Sleep hygiene, and why it actually helps

Sleep hygiene is the set of everyday habits around sleep, rather than a treatment for a specific sleep disorder. It will not resolve every sleep problem, but it removes a lot of the ordinary interference that makes an already difficult night worse.

What actually helps

Keep a consistent routine. Going to bed and waking at roughly the same time each day, including weekends, helps your body learn when to expect sleep.

Use your bed for sleep. Working, scrolling or watching something in bed teaches your brain to associate the bed with being alert, which is the opposite of what you want at night.

Set a screen cut-off. Light and stimulation from a screen shortly before bed can make it harder to switch off. If your sleep is already poor, this is one of the higher-value changes to make.

Get the room right. Dark, quiet and cool generally works best. Small adjustments to temperature or light are worth trying if you consistently wake feeling under-rested.

Wind down deliberately. Stop stimulating activity, including exercise, in the hour or so before bed. A bath, reading, or a fixed relaxation routine such as slow breathing gives your body a clear signal that sleep is coming.

Mind what you eat and drink in the evening. Caffeine, alcohol and nicotine are all stimulants, and a heavy meal or large amount of liquid late in the evening can disturb sleep even if it does not stop you falling asleep initially.

Get regular activity, but not right before bed. Exercise earlier in the day supports sleep; exercising in the evening can have the opposite effect, because it raises alertness at exactly the wrong time.

Keep a sleep diary if the pattern is not obvious. A few weeks of notes on when you slept, what you ate, and how you felt can reveal a cause that is otherwise hard to spot.

Deal with the worry directly. If a specific worry is what keeps you awake, a short worry journal, kept away from the bedroom, can give the thought somewhere to go other than round in your head.

If it does not help enough

If you have tried the above consistently and sleep is still a struggle, that is worth raising with your GP. Sleep hygiene addresses habits; it does not address an underlying anxiety disorder, depression or a physical sleep condition, and those need their own treatment.