Sleep Hygiene: Getting Your Best Sleep

Why is sleep so important for good mental health? Good sleep, meaning good quality rest and consistent quantity of hours of sleep, along with good nutrition, are largely correlated with mood stability, good decision making, and other positive health choices.

What is sleep hygiene? Generally, sleep hygiene is the concept that we can control many factors having to do with getting good restful sleep by making appropriate behavioral and environmental adjustments.

How can I have better sleep hygiene? One of the simplest fixes to improving sleep hygiene is limiting our wakeful activities in bed. How many of us eat, study, read, watch TV, talk on the phone, use our computer, etc in our beds? If we engage in wakeful activities in our bed, the place where we should be signaling our bodies and our minds to be shutting down, we will likely have sleep problems as a result. Our beds should be dedicated ONLY to sleeping and sex so we do not have insomnia or poor quality of sleep.

What should I start doing to improve my sleep? The best thing you can do for better sleep is to keep a consistent routine with sleep patterns all seven days. Many of us go to bed fairly consistently Monday through Friday, and forget our schedule on the weekends. We then unfairly expect our bodies to be able to readjust Sunday night and early the next week. Try to keep as little deviation as possible over the weekends and see if you feel less tired and cranky on Monday morning.

What are some other environmental factors related to good sleep hygiene? One of the easiest ways to help with getting good rest is to limit light sources in your sleeping environment. These days many of us charge our cell phones and keep them next to our beds. Even the light from your phone charging can interrupt good quality sleep. Additionally, many of us will get e-mail alerts from our phone throughout the night, which may wake us up prematurely. If you have a newer phone, think about using some of the sleep settings which will silence all alerts except from some “VIP” contacts which you can choose.

What if I have problems sleeping? Only you and your health care providers can determine if you have a sleeping disorder or have significant issues with sleep. However, one of the first recommendations most providers will make to help with sleep will likely include, reducing naps during the day, keeping a consistent sleep/wake schedule, and increasing exercise and physical activity. If you are still having trouble sleeping, keep a sleep log for at least two weeks, noting any factors interfering with sleep to track habits. Digital Vision

Stress and life changes and transitions will impact sleep. Do not forget to use stress management techniques which have worked for you in the past. Also, take into account that sleep patterns do tend to change with age. For example, many women notice a significant change in sleep habits hormonally. Everyone should include sleeping questions and factors into account when having a check up with your physician, even if not specifically asked.

What should I do if I can’t sleep without the TV? Just like any habit, breaking the watching TV habit while in bed can be done. Start by eliminating all other sleep hygiene issues. Keep a steady routine, as described above, and slowly decrease the time spent watching TV in bed. Use the sleep timer on your TV to help you stay consistent, and decrease the time spent with the TV on until you have extinguished the habit. Do not make an exception to TV in bed over the weekend, stay consistent. If you find that you need white noise to help you get to sleep, replace the hum from the TV with a fan or a white noise machine.

I have been reading in bed for years before I go to sleep, it helps me. Should I stop? If you are having little to no sleep problems and you are in the habit of reading in bed before you drift off, then by no means stop. If reading in bed feels sacred, eliminate all other sleep hygiene problems first and then reevaluate. Limit reading stressful, work related materials in bed and try to focus on calming, light reading material. If you are having sleep problems, keeping strict sleep hygiene is very important. You can always return to reading in bed if sleep improves and reevaluate based on your sleeping logs.

Don’t forget to train your kids to get into good sleeping patterns as early as possible.