Sleep Hygiene

Sleep problems are highly preventable. A series of behavioural practices and environmental factors can help to promote good sleep. These behavioural practices have been extensively researched and supported by empirical evidence. These recommended practices and habits are known as sleep hygiene.

Here are some tips for good sleep hygiene practices:

Tips 1: Keep a regular sleep-wake pattern throughout the week.

• In our busy society, it is extremely common for people to have a lie-in during the weekends wishing to “catch up” on some sleep. This often inevitability leads to staying up late that evening. These sleeping irregularities create a vicious cycle. Instead, try to keep a regular sleeping schedule, which helps to set a stable internal body clock, and thus promoting better sleep.

Tips 2: Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol before bedtime.

• Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants that make it harder for us to fall asleep and reduce the occurrence of deep sleep. Alcohol might make you feel sleepy initially, but it heavily disrupts your deep sleep and worsen your sleep quality.

Tips 3: Avoid large meals before bedtime.

• Eating large meals before bed may cause indigestion and discomfort when sleeping. It is also more difficult for us to fall asleep while the body is busy digesting.

Tips 4: Keep your bedroom sleep-friendly: quiet, dark, relaxing, not too hot, not too cold.

• Creating a comfortable sleeping environment is crucial for a night of good sleep. Noise, light, and undesirable temperature could cause difficulty in falling asleep and mid-sleep awakenings.

Tips 5: Use the bed only for sleep and sex, but not others.

• Our brain creates a mental association between our environment and our actions. This mental association between the bed and sleeping weakens when we do things other than sleeping, such as watching TV or using your smartphone, in bed. The weaken association makes it harder for us to fall asleep in bed.

Tips 6: Take some time to wind down your mind and body before sleep – routinely set aside a time to do something relaxing and enjoyable.

• A winding down routine is not only relaxing, but it also reminds our body and brain that “it’s time for bed yo!”. You can listen to soft music, stretch a little, and do some relaxation breathing exercises.

Tips 7: Limit your use of electronic devices before bedtime, such as smartphones, laptops, TVs.

• Electronic devices stimulate our brain, making it very active, which is not good when we try to relax and sleep. Also, the light emitted from these devices may send a false signal to our internal biological clock that it is still daytime, reducing our desire to sleep.

Tips 8: Ensure adequate exposure to natural light during the day.

• Our sleep is partly governed by our internal biological clock, which is mostly regulated by light. Natural light is the most effective regulator. Expose yourself to daylight helps to keep our body clock in tune.

Tips 9: Avoid daytime napping.

• It is tempting to take a relaxing nap, but napping makes it harder for us to fall asleep at night. Besides, napping, especially long naps (over 30 minutes) would actually do more harm than good in terms of our cognitive function.