How to set yourself up for a better night’s sleep

Sleep is incredibly important for your wellbeing and a lack of high-quality sleep can contribute to a range of physical and mental health conditions. It’s recommended that the average adult gets between 7 to 9 hours of undisturbed sleep every night but most people do not achieve this target.

If you are somebody who struggles with sleep, you might notice that you feel extremely tired during the day and find it difficult to concentrate at work. You might also find that you are irritable and moody and that you get very strong cravings for high-calorie foods.

One reason why some people struggle to get enough sleep is that they don’t have an effective sleep routine. Building a consistent sleep schedule will help to regulate your body’s natural circadian rhythm, helping you to achieve improved sleep every night.

How to create a great sleep routine

Below, we are going to cover some great ways that you can build a regular and consistent sleep schedule.

Consider all of your nightly tasks

You’ve probably heard of people talking about their night routines. This basically refers to all of the steps that you take just before you get into bed to go to sleep.

Although you don’t need to have an elaborate nighttime routine, having some sort of structure for your evenings will help with your sleep. Consider all of the different things that you usually do in the evenings, especially the things that you do directly before you get into bed. Think about whether your behavior just before bedtime is beneficial to your sleep or detrimental to it.

For example, do you find that you are scrolling on your phone just before bed and exposing yourself to lots of blue light? Are you exercising just before you go to bed, causing you to feel wide awake when you want to go to sleep?

Avoid exercising within three hours before going to bed

Speaking of exercise before bedtime, if possible, schedule your workout sessions for earlier in the day.  Ideally, aim for morning or early afternoon exercise sessions rather than just before you go to bed.

When you exercise, your core body temperature rises and it can take a few hours to return back to baseline. If you’re going to bed while your body temperature is high it can take longer to drift off to sleep.

Avoid alcohol in the evenings

Many parties and celebrations take place in the evenings and these are the situations when alcohol is often served. While it’s okay to have fun and socialize with your friends and family, alcohol is one of the major sleep disruptors.

Although alcohol may not stop you from getting to sleep, it will significantly reduce the quality of your sleep, leaving you feeling groggy and tired in the morning, regardless of how long you spent in bed. Whenever possible, keep alcohol out of your evening routine if you want to optimize your sleep.