My Students’ Blog

Sleep Hygiene

By Carsan D.

Have you ever wondered why other people can sleep so well, but you can’t sleep to save your life? Well, have you ever considered what they do during the day leading up to the time they go to bed, their schedule for bedtime, when they most recently ate, as well as when they last were exposed to blue light? These are all things that can affect our sleep, whether we know it or not. While it isn’t always easy, it is a skill that should be mastered to live a happy and healthy life.

Sleepfoundation has a lot on this topic: “Good sleep hygiene includes setting a strict sleep schedule, following a bedtime routine, forming healthy habits, and optimizing your bedroom for sleep.” While this doesn’t necessarily mean that you can never stay up late or have a night out with your friends, you should have a routine. Think of it like a diet! You need to stick to a consistent routine and plan for it to work. Now sometimes you can have a cheat meal, but, for maximum success, you need to be consistent with what’s best for your body. 

I know this sounds complicated, but it’s a lot simpler than you would imagine. There are many simple ways to go about it. Let’s start with what we already know, being on your phone late at night before bed is not good for our eyes. So, instead try to set an alarm an hour before bed to act as your rule to put away your phone, so when it is time to go to sleep you suffer any of those blue light effects. Next, maximize what you like to do before bed that helps you and add that. Sleepfoundation says, “You can harness positive habits to make it easier to sleep soundly throughout the night and wake up well-rested.” So, positive things that may not even be the most helpful to actually help you sleep better but are in your sleep routine can be adapted for better sleep.

Harvard has so much useful information on this topic, and they have highlighted some of the proven habits people can have for their sleep. They state that an hour before bed you should turn off all devices (unless it’s for tranquil music), read with soft light, take a warm bath or do some easy stretches, progressive muscle relaxation, or deep breathing. So, if you were wondering what you could do if you put away all devices an hour before bed, that is a perfect list with the top recommended habits. It’s important to note that stretching does not mean doing palates or yoga. It simply means stretching out your muscles and making your body feel loose and relaxed. Working out is something that can affect sleep. It is kind of tricky. Harvard has said that, “For many people, exercising within two hours of bedtime interferes with falling asleep. For others, evening exercise is fine,” and they advise you to experiment and find out what works best for you.

Only go to bed when you’re tired. If you’re not tired, try to avoid just laying in bed and tossing and turning. Instead, do a relaxing activity.

A good question to wonder is Why is sleep hygiene so important? Well, healthy sleep is important for both physical and mental health. As Sleepfoundation says, it “improves overall quality of life,” which is backed up by PubMedCentral, saying “it is essential for maintaining cognitive capabilities such as memory, learning, and the capacity to perform complex mental tasks.” Whether you’re an adult or a child, you need to be able to do these things. So, if you need a reason, there’s a better one than any. 

Sleeping problems like insomnia, day time sleepiness, and poor sleep are regarded as important public health issues because of their consistent growing and potentially dangerous effects. These sleeping problems can all be caused by your sleep hygiene.  Healthline has some more tips that are important to remember if you want better sleep. Only go to bed when you’re tired. If you’re not tired, try to avoid just laying in bed and tossing and turning. Instead, do a relaxing activity. Limit napping. Napping can really throw off our sleep schedule, because it’s an abnormal time to be sleeping, and our bodies are normally in work mode. Changing modes midday can be a challenge for some. If you do manage to take a nap, it is advised you take a twenty minute or less nap, and keep it away from the afternoon.

Overall, sleep hygiene is very important. It is something that we tend to not prioritize enough, and that’s the purpose of this blog, to try to convince the readers that this is so important, and fixing this one thing can make life easier. I believe that it is uncommon and not normal that most of us don’t prioritize our sleep, when that’s the only real break our bodies and our minds get. A quote I like from Betterhealth is “Improved sleep will not happen as soon as changes are made. But if good sleep habits are maintained, sleep will certainly get better.” This is just a great reminder that you won’t immediately see results; you have to keep going and stay consistent.