| | A quick note: These newsletters can help you optimize your sleep, but if you think you have an underlying sleep disorder like insomnia or sleep apnea, talk to your primary care provider about referring you to a sleep specialist. |
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| Strategy 1: Dim the lights in your environment |
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Dim the lights in your environment to signal to your body that your wind-down routine has begun, says Harvey. It can encourage our bodies to release melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone that regulates our circadian rhythm and tells our body it’s time to sleep.
Light can impact how you feel during the day too. Sunlight in the morning, for example, can make you feel alert. So when you wake up, get outside (even on a cloudy day) to curb melatonin and let your body know it’s time to start the day. |
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Try this tonight: In the evening, turn off the overhead lighting in the living room and bedroom and turn on any dimmable lamps to keep the lighting minimal. Don’t forget to turn those lamps off at bedtime. Light can disrupt your sleep even if your eyes are closed, says Harvey, so use an eye mask to block out any remaining light if you don’t have blackout curtains. |
To fall asleep faster, drop your internal temperature, says Dr. Seema Khosla, a sleep medicine physician and host of Talking Sleep, a podcast from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. It sends a signal to your body that it’s time for bed. “The quicker your body temperature falls, the quicker you fall asleep.”
Additionally, a cool sleep environment can make it easier for you to doze off. One study from 2023 found that older adults had the most efficient, restful sleep when the temperature ranged from 68 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit. |
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Try this tonight: Khosla suggests this method to quickly drop your body temperature: Take a steamy shower or bath before bed. Going from a warm environment to a cold one, like a cool room, can promote sleep. And turn down your thermostat. Khosla recommends keeping your room on the cooler side, closer to 68 degrees. |
Strategy 3: Consider the clock |
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To ensure you actually get enough sleep, (which should be at least seven hours), calculate your “sleep opportunity.” It’s a term that sleep researcher Matthew Walker uses in his book Why We Sleep to describe the total amount of time you’ll need to be in bed to get the amount of sleep you want, including the buffer time it takes to doze off.
So, for example, if you’re aiming for seven hours of sleep, your total time in bed should be around seven and a half hours. That’s because sleep experts say it takes a well-rested, healthy person about 15 to 20 minutes or maybe a bit longer to fall asleep.
And try to keep your bedtime and wake-up times consistent. Recent research has found that irregular sleep can throw off your circadian rhythm, “disrupting that underlying rhythm of sleepiness and wakefulness,” says Jeanne Duffy, a professor of medicine at Harvard University and a sleep researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Going to bed at different times throughout the week or sleeping in on weekends to try and catch up on sleep can make it harder to fall asleep at a normal bedtime, she says. |
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Try this tonight: Calculate your sleep opportunity and get into bed a little earlier than you think you should. Falling asleep “is a process, not a light switch,” says Harvey. |
Strategy 4: Stay away from anything too exciting |
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To sleep well, try to put yourself in a calm and relaxed state at bedtime, says Harvey. Anything that stirs up your emotions, positive or negative, is best to avoid. “This is not the time to check one last email or text with friends about exciting plans.”
These types of activities can “make us feel a sense of threat,” says Harvey. Instead, you want to create “a sense of safety and good associations with bedtime.” |
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Try this tonight: Review your nighttime activities with a fresh eye. Are they soothing? If not, see what you can adjust. Harvey recommends seeking out emotional connection to temper feelings of worry or stress. Small acts, like hugging your partner or child before bed, can create a sense of well-being.
You can also try saying a simple coping statement, she says. “I teach my son to say, ‘I am safe, I am secure, I am free from harm.’ ” |
Strategy 5: Problem solve (but not too much) |
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| It can be hard to fall asleep when you have a lot on your mind. To help quiet the chatter, work through any stressors before the lights go out, says Harvey. “We don’t want it all to come pounding down” when you’re trying to sleep. |
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Try this tonight: If you find yourself worrying about problems or your to-do list, grab a pen and paper. Write out each issue or task and a specific next step that you will take tomorrow to address it, says Harvey. Don’t try to actually solve the problem, though. “Once people get into problem-solving, that becomes arousing.” |
Good luck rethinking your wind-down routine -- and remember to keep at it and be patient. Harvey says it can take about two to three weeks for a new habit to start positively affecting your sleep.
Keep an eye out for our next newsletter in a couple of days. It will cover diet, exercise, alcohol and supplements.
Sleep well,
Clare Marie
P.S. Let us know if you try any of these tactics tonight. Email us at lifekit@npr.org -- we’d love to hear from you. |
This newsletter series was edited by Malaka Gharib, Meghan Keane and Carmel Wroth and fact-checked by Susie Cummings. Beck Harlan is the visual editor. Special thanks to Emily Barocas, Joy Yoo, Arielle Retting, Kelley Holden, Kristin Hume and Raquel Scoggin. |
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