementing these best practices will affect your sleep for the better and make it easier to get to sleep, stay asleep, and get back to sleep if you wake up during the night.
Achieving 7-9 hours of healthy, uninterrupted sleep each night has tremendous benefits for your mood, focus, weight, heart health, and overall well-being. Backing healthy sleep habits and patience through the adjustment process will lead you to sweet, rejuvenating dreams and better days ahead.
With time and consistency, you will sleep like a baby once again.