Tips For Improving Your Sleep Hygiene

Struggling to sleep? Whether you’ve trouble drifting off, are waking up during the night, or you’re a constant early riser – if you’re looking for a perfect night’s sleep, you’ve come to the right place.

Did you know that around 1 in 5 people in the UK aren’t getting enough sleep? Thankfully, with a few tweaks to your nighttime (and daily) routine, there are several things which can help boost your sleep quality…

What Is Sleep Hygiene?

First up, you may have heard of the phrase ‘sleep hygiene’ and wondered what it meant. Put simply, it’s all about being mindful of making healthier sleep habits. This can be anything from what you get up to leading up to bedtime, to how sleep-friendly your bedroom is. 

A solid routine is a must for bettering your ‘sleep hygiene’, so here are our tried and tested top tips…

NEOM Wellbeing’s Top Tips To Improve Your Sleep Hygiene

As you know, here at NEOM we’re big on routines and a bit of trial and error to find what works for you.

Doing things over and over helps you make new habits, and you’ll find it easier to stick with it over time. By keeping a sleep hygiene routine, your mind learns that it’s time to wind down in the evening and helps you feel sleepy at bedtime.

Of course, making new habits takes time – NEOM’s own 28 Day Perfect Night’s Sleep Plan (with our 11 Golden Rules to better sleep) takes 28 days to finish! But, sticking with your new sleep hygiene routine for around a month can help set you up for a dreamy night’s sleep. 

Let’s look at which of our sleep tips could help you drift off to dreamland…

Have A Consistent Bedtime

We mentioned routine, right? Well, a big part of that is finding a bedtime that works for you, and more importantly, sticking to it. If you can, you should try to go to bed – and wake up – at roughly the same time every day, even on weekends.

Doing this helps your body to naturally adjust to the routine, and you should find yourself feeling sleepy at the same time each day - making it easier to drift off.

Setting your alarm for that early weekend morning can feel scary, but you should give it a try. You may be surprised by how you feel after a few weeks…

Give Mindfulness A Go

Mindfulness aims to help you let go of the past, or future, and simply live in the present moment. This can be a really great way to quiet your mind and de-stress, especially before bedtime. Below, we’ve listed some of our favourite mindfulness activities you could try as part of your sleep hygiene routine.

• Try breathing exercises: timing your breath with NEOM’s 7-in-11-out method, or using deep breathing to relax and de-stress may help you feel ready to sleep. Why not pair your breathing exercises with the soothing lavender scent of our Perfect Night’s Sleep Pillow Mist for that extra dreamy feeling?
• Practice meditation: meditation, like breathing, focuses on relaxing your mind and calming any worries you may have. A short, five to 10 minute meditation break as part of your bedtime routine may help you drift off easier.
• Keep a worry journal: if you’re still having trouble clearing the thoughts buzzing around in your head, why not try keeping a worry journal or to-do list by your bed? Writing down your thoughts and feelings is a simple way to get them off your mind, and might allow you to sleep easier at night.

Be Mindful Of Caffeine

Many of us love a hot drink in the evenings; they’re warm, comforting, and super-relaxing. But, you should try and stay away from caffeinated or sugary drinks as these may actually perk you up or give you an energy boost – which is not what you want right before bed!

If you still want that cosy feeling without the extra stimulation, try fruit or herbal teas that don’t have as high a caffeine content. 

And, if you need to sweeten your evening drink, try to use honey instead of sugar. A natural sweetener, studies show honey also has an amino acid called tryptophan, which can help to improve sleep in small quantities1.

Top sleep tip: try to avoid alcohol before bed too, as it doesn’t actually help you sleep in the long run – and you’ll likely feel worse in the morning.

Make Your Space A Sanctuary For Sleep

Where you sleep is just as important and when and for how long. And we’re not talking about your bed (although a comfy mattress is an absolute must-have).

When you’re looking for how to improve your sleep, sorting out your bedroom is the obvious starting point. First things first, you should try to keep the room as dark as possible to tell your brain it’s time for bed. If your curtains aren’t enough, try a sleep mask to block out that last lingering ray of light.

