By Ms. Shourya Gupta
Proper sleep habits are essential for maintaining physical and mental health. Sleep hygiene is a behavioural and environmental practice to help people with insomnia and disturbed sleep cycle. Paying attention to sleep hygiene is one of the most straightforward ways that you can set yourself up for better sleep.
What Are Signs of Poor Sleep Hygiene?
- Having a hard time falling asleep
- Experiencing frequent sleep disturbances
- Unsatisfying sleep
- Fatigue on waking
- Suffering from daytime sleepiness
- An overall inconsistency in sleep quantity or quality
Why is Sleep Hygiene Important?
Obtaining healthy sleep is important for both physical and mental health, improving productivity and overall quality of life. Everyone, from children to older adults, can benefit from better sleep, and sleep hygiene can play a key part in achieving that goal. Sleep hygiene encompasses both environmental changes and changes in habits, and it can pave the way for higher-quality sleep and better overall health. Every sleeper can tailor their sleep hygiene practices to suit their needs. In the process, they can adapt positive habits to make it easier to sleep soundly throughout the night and wake up well-rested.
Here are some Sleep Hygiene Techniques that you can incorporate in your routine –
- Avoid caffeine for at least 4-6 hours before going to sleep, as they can delay the timing of your body clock, causing inability to sleep and reducing the quality of sleep.
- Avoid alcohol, nicotine, and street drugs before going to sleep and throughout the night.
- Minimize screen time – Turn off the TV, computers, tablets, and smartphones at least 1 hour before bedtime.
- Avoid bright lights before going to sleep because they are stimulating and distract you from sleeping.
- Do not exercise or eat a heavy meal shortly before going to sleep.
- Accommodate regular exercise (at least 20 minutes) in your daily routine, preferably during morning or evening, it can contribute to healthier and more restful sleep.
- Avoid napping during the day because it makes you less tired at night.
- Make your bedroom as comfortable as possible. Keep the temperature at a cool, comfortable level, keep your room as dark as possible, use a sleep mask if you need, and minimize as much noise as possible.
- Only use your bed for sleeping and sexual activity, not for working, reading, or watching television. This way, your body will associate your bed with sleep, not with other activities.
- If you have trouble falling asleep or if you wake up in the middle of the night and cannot fall back to sleep, get out of bed and do something soothing until you feel tired enough to go back to sleep. Do not lie in bed thinking about other things; this will just make you feel more aggravated and make it harder to get back to sleep.
- Go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning. Create a regular pattern of sleeping and waking that your body can predict.
- Maintain a sleep log, in which include the following questions for each day’s sleep –
- What time did you get into bed?
- About what time did you fall asleep?
- What time did you get out of bed for the day?
- Total time in bed and sleeping.
- How would you rate the quality of your sleep (on a scale of 1 to 10)?
- Use some kind of relaxation method before going to sleep in order to calm your body and mind: take a hot-water bath, meditate, pray, journal your thoughts and use relaxation exercises.
- If your sleep problems still persist, if you cannot stay awake during the day, or if you are feeling sad or low, contact a mental health professional for advice.
