Sweet Dreams: 10 Proven Strategies & Ways to Improve Your Sleep Quality

Have you been sleeping poorly and feeling exhausted throughout the day? Is the lack of quality sleep affecting your physical and mental health?

If your answer to these questions is yes, you may benefit from knowing and implementing some of the sleep etiquette tips that we’ll cover in this article. Keep reading and discover ways to achieve that blissful and rejuvenating sleep once again.

Numerous factors can affect your sleep, and it can occasionally be challenging to identify the precise cause of insomnia. However, you can consider the various aspects of your lifestyle and assess what the reasons are keeping you from enjoying a good night’s sleep. Generally, making certain changes in your daily life can help you sleep better, and we have here brought together some helpful tips for doing that.

A consistent routine not only results in better time management but can also help you sleep better. Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day helps regulate your biological clock. In a study conducted on 69 individuals over a period of two weeks, it was found that people with insomnia were less regular about their daytime activities compared with those who slept well. This highlights the correlation between regularity in daytime activities like work, exercise, and meals and the quality of sleep.

To follow a healthy routine, you can allocate time for specific activities and set up reminders on your phone to stick to them.

Physical activity is necessary not only for improving your physical strength, flexibility, and mobility but also has a great influence on how you sleep. Sedentary living can take a toll on your sleep.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), adults in the age group of 18–64 should do at least 150–300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical exercise, such as brisk walking, in a week. They also recommend moderate or vigorous workouts that target all the major muscular groups in the body at least twice a week.

A healthy diet provides you with energy and the right nutrients and keeps the various biological processes, such as digestion, sleep, and excretion, going smoothly. Certain types of food items have been linked with improved sleep quality, according to a 2020 review of studies examining the effects of diet on sleep. These include foods high in carbohydrates and those having tryptophan (beef, poultry, dairy products, nuts, and seeds), melatonin (milk, cherries, nuts, fish, and oats), and phytonutrients (tomato, mango, melons, spinach, and kale).

You should also drink enough water throughout the day to help with your body’s metabolism and sleep. There is scientific evidence that low hydration levels can lead to a shorter sleep duration.

Stress is a major cause of various mental and physical issues that we face, be it high blood pressure, digestive problems, depression, or insomnia. While a certain degree of stress is inevitable and even necessary, things can get quite debilitating once they weigh heavily on you.

Research indicates that stress at work, an imbalance between efforts and rewards, and work-life balance issues are related to the prevalence of insomnia among the working population. To minimize stress, you’ll have to first identify its causes and understand how they affect you. You may also benefit by recognizing areas beyond your control and accepting your limitations in such cases.

According to Statista, a data gathering and visualization platform, the number of Americans practicing yoga has gone up from 21 million in 2010 to 33.64 million in 2023, marking an impressive 60% increase. This rise in the popularity of yoga is justifiable given its numerous benefits in terms of mental and emotional health.

In a preliminary study comprising 20 participants, the effects of yoga were observed through various parameters related to sleep quality, like sleep efficiency, total sleep time, and the number of sleep disruptions.

An effective practice for improving sleep quality, meditation offers a good number of other benefits, both in the spiritual and physical sense. It enhances self-awareness, promotes inner peace, and lowers high blood pressure and heart rate. According to an analysis of studies on the effectiveness of meditation against insomnia, mindfulness meditation may help improve sleep quality when used as a complementary therapy along with standard treatment.

If you haven’t ever meditated before, you can start with guided bedtime meditation for improving sleep quality.

You may also try herbal products as ways to improve sleep quality. Some of the plant products that have been shown to be effective against insomnia are valerian roots, lavender oil, and passionflower extracts.

You should also be aware of the fact that herbal products can have side effects and should only take them after consulting with your doctor. They may also interact with the drugs prescribed during conventional treatment.

Avoiding coffee and energy drinks before you go to bed is considered one of your healthy sleep habits. Caffeine has been linked to not only insomnia but also palpitations, tremors, and headaches. Another study focusing on the effect of 400 mg caffeine intake at various intervals before bedtime (0, 3, and 6 hours before going to bed) concluded that caffeine can cut down your sleep duration by one hour even when it is consumed 6 hours before bedtime. It also recommends avoiding drinking coffee or energy drinks after 5:00 pm as a form of sleep etiquette.

Blue light emitted from the screens of smartphones, tablets, computers, and other devices is known to disrupt your sleep. It affects the circadian rhythm of the body, which is known to regulate our sleep and can induce alertness at the time when you should be feeling sleepy.

As one of the ways to improve sleep quality, avoid using smartphones or other gadgets for about 2 to 3 hours before going to sleep. Replace your blue or white reading light with a warm yellow lamp if you love to read. Turning on the night mode on your devices may also help you improve your sleep quality.

If your bedroom gets light and noise from outside, it can make it harder for you to fall asleep. This is especially true if there are streetlights outside or a road nearby with heavy traffic. Similarly, you may also keep on tossing in the bed if the temperature is too hot or cold.

As part of good sleep habits, you should take care to prevent light and noise from entering your bedroom. For this purpose, you can use thick, dark curtains to block the light. Additionally, pay attention to any appliances in your bedroom that might emit light or make noise and make an effort to reduce the disruption they cause.

These sleep hygiene techniques can provide you with simple and effective ways to improve sleep quality. Gradually including them in your daily life will not only affect how you sleep but also improve your overall health. If you still find it difficult to fall or stay asleep, it may be due to an underlying medical condition that requires professional intervention.

Having said that, you can use these healthy sleep practices in addition to the medication your doctor has prescribed and see an improvement in your sleep quality.