If you feel you are sleeping poorly then it is best to tackle this as soon as possible. Some small adjustments can make a big difference and help you to get a good night’s sleep
In this blog, Dr Lindsay Browning shares a whole range of tips that you can try. Select as many as you wish and find out which ones work best for you. Enjoy better quality sleep now.
15 ways to help you get a good night’s sleep
Things to do in the day to help you get a good night’s sleep
Limit your intake of caffeine
Caffeine is a stimulant can stay in your system for up to 8 hours. Be very mindful of how long before you plan to go to sleep that you last drink coffee, tea, energy drinks, etc., as well as foods that contain caffeine.
Improve your bedroom environment
Try to limit the amount of time you spend in bed or in your bedroom not sleeping. Instead, try to leave the bed, when you are awake in the night. Ideally, avoid working in your bedroom. Create a bedroom environment that is welcoming and relaxing and your bed a place for rest and sleep.
Invest in a comfortable bed and bedding
If your mattress and pillows are not comfortable and supportive, then you are likely to wake up more frequently in the night to change position to try to get comfortable again. Or, you might wake up with back or neck pain from sleeping in an odd position. Therefore, make sure that you replace your mattress and pillows when they lose their support and start to sag.
Exercise more
Increase the amount of exercise you do during the daytime. Exercise is great for your mental health, your physical health, and also for your sleep.
Get exposure to daylight whenever possible
Exposure to daylight is really important for regulating our melatonin production, making up feel more awake and alert in the day, and sleepy at night. Daylight can help this so do get outside in your lunch break and open your curtains, as soon as possible when you wake up.
Reduce your alcohol intake
Although alcohol is a sedative it actually leads to worse ‘quality’ sleep. Importantly, don’t rely on drinking alcohol to help you get to sleep. Alcohol disrupts your sleep later in the night.
Things to do just before bed to help you get a good night’s sleep
Limit blue light
Limit your use of computers, tablets, phones and other devices the emit blue light, before going to bed. Ideally, stopping their use at least an hour before.
Do a ‘brain dump’
Make time a couple of hours before bed to write down anything you’re worried about. It can can be really helpful. If you don’t make time to dump out the contents of your brain onto a piece of paper, then your brain is going to start thinking about it all just when you’re trying to sleep.
Make time for you
If you give yourself some “me time” earlier in the day, then you won’t feel the need to scroll through your phone or stay up late watching ‘your tv programmes’, instead of going to sleep.
Revenge sleep procrastination is where people delay going to bed because they feel they want to spend some time doing something just for them before going to sleep. However, sacrificing sleep so that you can scroll through your phone, won’t make you feel happier in the morning when you wake up, tired and unrefreshed.
Reduce what you drink (but don’t eliminate drinking before bed)
If you drink a lot of water before bed, then you are likely to wake up needing the toilet during the night. However, if you completely eliminate drinking anything several hours before bed, then you are still likely to wake up in the night, but you will just wake up thirsty instead of needing the toilet.
The best thing to do is to drink regular small amounts of water in the hours before bed to keep you hydrated, but not have a large quantity of liquid.
Consider your bedroom temperature
If your bedroom it is too hot or too cold you might struggle to fall asleep and stay asleep. You will have different requirements throughout the year from season to season – from needing extra layers to stay warm in winter, to letting cool air in through a window, during the summer nights.
Ideally, your room temperature should be at 18c.
If you do suffer from hot flushes or feeling very warm in bed, natural fibre bed linen and pyjamas, such as cotton, linen, silk and bamboo, can help to regulate your body temperature and allow air to flow across your body, as well as whisk away sweat, if you get too hot in the night.
Keep a consistent bedtime schedule or routine
Try to get up at the same time every morning, and go to bed at the same time every night.
We sleep better when we go to bed every day at a similar time and get up every morning at around the same time. Having a fairly consistent bedtime schedule helps our circadian rhythm to know the difference between night and day and produce melatonin at the right time to help us fall asleep at night.
Things to do at night to get a good night’s sleep
Reduce ambient lighting
Bedrooms should be dark to help you sleep well. However, there may be street lighting coming through the curtains or the lights from your charging phone or your TV on standby. Ideally, use blackout blinds and turn off, or cover, all lights in the bedroom. If you can’t do this, then try using an eye mask while you sleep to block the light.
Minimise night time noise or distractions
Do not have devices next to your bed in the night, their notification sounds, or even their light flashing on can cause distractions or disturbances.
If you struggle to sleep in a noisy environment you can consider using ‘white’ or brown noise to help cover this disruption.
Don’t have a clock next to the bed
People tend to wake several times during the night, but often so briefly that they aren’t aware of it. However, if you check the time as soon as you wake, this is likely to just make you anxious about how little sleep you’ve had, or start calculating how much time you have left until you have to get up. Then, because you are feeling more anxious this will make it harder for you to go back to sleep again. Instead, move the clock, so you can’t see it from the bed, helping you be less stressed when you wake and more able to fall back to sleep again quickly.
Getting a good night’s sleep on a regular basis
As I hope the list above illustrates, getting a good night’s sleep is not always about what happens in bed at night!
You can help improve your sleep by making adjustments to your bedroom environment, as well as your activities in the day, including what you drink and eat.
It is important to remember that when you have a stressful life event or you feel unable to relax, it is perfectly normal to sleep poorly for a few nights. However, problems arise when this short term insomnia turns into long term (chronic) insomnia. This is when you may need to seek help.
If you feel that you would like some expert help, look at our services for adults and children.
Do also explore my book which full of information, advice and guidance on getting a good night’s sleep -that is great quality too.