10 Tips of Sleep Hygiene For You

Do you spend hours staring at the ceiling, counting the imaginary sheep, trying to fall asleep? You’re not alone. You probably also wake up at 2 am thinking it’s dawn.

Fear not – we at Setu are sleep specialists, and are here to help you solve this problem.

What Is Sleep Hygiene?

Sleep hygiene is all about building healthy habits around your sleep cycle. Good sleep hygiene is vital because of the central role quality sleep plays in physical and mental wellbeing. Sleep hygiene is not just about matters of the bed – but is affected by your daily choices as well – including your diet, caffeine and alcohol intake, and your evening routine.

Here, we can give you 10 quick tips to improve the quality of your sleep.

Create And Adopt A Consistent Schedule

First things first – CREATE A SCHEDULE. Remember, reinforcing your sleep cycle is a matter of fixing a bed and wake time every day, and ensuring these are at least seven hours apart.

Create A Relaxing Bedtime Routine

Destressing and unwinding before bed help you take off to zzz land with ease. Maintaining a consistent routine that helps you cool off and calm down before bed will help signal to your brain to begin producing melatonin. Ideas to relax around bedtime could include having a warm bubble bath, performing some gentle yogic stretching, attempting to meditate or just reading a book!

Beat Back The Blue Light

High energy blue light from screens is tremendously detrimental to your natural production of melatonin – the chemical that helps maintain your sleep cycle. Getting away from your devices at least a half-hour before bed helps calm the mind. What’s more, turning them off prevents any interruptions from those pesky notifications!

Work Out! Regularly

Even a quick 30-minute run is all it takes to improve your sleep quality. Make sure you do this at least 2 hours before your usual bedtime, so you don’t get too hot and energetic right before la la land.

Refrain From That Last Cuppa

Ever felt that last cup of coffee was just an hour too late? Happens all the time! The effects of caffeine can last anywhere between 3 and 7 hours after consumption. Take a leaf out of our founder’s book – Nihaal has his last (and eighth) cup of coffee before 4 pm! Practice this restraint, and your sleep cycle will be thankful forever!

Quiet, Dark And Cool

These are the three key tenets of a comfortable sleeping environment. Make sure it is dark, make sure it is cool, and most importantly, make sure your bedroom is QUIET. Nice bed linen, a good AC and earplugs can go a long way 😉

Beds Are For Sleeping – Only

The more activities your mind associates with space, the tougher it becomes to associate it with one. Case in point – if you’re eating meals, working, watching TV for many hours a day ON YOUR BED, it becomes REALLY difficult to fall asleep quickly. Because you’ve started to think of it as a workspace. We’re all guilty of this – try to avoid spending any time on your bed between the time you get out of it and your bedtime!

Sleep When Tired

This is a simple one – if you arent feeling tired – then dont go to bed! Try something relaxing and soothing instead, till the fatigue sets in.

Avoid Napping

Afternoon naps completely distort your sleep cycle. Not only is it tougher to fall asleep, it’s also tougher to stay asleep!

Eliminate Stress

Stop worrying. Make a to-do list. And always remember, all your problems will still be here tomorrow, but how much better could you resolve them if you were well-rested! Nothing is ever worth losing sleep over.

The Final Word

These simple tips are all for factors that are entirely in your control. Having a comfortable space, a clear schedule, a relaxed mind and a well-managed diet will play a huge role in influencing the quality of your sleep!