Self-help Sleep hygiene
Sleep is important for physical and mental health. You can learn to get a good night’s sleep. There are three golden rules for a good night’s sleep:
- Go to bed at the same time every evening. Then you’ll teach your body to be ready for sleep at this time.
- Do something calming regularly for a short while before going to sleep (e.g. have a cup of tea, read or listen to music).
- If you lie awake at night and can’t get back to sleep again, do something calming (e.g. read, listen to music over headphones). Don’t go back to bed until you notice that you are tired.
In addition, there are some things you should avoid if you want a good night’s sleep:
- Sleeping in the day to catch up on your sleep. This will make it harder for you to get to sleep at night.
- Not going to bed until the early hours of the morning because you’re afraid of having nightmares. Then you won’t get enough sleep.
- Drinking a lot of alcohol or drinks containing caffeine (e.g. coffee, black tea, Coca Cola) before you go to bed. These things are unnecessarily stimulating.
- Doing things right before going to bed that will make you very alert (e.g. watching a thriller or using your mobile phone).
- Thinking about problems before going to sleep or in bed. You need to be relaxed so that you can sleep.
- Constantly checking the time to see what time it is now.
