6 More Tips to Improve Sleep quality

In my previous blog post I started a discussion of sleep tips. Here are 6 more tips on improving your sleep quality:

1. Don’t stay in your bed for more than 30 minutes if you can’t sleep. The brain often makes associations between things and you don’t want your brain to start associating your bed with not sleeping.  This is one of the reasons why it’s also important not to do other activities in your bed such as work or homework. If you lay in your bed for hours trying to go to sleep and thinking about how you can’t sleep you might start to feel stressed and anxious.  Your brain might start associating your bed with stress and not sleeping. This can make the insomnia worse.  Instead of laying there, I recommend that you get out of your bed if you still can’t fall asleep after 30 minutes. Try getting out of your bed and doing a light activity, such as reading, sitting or laying on the couch, or light housework such as putting clothes away. You could also try listening to a relaxation or meditation recording such as Insight Timer. When you start to feel sleepy again, try to lay down to go back to sleep. The goal is to teach the brain that bed=sleep.

2. Keep your room dark, minimize outside light coming in, and turn off TV and computer screens.

3. Keep your clock and phone screens turned down or faced away from you. Looking at a clock or phone multiple times a night can cause more stress and anxiety, particularly if you aren’t sleeping. Set an alarm before you go to sleep so you don’t have to worry about checking the time.

4. Keep your room at a cooler temperature for optimal sleep.

5. Minimize alcohol and caffeine use. Limit caffeine to the morning and stop caffeine intake during the afternoon. Consuming caffeine in the late afternoon can keep you up at night and caffeine can stay in your system for up to 12 hours. Limit the amount of alcohol you drink in the evening. Too much can interfere with the quality of your sleep and disrupt your sleep cycle.

6. Use a sleep diary to track sleeping habits and routines before bed.

Thanks for reading! I hope this helps!
-Rondale
​