Temperature will also play a part in your sleep quality. It’s actually a lot easier to sleep in a cooler space, so make sure you don’t have the heating on when it’s not needed – and you could try sleeping with a thinner duvet during the summer months. If you live near a busy street, or can’t cope with a partner’s snoring, a small pair of ear plugs can help you relax into your pillow in blessed silence.

Another part of curating a soft and cosy sleeping area is smell. They’re often underrated, but the right scents can make a big difference in how a space feels – and how you feel within it.

Create the perfect sleepy vibe with our Perfect Night’s Sleep Pod Starter Pack. Our iconic NEOM Wellbeing pod emits a soft, warm glow, which works as a night light when you’re relaxing into your bedtime routine. Or, try out the breathing mode, which lights and dims to guide you through your breathing exercises. Combined with our calming Scent to Sleep essential oil blend, this diffuser pod is the ideal accessory to help you create a soothing sleeping space.

Monitor Your Screen Time

Scrolling your phone can feel like it’s relaxing – but before bed, it should be a big no-no. Electronic devices, like phones and tablets, emit a kind of blue light which stops your brain from producing melatonin properly. Melatonin is a hormone that tells us when it’s time to get sleepy, so you want plenty of this in your system before bedtime.

Want to learn more about this? Check out… Why Is Tech (And Screen Time) Bad News For Sleep?

To improve your sleep quality, try to avoid being on your phone for at least an hour before you’re settling into bed to give your body time to feel tired. If you need to keep your hands and mind busy, try to include other things into your bedtime routine that will allow you to slow down and relax, like the ones in the next section…

Slow Down Before Bed

Slowing down before bedtime allows your body to feel sleepy, which should help you fall asleep quicker when you finally settle down. Instead of scrolling on your phone, you could try:

• Run a relaxing bath: having a long, soothing soak in the bath before bed is one of the best ways to calm your mind before sleep. Learn more about How To Run The Perfect NEOM Bath that’ll help you drift off in no time.
• Completing a bedtime skincare routine: this keeps your hands busy, allows your mind to drift, and benefits your skin. It’s a win, win, win! An excellent combination of our signature sleep scent and high-quality moisturiser, our Perfect Night's Sleep Magnesium Body Butter is a wonderful addition to your sleep hygiene routine.
• Read a book or magazine: reading before bed is a great way to wind down before trying to sleep – just try not to fall into the trap of ‘one more chapter’...
• Listen to relaxing music or a podcast: listening to music is a passive activity that can relax your mind and help you de-stress before bed. Or, why not fit in an episode of your favourite podcast as you work through your bedtime routine?
• Run through a short yoga sequence: designed to stretch the body and the mind, yoga can be super-relaxing. But, try to avoid anything too energetic for about 90 minutes before your bedtime.

Don’t Force It

Our final sleep tip may be one of the most important – if you’re struggling to sleep in bed, don’t try and force it. Thinking about how you’re not asleep, or clock-watching, are both more likely to add to your stress, rather than relax you.

If, after about 20 minutes, you’re still awake and not feeling sleepy, you should get out of bed and try one of the activities we mentioned above. These will take the attention away from your feelings about sleep (or the lack of), and keep your body mildly engaged in a task to help tire you out instead.

Once you’re feeling sleepy again, you should head back to bed and relax until you gently drift off.

Clean Up Your Sleep Hygiene With NEOM Wellbeing

A good night’s sleep can do wonders for your wellbeing, so we hope these sleep hygiene tricks can help you to bank a Perfect Night’s Sleep. 

And, if you want to complement your sleep routine with a matching morning one, explore our More Energy collection to give you that much-needed mental boost to invigorate you and start your day on a high.

Interested in learning more about sleep from NEOM Wellbeing? Check out… Eight Of TikTok's Top Trending Sleep Hacks | A Nutritionist’s Timeline For The Perfect Night’s Sleep | Our Founder Shares Her Relaxing Nightly Routine

References

Sutanto, C.N., Wen Wei Loh, Jung Eun Kim, 2022, ‘The impact of tryptophan supplementation on sleep quality: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression’, in Nutr. Rev., 80(2):306-316