A Beginner’s Guide to Sleep Hygiene
Sourced by a terrible sleeper.
I have a friend who can fall asleep anytime, anyplace. She’s routinely late because she unexpectedly dozed off on her way out the door. She takes 10-minute naps on command when she needs a mid-day pick-me-up. She snoozes into the late morning, never disturbed by the sun glaring through her window or the city noises outside her apartment door. I am bewildered and envious of this trait.
Me, on the other hand? I’m lucky if I get six hours. I often wake up at the ungodly hour of 4 am, with to-do-list tasks rattling through my brain, forcing me to toss and turn without falling back into my slumber. Whenever life is particularly stressful—in recent weeks, I was prepping for an out-of-country move—my sleep is the first thing to go. I’m tired of my puffy eyes and foggy brain, so today, I am turning my attention to sleep hygiene.
The practice is predicated on improving sleep by implementing certain habits and environmental adjustments. (Think: maintaining a schedule, setting up a relaxing space and limiting screens.) What does this look like for a perpetually rushed woman with generalized anxiety? Here’s what the experts have to say.
Pick a rest time and stick to it
Generally speaking, having the same bedtime and wakeup time is key to a good routine, notes Dr. David Greenberg, a primary care physician with an interest in sleep. “That’s the best advice I can give people,” he says. “Make sure you’re giving yourself a reasonable amount of time to wind down before you try to sleep—whether it’s a hot bath or time away from your phone to give your brain a chance to say, ‘Oh, okay, it’s bedtime.’”
Make your bedroom feel like a bedroom
When your bedroom, like mine, doubles as an office, entertainment centre and catch-all space, you may no longer associate it with rest. “You walk into your room, and your brain doesn’t know why you’re there,” says Greenberg. “Rather than thinking ‘I’m here to relax,’ your mindset is ‘What am I doing here?’” In the age of WFH, sometimes this flex-space setup is unavoidable. So, try optimizing your bedroom for you. That means using lighting that helps you wind down, decluttering your desk if it gives you a better sense of peace and finding a good mattress for your body and sleeping style.
Dr. Deborah Lee, a doctor from Dr Fox OnlinePharmacy working with mattress retailer Comfybedss, also suggests looking into aromatherapy. “There are multiple complex connections between the olfactory system and sleep in the human brain,” she says. “Several studies have shown the beneficial effects of lavender oil inhalation before sleep.” She suggests putting three to six drops in a diffuser, putting a few drops on your pillow or mixing a few drops with warm water and spritzing it on your pillow.
a sleep-better starter guide
Give yourself a screen curfew
Scrolling before bed can be disruptive for two reasons: the content itself (are those Zendaya wedding photos AI or not?) and the blue light coming from your phone. We’ve all unintentionally doom-scrolled for hours before bed, so Greenberg suggests implementing small breaks as you go. “The important thing is to be cognizant of how much time you’re spending on your screen, and then shutting it down at a reasonable hour,” he says. “Start with half an hour and see if that works in improving your sleep. And if it doesn’t, turn your screen off a little earlier in your routine. It’s really individualized.”
Be mindful of what you drink
A late-night martini is certainly a weekly occurrence for me, and come to find out, it’s one of the things impacting my sleep. “Alcohol results in increased night-time awakenings and reduces REM sleep,” says Lee, adding that, as a general rule, alcohol shouldn’t be consumed within four hours of bedtime. Another indulgence to stay away from? Sugary snacks that cause a spike in glucose, which can ultimately wake you up in the night.
Stop assuming tired is normal
The biggest misconception people have when it comes to sleep deprivation, says Greenberg, is that it’s just part of being an adult. Everyone is different; everyone requires a different level of sleep, but being drowsy in the morning and relying on a 3 p.m. coffee to get through the day should not be routine.
“The best metric of a good sleep isn’t necessarily how many hours you’re getting in a day. The best metric is how you feel the next day,” says Greenberg. “If you’re walking around tired all the time, that’s not good.” He suggests making conscious changes to your before-bed ritual (like the aforementioned aromatherapy or light fixture tweaks)—and if that doesn’t help, bringing it up with your doctor. “If you’re always tired, don’t wait for your care provider to ask you about it. You bring it up.”
Natalie Michie is the Fashion & Features Editor at FASHION Magazine. With a pop culture obsession, she is passionate about exploring the relationship between fashion, internet trends and social issues. She has written for Elle Canada, CBC, Chatelaine and Toronto Life. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and over-analyzing movies on TikTok.
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