How to Build Healthy Sleep Habits
by Katie Fischer
"Small habit changes and being mindful of light and dark cues as we move from day to night and night to day, can make all the difference to how well we sleep. The more contrast we put in place between active and restful hours, the more our body clock thrives."
The secret to optimising your sleep is knowing how to harness simple aspects of daily life at the right time – and then make these firm habits.
You may have heard of ‘sleep hygiene’ and how these practices help us create ideal conditions for healthy sleep. Sleep hygiene is much more than your nightly routine.
It’s everything we do on a regular basis, from the moment we wake up, to the actions that help us drift off at bedtime or awaken feeling refreshed.
How to improve your sleep hygiene
Good sleep hygiene doesn’t have to be complicated or one-size-fits-all. Here are four areas to consider:
1) Create more contrast between light and dark
If you want to fall asleep easily, maximise your exposure to bright sunlight and dial down artificial light in the evening.
This keeps your internal 24-hour master clock or ‘circadian rhythm’ - which drives all aspects of your behaviour - synchronised with the earth’s day and night cycles. When your eyes first detect blue light in the morning (sunlight is the biggest source), you set off a chain of events that influence your next opportunity for sleep.
A good dose of blue light tells the brain to make serotonin – your happiness hormone. Serotonin has many functions. It helps you feel awake and in a positive mood, regulates your sleep-to-wake cycle, and initiates learning and memory in the brain. In our modern lives, we spend much of the day indoors, especially in the darker, colder months. Did you know that even on a gloomy winter’s day, outdoor light can be as much as 25 times brighter than in our homes?
Tips for your environment:
2) Set up the right cues for sleep
Our daily environments influence habits. For example, being in the kitchen can make us feel peckish, whatever time of day. If you’re away from food prompts, hunger isn’t front of mind – even if your body clock is saying it’s time to eat. The same idea applies to bedtime habits.
If you get into the practice of only getting into your bed when you feel sleepy and only keeping your bedroom for sleep (and sex), there’s a strong chance of getting the outcome you want. You’re strengthening the brain’s sleep system in this environment.
However, if you get into bed when you’re not tired and engage in wakeful behaviours, such as reading, watching TV, drinking or snacking, you’re creating a mixed environment. Daytime cues in your bed weaken the cue for sleep and reduce the chance of it happening there.
Tips for bedtime:
3) Balance your caffeine intake
It’s not just the ‘what’, but the ‘when’ that we need to pay attention to when consuming stimulants.
Caffeine is found in a whole range of things from coffee, black and green tea, Coca-cola and energy drinks to protein bars, dark chocolate and some supplements. Sometimes a caffeine hit is just what we need to get a mental boost or counter feelings of tiredness. However, too much or at the wrong time of day can have negative effects, including agitation, anxiety and sleep issues.
Caffeine doesn’t affect your drive for sleep (which builds with more time awake) but it does make you feel more alert. The latest research from the Northumbria Centre for Sleep Research shows that it can take up to 8 hours to fully eliminate caffeine from the bloodstream. If you’re an evening-type and happy with the time you fall asleep, drinking a coffee later in the afternoon, for example, is likely to be fine.
We all react differently to caffeine too. Some of us metabolise caffeine very slowly, which makes us more sensitive and prone to difficulty sleeping, whereas others break it down very quickly. You’ll know if that’s you because you may not feel the stimulating effects of caffeine strongly or for very long.
Rules for consuming caffeine:
4) Understand how alcohol affects your sleep cycle
If you look forward to relaxing with a glass of wine in the evening, research shows that low to moderate amounts of alcohol (up to 13 units per week) may be protective for the heart. But if high quality sleep is on your agenda, extra night caps are best avoided.
Alcohol can act like a stimulant, as well as sedative. A few drinks can put you into a deep sleep very quickly, which might seem appealing if you have trouble falling asleep. However, once the alcohol level in your blood drops, it’s surprisingly activating.
Your body treats alcohol like a toxin. Body temperature rises and the brain kicks into overdrive, leading to fragmentation in your sleep and less of that lovely emotion-regulating REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. You may not be aware of many of these micro-awakenings but you’ll certainly notice the after-effect of sleep deprivation in the morning.
Research shows that more than 2 drinks for men and more than 1 for women can decrease sleep quality by as much as 39%.
Rules for consuming alcohol:
Six steps to building healthier sleep habits
1. Decide that sleep matters to you
What will change for the better if you feel more rested each day? Think about all areas of your life from your health and how you cope with stress, to your relationships, social life, hobbies or work. What might the cost be now, and in the future, if you don’t prioritise your sleep?
2. Prioritise which goals to get behind
Which behavioural changes will have the most impact for your sleep issues? Start small and build it up. Remember that good sleep health is a long game, so be patient with yourself.
3. Focus on the healthy behaviours you enjoy
Your motivation is likely to wane if you force yourself to do things you really don’t like. Cultivate more of the things you do like instead.
4. Get creative with ‘temptation bundling’
Pair something you know should do (but don’t feel inclined) with something you want to do, so your brain gets that essential feel-good feedback. For example, save your favourite podcast for when you exercise.
5. Stack a new habit onto a preset routine
Identify a current habit that happens at the same time each day, such as eating breakfast. Then add on your new behaviour before or after, such as a 15-30 minute morning walk. Research shows that self-control is highest in the morning and decreases as the day goes on.
6. Keep a journal to track little wins
It’s really important to reflect on how you feel when you make changes. Affirming positive feelings in the moment and writing these down, helps your brain learn to crave that connection the next time.