Let’s talk about sleep hygiene.

This is important whether you’re a night owl or an early bird or somewhere in between. Sleep hygiene often describes those behaviors surrounding a good night’s (or day’s) rest. It has to do with our sleep environment and our behaviors- the things we can control. Considering that a little over a third of Americans are estimated to get less-than-ideal sleep, it’s worth learning about ways to sleep better, especially if that’s something you struggle with.

However it’s worth noting that there’s no specific definition for what good sleep hygiene is, and what it looks like. Should we avoid screens for an hour? Two hours? What about caffeine? Do I need to stop drinking it at noon? Or can I have a cup before my evening get-together? What about a glass of wine?

While there aren’t specific answers to these questions (honestly, these things can affect people differently!), there are common ideas surrounding sleep hygiene, which are listed below. Much of this information is from Sleep hygiene – What do we mean? A bibliographic review, published in Sleep Medicine Reviews. In this journal study, De Pasquale et al. did a thorough review of over 500 studies that they examined regarding the subject of sleep hygiene. Some sleep hygiene criteria popped up more than others. More research needs to be done on sleep, to really find out what works the best, but most importantly, listen to your body and what works for you.

Environment:

Think cool, calm, and quiet. The place you sleep will ideally be dark as well. Too much light in the room was often considered poor sleep hygiene. But what’s too much? For me, I know how much is too much because it actually bothers me. I need blackout curtains and an eye mask. Light from phones and TVs counts here, too. Avoid them before bed if you can. Some sleep studies recommend keeping phones charging in another room. I at least have “do not disturb” turned on so I’m not getting pings when someone feels like sending a text to the family chat. If you’re having trouble sleeping, try making your room a little darker than it is now.

Behaviors:

Caffeine intake- while many researchers agree that it’s important to limit this before bedtime, there’s no magic time that is the cut-off. But if you are sensitive to caffeine and having trouble sleeping, try to avoid it after lunchtime.

Alcohol use- it’s kind of a no-no. And by kind of I mean it messes with sleep, even though it does help people fall asleep initially. If you want to sleep good, try doing without alcohol for a while and keep track of what happens.

Sleep timing- keep it regular. This was another hot topic among many of the studies in the article from Sleep Medicine Reviews. Go to bed at roughly the same time every day, even on weekends. Some sleep studies recommend no napping either, but I’ve found that short naps (especially if I’ve slept poorly) can help give me energy to get through the rest of the day.

Exercise- Exercising is good and can help us feel physically tired at the end of the day. But in the studies reviewed by De Pasquale et al., researchers frequently recommended avoiding exercise close to bedtime. But how close? That’s the question. This is one of those things that you just have to listen to your body. There have been times where I ran later in the day and it really did seem to mess with my sleep. So I’ve been trying to get my exercise in earlier in the day, which seems to help.

I’d say that from my experience, one of the biggest things that helps me sleep is the light, or rather, lack of it. I notice this the most when I go camping. Being outside, there is not a lot of artificial light. I’m surrounded by the dark browns and greens of the forest. Even if I spend some time on my phone, I seem to get tired earlier. The lack of artificial light, combined with being physically tired from camping and hiking, helps me naturally feel more tired and ready for bed.

How about you? Do you stay away from your phone at night? For how long?

Reference:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1087079224000340