Sleeping should take up around a third of our time. Most adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep a night, but modern lifestyles makes this difficult to achieve. Around 80% of adults do not achieve adequate sleep time.
Establishing a healthy sleep routine sets gives us the best chance of achieving the right amount of sleep.
- Keep the same bedtime and wake time
- The body has an internal clock, the circadian rhythm, that controls sleepiness and wakefulness. The circadian rhythm works best when there when you keep regular sleep patterns, even at the weekends and even on holiday.
- Avoid stimulating activity before bed
- Activities like exercise, watching TV and tablet use should be avoided in the hour before bedtime. Your brain needs time to wind down. Tablets and devices emit a blue light, which suppresses the sleep hormone, melatonin. This tricks your brain into thinking it should be awake. Try and get out of the habit of watching movies or playing games on your phone in bed.
- Tidy up your intake
- Try to have your last meal more than two hours before bedtime to regulate your glucose levels
- Avoid caffeine, alcohol and smoking before bed. Many people feel that these can help them go off to sleep, but the depth of sleep is reduced. Deep sleep is the most restorative and tends to predominate in the later parts of your night.
- Make your bed your haven
- Your bed should be primarily for sleeping and intimacy. Avoid studying, reading, making phone calls or watching TV in the bedroom. These activities prevent your brain associating your bed with sleeping.
- Most of us sleep in a room which is too hot. As you descend into sleep, your core temperature drops. You can help your brain on its way by keeping the temperature 18-20 degrees. Sleeping naked can make it easier for the brain to regulate your temperature.
- Make sure your mattress, pillows and linen are comfortable.
- Remove distractions like ticking clocks
- Don’t watch the clock
- If you get up to the toilet, or wake for another reason during the night, avoid checking the time. Regardless of the time you see on the clock, you will likely have a negative reaction and think about how you are not getting enough sleep!
- Don’t lie in bed awake
- Many people wake in the night and are unable to get back to sleep. Worrying about whether you are sleeping makes it harder to go back to sleep. If you are lying in bed for more than 15 minutes, get out of bed and sit quietly in a darkened room. Stay there for 15 minutes before returning to bed. Re-cycle through this pattern until you are asleep.
- Do not have a snack, a coffee, a cigarette, get on the internet or watch TV. Being bored and uncomfortable will make your bed seems attractive.
- Structuring your day
- Many people feel exhausted with the modern lifestyle, but the lie awake thinking about things we need to do when we get into bed. It can be helpful to set aside time in the evening to deal with the day’s events, followed by a period of mentally winding down. Some people keep a notepad next to their bed so that they can jot down things that are on their mind when they awake overnight. This stops them from having to think about them at a time when they should be sleeping.ã
- Exercise in the morning reinforces to your brain that it is time to be up and about. Combined with UV light, exercise is one of the strongest wakeful stimulants for your brain.
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