Maintain sleep hygiene to ensure a healthy sleeping routine

Sleep hygiene plays a crucial role in helping you have a good night’s sleep. It is referred to a set of practices and habits that are important for you to have a good night time sleep quality and full daytime alertness. Every individual must be aware of sleep nature, and if they are long-duration sleepers or short-duration sleepers.

It is important to understand the amount of sleep required by your body. “To understand your sleep nature, set aside enough time to realistically get at least 7 hours of sleep. If you do this for a few days and still wake up feeling unrested, gradually increase the number and this may be a sign that you are a long sleeper,” writes Nmami in her blog.

On the other hand, in case you feel great even after sleeping for 4 to 6 hours a day, then you are a short-duration sleeper. This to infer that the correct amount of sleep varies from person to person. What’s important is to feel well-rested and fresh when you wake up in the morning.

A good sleep hygiene can improve your productivity and overall quality of life. Good sleep practices can benefit everyone from children to older adults.

People who feel sleepy during the day and experience frequent sleep disturbances are likely to have poor sleep hygiene. Other sign of poor sleep hygiene is taking too long to fall asleep. In case you feel these symptoms, it is time you reconsider your sleep routine and make changes that can help you sleep better.

Try the following tips

Regular exercise can help you sleep better at night. Even 15 minutes of aerobic exercise like running, cycling or walking can improve your sleep quality. Avoid strenuous workouts close to bed time. See what works best for you but make sure to include exercise in your daily routine.

Getting no exposure to natural light may be detrimental for your natural sleep-wake cycle. Exposure to sunlight during the day and darkness at night is important for good sleep hygiene.

Avoid using gadgets at least one hour before bed time
Watching TV, using phone, laptops and tabs etc can make it difficult for you to fall asleep on time. Doing this can help in improving your sleep cycle.

At times, your sleep may be disturbed because of the lights in your room or an unclean or unkempt bed, etc. If you experience trouble sleeping every night, then work towards making your bedroom more comfortable and sleep-friendly. Enter your bed room only after completing all your chores.

When you get in bed, there should be no task that you are doing. Listen to music that induces sleep and it can help in improving your sleep quality.

It is better to have light dinners or have a gap of at least 2 hours between your dinner and bed time. Fatty or fried meals and caffeinated drinks can cause indigestion issues and make it difficult for you to sleep.