9 Tips to Sleep Better Every Night

by Natalie Belford

Although everybody’s needs are different, most people require eight hours of sleep each night. You may already have noticed that eating and fitness plans will actually help you fall asleep more easily and sleep more deeply. But if you have any trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, here are some suggestions that might help: Create a ritual around sleep. Doing a few things that signal your body to prepare for bed can help you feel drowsy at the appropriate time.

1. Avoid overly stimulating TV or music; don’t take on any work or family problems close to bedtime; and by all means, avoid sweets, carbs, alcohol, and caffeine before bed—they are all real sleep disturbers! (We know you’re avoiding them anyway, but make a special point of avoiding them in the late evening.)

2. Finish your exercise at least two hours before bedtime. Exercise alerts your body to rev up — you want to slow down. Even if a workout makes you tired, it also wakes you up, so work out no later than two hours before your bedtime for maximum sleep support.

3. Try a hot bath. According to the National Sleep Foundation, taking a fifteen-minute hot bath ninety minutes before going to bed brings on sleep more quickly. Many other studies have found that a bath inspires frequent episodes of deep sleep. A warm, scented bath can be a terrific part of your bedtime ritual, especially after a stressful day.

4. Eat lightly before bedtime. You get home late from work or after your child’s Little League practice and you’re famished. Unfortunately, your body works hard to digest a heavy meal—and that can interfere with restful sleep. If you must eat within three hours of going to sleep, try a light stir-fry or veggie omelet to keep both hunger pangs and heartburn from disturbing your sleep.

5. Restrict your bed to sleeping, sex, and—if you must—some light bedtime reading. Don’t work, watch TV, or do any other stimulating activity in bed. (Even if you find TV relaxing, its flickering electronic signal actual stimulates your brain and keeps you up.) School your body to respond to a consistent signal: bed is for winding down; somewhere else is for revving up.

6. Make your bedroom a sleep sanctuary. Buy a comfortable mattress, sleep on clean sheets, and keep your room cool—60 to 65 degrees. Use light-blocking shades or lined drapes to keep out light. Control noise with earplugs, double-paned windows, heavy curtains, or “white noise” from a fan or air purifier. Use a humidifier if the room is too dry.

7. If you can’t fall asleep within fifteen minutes, get up. Do something you enjoy, to avoid the sense that you’re punishing yourself for staying awake. Read something light, listen to soothing music, or take a hot bath or shower. Relax with deep breathing or meditation—or, if a problem is plaguing you, take steps to solve it if you can, or to consciously release it until tomorrow if you can’t.

8. You might write briefly about the problem, along with an “appointment” the next day to work on a solution. Then put the paper aside and try going back to bed. Avoid taking a nap after 4 p.m. or sleeping for more than one hour during the daytime. If you’re sleeping during the day, and you have no problem sleeping at night, then don’t worry about it; your body knows what it needs. But if you’re in a cycle of naps and insomnia, do your best to resist napping. Your body needs help in resetting its clock, and natural tiredness is part of that assistance.

9. Maintain your waking and sleeping times even on weekends. It’s important to understand that you don’t really “catch up” with extra sleep on the weekend. Your weight retention, carb cravings, and hormonal imbalances affect you during the week no matter how well you sleep on Saturday and Sunday. And if you’re cranky, tired, or depressed during the week, you’ve already paid a high price for your sleep deficit, no matter how well you sleep on the weekend.