Sleep Hygiene Tips
March 17, 2022
Sleep Hygiene (SH) doesn't mean that you should sleep on clean sheets... but in some cases it just might! SH refers to how you can influence the quality and quantity of sleep you get. Following are some suggestions from Dr. Matthew Walker, professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.
Sleep Hygiene Tips
- Regularity: go to bed at the same time, wake up at the same time
- Lighting: sleep in the dark, wake up to the light
- Temperature: cool temperatures will help you sleep
- Don’t lie in bed awake; that triggers the brain to think you should be awake and instills a learned association
- Avoid alcohol and caffeine; after 03:00 pm as much as possible
- Sleep is not a light switch; you need to have a wind-down routine to prepare the brain and body to rest
- Remove clockfaces from the bedroom; it doesn’t help to know that it’s 2:00 am and you’re still not asleep
- No Tech in the Bedroom (phones, tablets and TV's); keep technology outside of the bedroom and don’t make it the first thing you do in the morning
- Do not check your phone for one (01) hour after waking up; Checking your phone right when you wake up trains your brain that anxiety/stress is coming to you as soon as you wake up and lightens your sleep throughout the night
- One Step at a Time; Don’t try to change it all at once – start with something manageable: maybe wait five minutes before checking your phone in the morning, then ten minutes, then after you shower, etc.
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