[List of 30] Sleep Hygiene Practices

Random Observation/Comment #522 : Sleepy time is one of my favorite times.

sleepy henry

A lack of sleep is devastating to all aspects of life. How do you get through the day when you’re physically exhausted? Besides heavy caffeine dosage, you’re probably going to want a few naps throughout the day and hopes that sleeping earlier will “make up for yesterday” (it almost never does).

Instead of constantly catching up, improve your systems and keep a healthy sleep hygiene.

  1. Keep consistent sleep times and patterns
  2. Try to go to bed at around the same time each night to synchronize your internal clock
  3. Get 7-9 hours of sleep per night
  4. Keep your bed for sleeping only
  5. Do not bring screens to the bed
  6. Set a curfew for using devices overall
  7. If you don’t fall asleep within 20 minutes, go to another room until you get tired again
  8. Avoid going to bed on a full stomach (give 2 hours to digest to also prevent acid reflux)
  9. Avoid going to bed hungry (it’ll bug you all night)
  10. Avoid naps in the evening
  11. Get some sun during the day so it helps you sleep better at night
  12. Some experts recommend working out in the morning rather than at night to keep the energy going for the rest of the day
  13. Create a relaxing sleep and bedtime routine – I like to stretch for 2 minutes before sleeping and cuddle with a large body pillow
  14. Remove things in the bedroom that distract you from sleeping
  15. This one is tough: try not to go to bed drunk. You may fall asleep faster first, but you’ll probably wake up in the middle of the night feeling thirsty or hung over
  16. Don’t talk about emotionally upsetting topics while in bed
  17. Try not to listen to music with lyrics too close to bed
  18. Don’t bring your problems to bed
  19. Change your sheets and pillow cases often so you get that fresh smell before going to bed
  20. If you’re sniffling and sneezing from allergies, take an antihistamine
  21. If this works for you, get a white noise machine so you stop paying attention to all the little sounds around the world while you’re trying to rest
  22. Even if you can take a nap with music playing, it’s recommended to have a quieter sleep environment so you don’t get disrupted by different beats or familiar lyrics
  23. Make your room as dark as possible
  24. Change your bedroom so it only makes you sleepy – associate it with sleepy time
  25. Know what temperature you love sleeping in. I personally like it cold with a warm blanket (and then half way through the night I kick off all the blankets anyway)
  26. Make sure you have a quality mattress that matches your personal preference to firmness and bounce
  27. Wear the same pajama clothes that make you feel sleepy. Change into them right before you go to bed or make it a part of that cooling down routine.
  28. Get the right pillow. I just bought one that has this cooling foam on one side and it’s amazing.
  29. Convince your sleeping partner to follow the same rules
  30. Make sure the Henry cat doesn’t wake you up at 5:30AM by nuzzling in your ear and batting your hair

~See Lemons Sleep