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Sleep might not seem like an important part of our lives, but it is critical to both our physical and mental health. Practicing good sleep hygiene means having good habits that make sure you get a great night of rest and feel energized and awake during the day. When you spend time improving your sleep hygiene, you are also spending time improving your physical and mental health.

The Benefits of Good Sleep

Sleep might not seem particularly exciting, but it is instrumental to our health and well-being. Getting enough sleep is essential to fighting illness and giving your body time to recover. By taking time to rest, you can experience a boost in productivity on the job and when exercising at the gym. Improving your sleep hygiene can also improve your memory. When we sleep, our brains are still at work processing and storing memories. If you do not get enough sleep, your brain will struggle to keep track of what happened and potentially even create false memories.

How to Start Improving Your Sleep Hygiene

  1. Be consistent every night with your bedtime routine. Start heading to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time each morning, even when it is the weekend!
  2. Keep your bedroom as dark as possible and use a white noise machine to cover up intrusive or annoying noises if they distract from your sleep.
  3. The hardest part of improving your sleep hygiene can also be the most beneficial—leaving electronics out of your bedroom. Take out televisions, computers, laptops, tablets and phones from your bedroom. Do you use your phone as an alarm in the morning? Purchase an inexpensive alarm clock instead.
  4. Avoid having a big meal, caffeine or alcohol before you head to bed.
  5. If you nap during the day, try to limit yourself to 30 minutes at maximum.
  6. When you are focused on improving your sleep hygiene, avoid using your bed for anything other than sleep. Don’t work in your bed, watch TV in bed or read on the bed while you are adjusting your routine.
  7. Adjust your schedule as needed in response to changes in your plans or work hours, but try to only adjust it one hour at a time.

Get Better Sleep With CBT Baltimore

If you are interested in seeking therapy in Baltimore, we’re here to help.  Contact the CBT experts at CBT Baltimore at 443-470-9815. We would love to speak with you.

https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009030.pdf