How to Get a Good Night's Sleep

One of the best things you can do for your sleep health is to go to bed and wake up around the same time every day, even on weekends. While this may be difficult at first, if you stick with it your body will thank you.

You can also get a better picture of your schedule by using a ftiness ring or sleep monitoring device each night and tracking disruptions and changes in your cycle over time. Some digital apps allow you to do this by pairing your smartphone with a fitness tracker that monitors heart rate or respiratory rate. This data can also be used by some trackers to trigger an alarm to wake you up when your body is most alert.

Another option to help get you out of bed at the same time each day is using a light therapy lamp that gradually gets brighter to rouse you from your sleep. Some models also include built-in alarms that coincide with the light feature. These lamps can also be used at night with subdued lighting that helps soothe you into a restful state.

Bodies operate based on patterns of learned behavior. For example, new parents are encouraged to create a regular bedtime routine for their newborn babies so that their bodies will recognize that it’s time for sleep. After getting used to being placed in their cribs after hearing a story and singing a song each night, they are conditioned to experience the symptoms of sleepiness by going through the routine.

Not only does this classical conditioning method work with babies, but it is also effective at any age. A consistent bedtime routine will naturally tell your body to start winding down. The activities you include in your nightly regimen can be specific to your needs. Some options include taking a bath, reading a book or doing some light stretching. Whatever you choose, make the activities consistent each night.

Also, you should avoid looking at screens for at least an hour before bed. Studies have shown that the blue light waves emitted from most screens can suppress your body’s ability to produce melatonin, a natural chemical that inhibits sleep.See Disclosure ¹ Therefore, train yourself to put down your phone, log out of your computer and click off the TV by a certain time each night. If you need help being disciplined, you can set specific times for your phone and smart TV to turn off automatically.

Ensure that your bedroom is a relaxing space by keeping it dark and quiet. To de-stress, consider using an essential oil diffuser to emit scents that are known to induce sleep, such as lavender. Also, if noises from outside or around the house easily distract you, invest in a white noise machine to block out those sounds and help you focus on sleep.

Another aspect that will help your bedroom be conducive to sleep is the room temperature. As noted above, your body temperature falls when you are in deep, restorative sleep. But if the room is too warm, that can prevent you from reaching the desired level of restfulness.

One option is to place a fan near your bed to help cool you down. Or you could program your smart thermostat to lower the temperature of your room right before bedtime. As a bonus, you can also program it to warm up in the morning to help you get out from under the cozy covers.

Most importantly, make sure that you set yourself up for success with a comfortable mattress. This might be a mattress made with memory foam that conforms to your body. Another popular bedding accessory is a mattress topper that helps you stay cool in the summer months and warm in the winter.

Though consuming alcohol may make you feel drowsy, it can make it harder to stay asleep. Alcohol disrupts your body’s chemical cycles which leads to a reduction of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the type that is needed to feel fully rested.See Disclosure ² This is especially true if you have more than one glass in the evening. Therefore, if you want to enjoy a drink, do so earlier in the evening and limit your intake. Or, treat yourself to a fizzy concoction from your soda maker to satisfy your craving for a carbonated beverage.

If you consume a lot of caffeine, you may feel like a cup or two in the afternoon has little effect on you. On the contrary, cutting caffeine out of your afternoon or evening routine can make a significant difference in your brain’s ability to wind down at night. In fact, it can take as long as five to six hours for your body to metabolize half the caffeine in your system and another five hours to eliminate the rest.See Disclosure ³ Once you change your relationship with caffeine, your body will fall into a more natural rhythm of waking and sleeping.

In addition to building muscles and improving cardiovascular health, exercise plays a big role in your sleep health as well. Working out in the morning or afternoon not only helps to wake you up and keep you alert during the day, but it also makes it easier to fall asleep at night. So instead of reaching for coffee in the late afternoon to perk you up, try doing several jumping jacks, taking a quick jog on the treadmill, or spending even just a few minutes jumping rope outside to get through the workday slump.

To truly reap the sleep benefits of physical fitness, you should aim to exercise for 30 minutes every day doing an activity that gets your heart rate up. Although, be aware that exercising too close to bedtime can be counteractive because it gets your blood pumping, which makes it harder to fall asleep. Remember to get in your workout at least a few hours before your bedtime.

1. Shechter, Ari, Elijah Wookhyun Kim, Marie-Pierre St-Onge and Andrew J. Westwood. “Blocking Nocturnal Blue Light for Insomnia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Journal of Psychiatric Research, Elsevier. January 2018. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022395617308592?via%3Dihub.

2. Colrain, Ian M., Christian L. Nicholas and Fiona C. Baker. “Alcohol and the Sleeping Brain.” Handbook of Clinical Neurology, Elsevier. February 21, 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5821259/.

3. “Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine is Too Much?” U.S. Food and Drug Administration. September 7, 2023. https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/spilling-beans-how-much-caffeine-too-much.