How to Develop Better Sleep Hygiene and other Sleep Hygiene Tips

So you’re curious about what sleep hygiene is but you don’t want to spend hours researching. Well, you’re in luck! If you want a quick description of sleep hygiene, we have one below.

If you’d like more detailed information that includes a free sleep tracker PDF and sleep hygiene tips, then continue reading.

Sleep Hygiene in less than 140 characters:

Sleep hygiene is a collection of habits or series of activities that help you fall asleep and stay asleep. 

Before we dive into sleep hygiene, let’s take one step back. Why is sleep important?

When we sleep, our body recharges. Our organs go through critical processes, and our body produces growth hormone and melatonin which are necessary for repairing our muscles and tissues.

When we don’t get enough sleep, daily life can be problematic. We can experience a slew of consequences – brain fog, increased inflammation of the body, depression, and obesity.

Sleep is critical to positive well-being and mental strength. We all know that experiencing poor sleep can ruin the following day. In fact, there are some crazy statistics about poor sleep. 

13 Sleep Hygiene Tips for the Best Sleep Ever

1. Nourishment – eating too much gluten or fatty foods can disrupt your digestive system and cause adverse effects. Eating whole foods, regular meals, and avoiding too much sugar will prime your body for sleep. What you put in your body a few hours before sleep can still wreak havoc when it’s bedtime.
2. Exercise – exercising regularly and early in the morning will allow your body to use up excess energy, increase dopamine levels, and will make your body tired. Exercising late at night might keep you up though so try to work out in the morning!
3. Keep a Routine – we are creatures of habit. By establishing a normal routine where you prioritize sleep, you’ll create a positive habit that will translate into good sleep hygiene. Keeping an irregular schedule can prevent you from normalizing 8 hours of quality sleep.
4. Limit Devices – put away devices and bright lights at least 1 hour before bed. Bright lights and stimuli will throw off our circadian rhythm and keep you up at night. Your circadian rhythm influences your energy and experiencing bright lights before bed might confuse your body.
5. Set Bed Boundaries – use your bed for two things: sleeping and sex. Lounging around in bed for a few minutes is okay but keeping boundaries with your bed is important. Laying in bed and scrolling on your phone will associate your bed with wakefulness.
6. Limit Stimuli – avoid alcohol and caffeine. Okay, we all love wine and our morning coffees so we are not saying that you should quit this completely but make sure to limit your drinking. Drinking before bed can cause increased heart rates, anxiety, and dehydration. Caffeine will also act similarly and might even keep your mind racing at night.
7. Create a Dreamy Bedroom – create a perfect sleep space. Have you ever seen those dreamy-like rooms on Pinterest? Make your sleep space your dream space! The color of your room should be a calm shade. Your bed and pillows should be soft and clean. And keep that room tidy! There’s nothing like sleeping in a tidy room. Physical clutter can cause mental clutter.
8. Chill – keep a cool room temperature. When we get too hot during the night, we can sweat, get restless, and or wake up a ton of times! Sleeping at a cool temperature will allow the body to fully rest and recharge.
9. Sleep in Clean Air – put plants in your room. Plants are mother nature’s air purifiers. Sleeping in clean air will allow you to stay asleep longer. When your body does not have to filter poor air, it can focus on repairing your cells and organs overnight.
10. Watch the Water – don’t drink a gallon of water before bed! If you can get your 8+ glasses of water in during the day and not at night, you won’t wake up in the middle of the night to pee.
11. Create a Nighttime ritual – build a relaxing bedtime routine. Some different activities can include gentle yoga, a bath, drinking a warm (non-caffeinated drink), meditating, stretching, using sleep affirmations (link at the end of the article for free affirmations), reading a book, doing breathwork, and listening to calming music.
12. Get Naked – sleep in comfy pajamas or sleep in the nude! Yep, we said it – sleep naked! When we wear tight clothes to bed, it can cause our internal body temperature to rise which can cause us to wake up. Sleeping naked will allow you to fully relax!
13. Let it go – avoid going to bed when you’re super stressed or irritated. Sometimes we cannot control the stress in our lives but we can control how we react. If you are stressed before bed, try one of our bedtime routine tips.

And for a bonus tip, we suggest spending time in nature! Tree therapy has wonderful benefits that include better sleep!

As always, thanks for stopping by! We hope you picked up some new tips or tricks for owning your sleep schedule. If you’d like to read more on sleep affirmations, make sure to click here! If you’re interested in a free sleep tracker, you can print this one out!

We’ve just listed out 13 sleep hygiene tips but I’m sure there are many more out there! If you have a sleep hygiene tip that you swear by and it’s not on this list, I’d love to hear about it! Send it to us at tru.and.well@gmail.com and let’s chat!

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21 Positive Sleep Affirmations

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