How to Create a Sleep Routine That’s Perfect for You
It’s amazing how many problems can be solved with good sleep hygiene. If you often feel low on energy, the first thing you should ask yourself is how much sleep you are getting. Good sleep also helps our overall health, recovery from exercise, ability to concentrate, and much more. And while there are plenty of gadgets and biohacks that claim to help, the basics of sleep hygiene are simple and straightforward.
How to Know If You Need More Sleep
Most adults need an average of seven to nine hours of sleep each night. It varies: you can be a seven o’clock person or a nine o’clock person. (Younger people usually need even more; older people may need less.) So, if you feel tired all the time, a simple gut check is to calculate how much time you spend in bed on average. If it’s less than seven hours, it’s probably not enough. And even if that time is between seven and nine hours, try sleeping an extra hour or two for several days in a row. If you feel much better, you have the answer.
If you have trouble waking up on time but fall asleep easily when sitting quietly (like watching a movie), this is another sign that you’re probably not getting enough sleep. If you go to bed when you can, the time you wake up is another clue. If you sleep two hours or more longer than usual, it means your body is applying a short-term solution (getting enough sleep now) to a long-term problem (chronically not getting enough sleep).
If you know you should get more sleep but can’t figure out how, here are the sleep hygiene basics you need to master.
Stick to a sleep schedule
Set a wake-up time that you can stick to every day. Consistency is key here: don’t set your alarm for 6am on weekdays and don’t sleep until noon on weekends. If you can’t be completely consistent (for example, if you work different shifts), make the necessary changes, but try to do your best.
Next comes setting the sleep time . Find out what time you need to hit the hay so you can get enough sleep before your alarm goes off. Then work backwards to figure out when to start changing into jam and everything else that includes your nightly routine. (More about this procedure below.)
It’s crucial for both steps to prioritize your sleep so you can actually recover on schedule. If you’ve been having trouble sleeping lately, give yourself a week or two to make bedtime and wake-up time (and about nine hours in between) the highest priority appointments on your calendar. Don’t go out too late and don’t delay your revenge . As your daily routine becomes more consistent, you’ll have time for occasional indulgences.
Incorporate These Four Things into Your Bedtime Routine
Okay, what is included in this routine? Feel free to personalize something specific, but sleep experts recommend you include the following as basic building blocks:
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At least 30 minutes are devoted to whittling down . Don’t expect to turn off the lights and immediately pass out.
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No screens right before bed . No, not even with blue glasses. Either way, these glasses don’t actually block a lot of blue light . Videos and social media keep your brain awake and relaxed, so they have no place in your down time anyway.
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Dim the lights . A cool, dark bedroom makes it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep .
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Do something relaxing . Read a cold book. Take a luxurious bath . Do some breathing exercises . Whatever works for you.
Following this routine will not only help you relax before bed, but will also help you stick to the sleep schedule you set in step one. After all, you won’t be able to finish half the movie at 10:00 pm if you refrain from starting it at 9:00 am.
Adjust your body clock throughout the day
Sleep and darkness aren’t the only factors that set your body’s circadian rhythm. Daytime activities help keep your body clock in tune and also improve your overall health.
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Get plenty of sunlight in the morning . (In winter, a light box can help.)
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Exercise throughout the day . You can combine this with some sunshine by going for a morning or afternoon walk. But any exercise will help you sleep better.
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Eat food throughout the day . We sleep best when we eat during the day; If a good early breakfast fits your schedule, consider making it a regular occurrence. But at least don’t eat right before bed.
Avoid caffeine and alcohol in the evenings
Caffeine keeps you going, and its effects last longer than you might imagine. Caffeine has a half-life of five hours , with some of us processing it a little faster or a little slower. In other words, if the average person drinks a 250-milligram cup of coffee at noon (like a Starbucks Tall brewed coffee), they’ll still have about 125 milligrams in their system at 5 p.m. and 63 milligrams at 10 p.m.
The rate at which we break down caffeine varies from person to person, but in general: it affects you more than you think. If you think of yourself as someone who “can drink an energy drink and then immediately fall asleep,” you’re probably (a) in denial—hey, you’re the one who clicked on an article about how to sleep better—and/or (b) you’ve developed a huge caffeine tolerance because you drink so much of it to stay awake, which in turn is due to you not getting enough sleep and being tired all the time. Do yourself a favor and break the vicious cycle.
The easiest way to retreat is to give yourself grace time. Let’s say no caffeine after 5 p.m. Once this becomes part of your daily routine, go back to 2:00 pm or noon.
Alcohol is another chemical that affects our sleep. Wearing a nightcap before bed may make you sleepy, but it tends to impair the quality of your sleep. If you’re not sure, just start keeping a sleep diary (on paper is fine if you don’t have a sleep tracking gadget) and see if you sleep more and better on the nights you don’t drink.
Turn your bedroom into a dark little cave
A welcoming, cozy bed will help you fall asleep faster. Make it dark, use blackout curtains or an eye mask if necessary. Do this quietly, using a white noise machine or earplugs if you cannot completely silence those around you. And make it a comfortable temperature. Most people prefer a cool environment—usually around 66 degrees—but again, this varies from person to person.
Comfortable sheets and pillows can help. If you find yourself constantly tossing and turning, try to figure out if something is physically bothering you. A new mattress may be out of your budget, but adding a mattress topper or another pillow is an easy fix.
Experiment
While the tips here are basic things you should at least try , you may not need every aspect covered in the tutorial. For example, I get cold if my room is 66 degrees, so I keep the thermostat a little warmer and make sure I always have a warm duvet, even in the summer.
You may find that you can break some rules but not others. I always have poor sleep if I drink, but eating late doesn’t really bother me. Once you start sleeping regularly at night, you can start playing with your daily routine.
And if you’re doing your best to practice good sleep hygiene but still feel tired, consider seeking medical help if you have sleep apnea or another condition that may affect your sleep or energy levels.