Sleep Hygiene: What Is It? How to Develop Good Sleep Hygiene?

Do you feel tired and irritated during the day? Do even small things tend to make you sad, angry, or disturb your temperament in any way? If so, chances are you are not getting enough sleep every night. And it doesn’t have to be a health issue for you to not get enough sleep, it could happen if you have poor sleep hygiene.

Our sleep experts says that if you want to achieve consistent sleep throughout the night, day in and day out, you need to have a good sleep hygiene. Sleep hygiene promotes healthy sleeping habits that allows you to sleep quicker and experience deep sleep. A good night’s sleep will leave you with a positive mindset, healthy body and emotional responses.

But

What is sleep hygiene?What is its importance? How can you achieve sleep hygiene?

If you’ve been having these questions, this blog is for you. Here’s what our sleep advisors had to say about sleep hygiene.  

What is Sleep Hygiene?

Sleep hygiene (also known as ‘Healthy Sleep Practices’) describes a range of behaviours, lifestyle and environmental factors that can improve sleep. Sleep hygiene is useful in improving sleep quantity and quality for healthy individuals across all ages and can be used as part of a management plan for some sleep disorders.

Why is Sleep Hygiene important? 

It is important to maintain a healthy body and mind that allows you to tackle the challenges of the day. And while you are sleeping, your body is doing the crucial tasks of processing, strengthening, and restoration.

Sleep is also the time when your brain is consolidating all the memories and experiences that are important for a fulfilling life. Without enough sleep, your physical, mental, and emotional health will deteriorate. When sleep is such an important part of our lives, having a routine and environment that promotes it must be important too.

Hence, having sleep hygiene that promotes healthy sleeping habits and environment is important. This is crucial for everyone—children, adults, and older adults alike. And since we are a creature of habit, we can promote healthy behaviours consistently until they feel natural in our daily routines.

Maintaining sleep hygiene is not costly and has no risk. All it has to offer is overall benefit to your physical, mental, and emotional health.

How to Develop Good Sleep Hygiene

When we asked our SleepHive sleep experts about ways to develop good sleep hygiene, they mentioned the following points:

• Create a regular sleep schedule

The first way to developing good sleep hygiene is to create a regular sleep schedule. A regular sleep schedule means going to bed and waking up at roughly the same time each day, while aiming for 7-9 hours sleep (for adults). This will help you make sleep an essential part of your body and routine. There are a few things you can do to create a sleep schedule.

1. Go to bed and get up at roughly the same time each day. Whether it is a workday or weekend, try to stick to your schedule as much as possible.
2. Make sure you prioritize sleep. No matter how much you want to keep working or studying, make sure you go to sleep at a reasonable time based on your fixed wake-up timing.
3. Lastly, if you want to adjust your sleep schedule, don’t do it rapidly in one fell swoop. Instead, take gradual steps of altering the schedule by an hour or so to adjust your sleep schedule.

• Have a night routine

How you spend your time before bed can impact the quality of your sleep. It’s important to be mindful of your activities in the 1-2 hours before sleep. Make sure you have a night routine that you can follow to ensure that you get to sleep faster and experience deep sleep. There are a few things that you can do to build a night routine.

1. Make sure to have a consistent routine of things you do every night. This reinforces your brain to realize that it is bedtime.
2. 30 minutes before you go to sleep, you can do some winding down activities such as meditation, light reading or breathing exercises.
3. Make sure you dim the lights of your bedroom. Bright lights prevent the development of melatonin which is responsible for sleep.
4. Avoid using your electronics before your go to sleep. This is to ensure that you don’t have constant mental stimulation before sleep.

• Develop healthy habits

Incorporate healthy habits that can help you promote sleep hygiene effectively. These healthy habits include:

1. Being physically active during the day. If you have a desk job, make sure you work out or do some physical activities during the day.
2. Get some sunlight exposure. Your body clock controls your internal 24-hour cycles, known as your circadian rhythm. Getting enough sunlight during midday can affect your circadian rhythm positively.
3. If you want to fall asleep immediately, don’t consume alcohol a few hours before your sleep time. Drinking alcohol before bed can lead to disturbed sleep for the rest of the night, leading to poorer quality of sleep and more sleepiness the next day (one of the reasons why you may experience hangover)
4. Don’t smoke a few hours before your sleep time. Nicotine activates certain nerve pathways leading to increases in heart rate and blood pressure and spikes in blood sugar levels. People who regularly consumes nicotine may have disturbed sleep because they experience withdrawals during the night which can impact brain activity.
5. Limit the intake of your caffeine. Caffeine may increase the time it takes to fall asleep, decrease your length of sleep, and cause you to wake more frequently during the night. You can also cut down the caffeine consumption later in the day.
6. Eat at least 2 hours before your bedtime.
7. Don’t use your bed for any other activity.

• Bedroom optimization

Apart from creating a sleep schedule and cultivating good sleep habits, another way to develop a good sleep hygiene is to optimize your bedroom. The most important element in your bedroom is your bed and mattress. Having an optimized bed and mattress can do wonders for your sleep.

Like exercise and good nutrition, sleep is a cornerstone of health. That’s why since 2004, we’ve invested on developing the best solutions to Australia’s sleep problems. With our extensive research, we have created a wide range of adjustable beds, mattresses, and reclining chairs that help you optimize your bedroom and develop good sleep hygiene long-term.

If you’re interested in speaking with one of our SleepHive’s therapeutic sleep advisors, you can make an appointment with us.

Like exercise and good nutrition, sleep is a cornerstone of health. That’s why since 2004, we’ve invested on developing the best solutions to Australia’s sleep problems. With our extensive research, we have created a wide range of adjustable beds, mattresses, and reclining chairs that help you optimize your bedroom and develop good sleep hygiene long-term.

If you’re interested in speaking with one of our SleepHive’s therapeutic sleep advisors, you can make an appointment with us.