Atheletes know this. Optimising and harnessing sleep for gains may be the difference between winning and losing. This blog covers ideas for you to implement into your routine immediatly to make the most of resource that is already part of your being. Sleep.
Sleep, that natural process we often take for granted, plays a foundational role in our wellbeing. While we often think of sleep simply as a time when the body rests, it’s actually one of the most active processes in our lives—affecting everything from mood and memory to immune function and cognitive resilience. Sleep research has advanced significantly, providing insights that challenge our traditional ideas of what sleep is and why it matters. From understanding 90-minute sleep cycles to integrating new findings about the benefits of rest during the day, this blog explores the importance of sleep hygiene for our overall wellbeing.
What is Sleep?
Sleep is a dynamic and complex state, one that engages multiple brain and body systems to repair, regulate, and rejuvenate. During sleep, the brain works through a series of stages known as sleep cycles. Each cycle, lasting approximately 90 minutes, includes a mix of light, deep, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. In these stages, our body processes physical repair and cognitive organisation: during deep sleep, cells repair and grow, while REM sleep aids emotional processing and memory consolidation.
Good quality sleep provides balance in these cycles, allowing us to wake feeling alert and mentally clear. Poor sleep or inadequate sleep hygiene, on the other hand, can disrupt these cycles and lead to fatigue, irritability, and reduced mental performance. When we skip adequate sleep, we forgo this essential maintenance, making it difficult for our minds and bodies to perform optimally.
Why Do We Need Sleep?
Sleep supports nearly every biological system. It plays a vital role in strengthening immune function, managing stress hormones, and facilitating learning and memory. Our physical health also depends on quality sleep, as it allows our body to regulate metabolism, blood pressure, and repair muscle tissue. Conversely, a lack of sleep or irregular sleep cycles can increase our vulnerability to mood disorders, impair cognitive flexibility, and reduce resilience against stress.
Interestingly, recent research also emphasises how small losses in sleep quality or quantity can significantly affect our emotional regulation and perception. A poor night's sleep is enough to cause higher sensitivity to daily stressors, reduced empathy, and even heightened negativity bias, where we tend to focus more on negative aspects of experiences.
How Much Sleep Do We Need?
While the standard recommendation for adults is 7-9 hours per night, individual needs can vary. Age, lifestyle, and genetics all play a part in determining your optimal amount of sleep. One useful way to gauge whether you're getting the right amount of sleep is to assess how you feel during the day. If you frequently need naps, feel drowsy, or struggle to focus, it might be an indicator of a sleep deficit.
Sleep cycles of approximately 90 minutes offer another framework for understanding how much sleep you need. For example, if your body naturally requires about 7.5 hours of sleep, that equates to five 90-minute cycles. By setting your bedtime and wake time to align with these cycles, you’re more likely to wake at the end of a sleep cycle, when you’re in lighter sleep, which can help you feel refreshed and alert upon waking. If you set an alarm to wake you up when you are in the middle of a sleep cycle, you will find it more difficult to wake up and feel alert. If you are tired in the morning, it could be because you haven’t timed your sleep cycles and waking up ‘mid cycle’.
Building a Good Sleep Routine: Practical Tips
Have a good mattress
Perhaps an obvious thing to think about is having a high quality clean mattress, but this is often overlooked. When was the last time you changed your mattress? Or even just flipped it around? If you haven’t already, invest in a good mattress.Ultimately, the best mattress is one that keeps your spine aligned, supports your sleeping position, stays cool, and is comfortable to you. If possible, test the mattress for a few weeks (many companies offer generous trial periods) to see if it promotes restful sleep and reduces morning stiffness.
Set a Consistent Sleep Schedule
Regularity is crucial for regulating your circadian rhythm. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. This helps your body anticipate when it’s time to sleep and wake, optimising hormone release and preparing the body to wind down or wake up. One trick is to get up at the same time each day, regardless of what time you went to bed. Work out your ideal sleep time by calculating backwards from the time you want to get up. Count the number of 90 minute sleep cycles you think your ideal amount is. Fx you want to get up at 7am, and need 5 sleep cycles (7.5 hours), add 30 minutes it takes to fall asleep, and you get a lights out time of 11pm.
Don’t fret over the nights where it doesn’t work out, think about the aggregate amount of sleep. For example have you over the past week or two been able to stick to your sleep schedule more than 60%?. Gently correct yourself if not. Overtime you naturally wake up at 7am. Adults can catch up on sleep, so it is possible to miss out on some sleep sometimes without causing much disruption. (Children on the other hand, missed sleep, is missed repair and growth opportunities. That is for a different blog, there is a lot ot be said about sleep and children. For example there appears to be a correlation between poor sleep and obesity in children and teenagers. In this blog I am focusing on adults, although the sleep hygiene practices largely apply to children also).
Limit Screen Time Before Bed
Screens emit blue light, which can interfere with the production of melatonin, the hormone responsible for regulating sleep. Studies show that even short exposure to screens can delay melatonin release by up to two hours, pushing our sleep cycle later. Aim to avoid screens at least an hour before bed. If you need to use a device, consider blue light filters or, even better, shift to reading or other relaxing activities instead.
