Good sleep is vital for good health. Not getting enough quality sleep is linked with mood disorders, weight problems, cognitive decline, and overall worse health. Because of that, I have dedicated some time to find helpful tips for sleeping well and am listing them here. Note that much of this advice won’t help if you suffer from insomnia. Neither are they are substitutes for a consultation with a sleep doctor or medication if your situation is not related to insomnia but still quite severe. For a description of the various sleep conditions and their severity, see this talk by Dr. Meir Kryger. Be sure to check out his book on the subject as well.

Create a sleep habit

Make your bedtime habits as regular as possible. This means going to sleep at the same time each day and doing the same things from the two hours before you get into bed. For those who don’t have the luxury of a regular sleep schedule, for example, if you work shifts, are caring for infants, or travel a lot, try to do it whenever possible.

Get your room as dark as possible

This helps with sleep. Make sure that light is not seeping through your windows or from any electronic devices because that light can get through your eyelids and affect your sleep quality. Wear a mask or get blackout curtains if necessary.

Decrease blue light exposure hours before going to bed

Blue light from our electronic devices delay our circadian rhythm and make it harder for us to sleep quickly and sleep well. To reduce blue light on your computer in the evenings, use f.lux. It’s an app which, when calibrated correctly, will progressively remove blue light from your computer screen in the evenings. Similar apps are available for both Apple and Android mobile devices. 

For folk who watch television in the evenings, get blue light blocking glasses. Shawn Stevenson, the best-selling health author and the number one health podcaster on iTunes, recommends these. His talk on sleeping well is also worth watching (be sure to check out his book too). Wear them outdoors at night at your own risk.

Exercise regularly, but not less than four hours before going to bed. Do some light stretching right before going to bed

Stretching helps to relax your body and prepare you for sleep. Professional life hacker Tim Ferriss, in his book Tools of Titans (2016), mentioned that decompressing his spine right before going to sleep was helpful. Note: if you happen to read his book, you don’t need to try out his insane physical routines to appreciate his insights. The general idea is to stretch your back.

Our sleep is affected also by our cortisol cycle. To re-calibrate them to fit your time zone, exercise in the morning, preferably with high-intensity intervals (HIIT) or low-impact rebounding, get sunlight exposure between eight and ten in the morning and perform mindfulness activities then as well.

Wear comfortable earplugs or use a white noise machine to drown out unwanted noise

Some of us live in a noisy environment. If this is affecting your sleep, wear comfortable earplugs or invest in a white noise machine. The sound from the machine helps to drown out unwanted noise and will facilitate sleep. Alternatively, you can use Noisli on your laptop.

Manage stress by preparing a to-do list for tomorrow or thinking about something you enjoy

When we get into bed, sometimes our minds refuse to relax because it’s ruminating on the stresses of tomorrow. Writing down or mentally noting the things that you’ll be doing tomorrow helps to relax your brain and prepare you for sleep.

In my case, I drown out lingering stressful thoughts by designing ideal video games in my mind, i.e., improving on the video games I’ve played throughout my childhood and adolescence (I was quite the avid gamer). For some reason, this helps me. Likewise, thinking about something you enjoy that isn’t too stimulating could help.

Don’t consume anything close to bedtime that’ll interfere with your sleep, and consume things that will

Consumables with caffeine, alcohol, or anything that in your experience tends to interfere with your sleep should be avoided after dinner time, or not less than six hours before sleep. Foods that contain potassium, like bananas and avocados, are good. Foods that contain magnesium and cinnamon are good too. Some swear on beverages like these. Try different beverages that are supposed to facilitate sleep and stick to the ones that work best.

Quality is better than quantity

Most of us cannot afford to enjoy the recommended eight hours of sleep every night. So make sure that every hour asleep counts. To do so, don’t nap during the day for more than forty minutes. If you do, you will enter the deeper stages of sleep and that will affect your sleep quality at night.

Get a bed and pillows that fit your sleep style, and keep them clean

If you are a side sleeper, get a firm pillow which can hold up your head and hug a bolster so that your spine and hip are well supported. If you sleep on your back, a soft pillow for your head is fine, but put a pillow under your thighs so that your spine isn’t arched. Don’t sleep on your tummy. Check out this video by pain therapist Kevin Wade to see what these positions look like. Keeping your bed clean helps too.

If possible, try to keep the room temperature between fifteen and nineteen degrees Celsius

This is the optimal temperature for sleeping according to the National Sleep Foundation. Wear as little as possible under the blankets so that your body can regulate its temperature more effectively.

There you have it. Some of these tips have helped me sleep better (almost as well as Michael McIntyre’s wife). Mix and match them with your own cures and see which ones work best. If what you need is the motivation to change your habits rather than know-how, getting a sleep journal or an accountability partner can help.