Create a Relaxing Pre-Sleep Routine
Creating a consistent pre-sleep routine helps signal to the body that it’s time to wind down. This could include activities like reading, stretching, deep breathing, or listening to calming music. Taking a hot shower or bath, doing mundane tasks such as ironing or tidying up are actually good to do in that hour before bed. Basically, you want to avoid intense mental or physical stimulation, watching tv or ‘death scrolling’ on your phone in bed, as these can delay your body’s natural transition into sleep.In our home we have found it helpful to put phones away in a different room overnight.
Optimise Your Sleep Environment
A conducive sleep environment is cool, dark, and quiet. Keeping the room temperature around 18°C (65°F) is optimal for sleep quality. Darkness is essential for melatonin production, so consider blackout curtains or a sleep mask. This actually includes keeping televisions, gadets and anything that emits light, such as standby lights on devices out of the bedroom. Earplugs or white noise machines can help reduce disturbances from outside noise.
Watch Your Caffeine and Alcohol Intake
Both caffeine and alcohol can interfere with sleep. While caffeine's effects are well-known, alcohol can be deceiving, as it may make you feel sleepy initially but can disrupt deep sleep stages later in the night. Avoid caffeine in the late afternoon and limit alcohol intake, especially close to bedtime.
Avoid fluid intake just before bed time
You want to avoid getting disrupted in the night, not always easy if your bladder needs emptying! Try not to drink just before bedtime, while you need to be hydrated, try timing your liquid intake so that you can go to bed on an empty bladder.
I know implementing many of these might feel like an insult to your current habits around sleep and changing them might feel very restrictive and overwhelming. Conversely, you need to assess your current attitude towards ensuring quality of sleep. You may be up against a culture that disregards your need for sleep. Social media and movie platforms are designed to keep you awake, the more you watch the more they profit. Work may be attempting to do the same thing, wanting you to be available to answer emails and messages 24/7. You are likely to have fallen into a routine that is not conducive to a good night's sleep.
The Role of Daytime Rest in Nighttime Sleep
While you might have the perfect night time routine for your sleep pattern, there is one other thing that impacts your quality of sleep. And that is how you rest during the day! Yes, you read that correctly. While nighttime sleep is essential, recent research has shown that rest during the day also plays a unique role in improving sleep and supporting overall wellbeing. Rest isn’t only about lying down; there are different types of rest, and each serves its purpose in recharging different aspects of our mental and physical energy. People vary in the way they need to rest and recharge.
Physical Rest
This can include relaxing without any major muscle movement, such as lying down or stretching lightly. Physical rest can alleviate muscle fatigue and reduce overall bodily tension.
Mental Rest
Engaging in mindful pauses or short breaks away from tasks helps reduce mental fatigue and stress, which can accumulate throughout the day and make it harder to relax fully at bedtime. Practising mindfulness for a few minutes or even shifting focus to a non-stressful topic can provide a mental refresh.
Sensory Rest
Reducing sensory input—like taking a break from screens, noisy environments, or intense lights—can give your nervous system a much-needed break, helping prevent overstimulation, which can otherwise carry over into nighttime and disrupt sleep. Perhaps a walk in the park or a mediation with eyes closed can do the trick.
Creative Rest
Allowing the mind to wander or engaging in gentle creative activities, like drawing or journaling, can provide creative rest, especially for those who work in problem-solving or analytical fields.
Social Rest
Social rest, refers to the spending time in the company of people who energise you, which can be emotionally restorative and help manage feelings of isolation or stress.
Active Rest
Some people wind down by exercising, going for a run or swim, hitting the gym or doing resistance training.
Research is revealing that integrating rest into your day can not only reduce evening tension and improve your capacity for deep sleep but also enhance cognitive flexibility and emotional regulation. Rest during the day creates a buffer against stressors, promoting resilience and better-quality sleep when the time comes to fully rest at night and they are different for different people. Think about what types of rest resonate with your lifestyle and personality and incorporate these into your day. One person's strenuous workout session might be another person's half hour nap.
Sleep Hygiene as a Personalised Practice
While the fundamentals of sleep hygiene—like managing light exposure, setting consistent routines, and reducing caffeine—are universal, each person’s optimal sleep routine is unique. For instance, some people may need 9 hours of sleep to function well, while others thrive with 7. Others may find that winding down with a book works wonders, while some benefit more from meditative practices.
The key to effective sleep hygiene is to experiment with and adjust practices based on your specific needs. It’s helpful to keep a journal for a few weeks to track sleep patterns, habits, and how you feel in the morning and throughout the day. This can illuminate what works best and what might need further tweaking.
A Final Word on Sleep and Wellbeing
Sleep, in its most essential form, is a reset button for the mind and body. Embracing a balanced approach to sleep, including proactive rest throughout the day and an intentional sleep routine at night, can dramatically enhance mental clarity, emotional stability, and resilience. In our quest for wellbeing, prioritizing good sleep hygiene is one of the most effective ways to nourish both body and mind.
By aligning our daily rhythms with our unique sleep needs, we can access the full potential of this nightly restoration process, enhancing not only our sleep but also our overall quality of life.