Sleep Hygiene
Taking control of your habits to help you fall asleep
Sleep hygiene
Take control of the habits and bedroom cues that shape sleep
Sleep hygiene means the daily behaviors, evening choices, and bedroom conditions that make sleep easier to begin and easier to maintain. It is not a cure-all for chronic insomnia, but it is a practical foundation for better sleep.
A good sleep hygiene plan looks at the whole night: exercise timing, evening meals, fluids, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, room temperature, darkness, noise, mattress comfort, and what your mind is doing as bedtime approaches.
Clinical guidelines caution against using sleep hygiene by itself as the only treatment for chronic insomnia disorder, because CBT-I and other behavioral insomnia treatments have stronger evidence. The better use of sleep hygiene is as a support layer: it removes common barriers while stimulus control, sleep restriction or compression, relaxation, and cognitive strategies do the deeper work. [1] [2]
Keywords
Guideline context
SupportSleep hygiene may be included in multicomponent insomnia care, but is not recommended as the only treatment for chronic insomnia disorder. [1]
Common components
12+Reviews commonly include caffeine, alcohol, exercise, sleep timing, light, naps, smoking, noise, temperature, stress, and wind-down routines. [3]
Bedroom temperature
60-75The original SleepSpace guidance recommends keeping the room cool, roughly 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit, while adjusting for personal comfort.
The core checklist
Sleep hygiene recommendations
Exercise earlier in the day
Avoid vigorous exercise within about 3 hours of bedtime if it leaves you wired. Regular exercise earlier in the day can support sleep quality, but the timing should help the body wind down rather than ramp up. [5]
Make the bedroom sleep friendly
Use blinds, soft sound, ear plugs, white noise, air-conditioning, ceiling fans, and a comfortable mattress to reduce light, noise, heat, and physical discomfort.
Darken the room
Use window coverings that block streetlights, headlights, and early daylight. Darkness helps reinforce the biological signal that it is night. [9]
Control noise carefully
A fan, soft background sound, or white noise can mask disruptive sounds for some people. Earplugs and better insulation can also help. Use sound thoughtfully, since research on continuous noise as a sleep aid is mixed. [8]
Keep the room cool
SleepSpace's original sleep hygiene guidance recommends a bedroom temperature between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. A cooler room often supports sleep, but comfort, bedding, age, and climate matter. [10]
Do not ignore mattress comfort
People spend about one third of life in bed, yet often tolerate an old or uncomfortable mattress. If you have sleep problems, a supportive mattress and pillow can remove a major source of friction.
Avoid heavy meals near bedtime
Heavy or greasy meals within about 2 hours of bedtime can keep digestion active when the body is trying to sleep. A light snack, especially a simple carbohydrate for some people, may be easier than going to bed uncomfortably hungry.
Limit evening fluids
Excessive fluids in the evening can increase nighttime bathroom trips. SleepSpace's original rule of thumb is to stay within about 1 cup of liquid within 4 hours of bedtime, while still honoring medical needs and thirst.
Avoid nicotine close to bed
Nicotine is a stimulant. Avoiding it within 2 hours of bedtime, and ideally reducing exposure more broadly, can make it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Avoid alcohol close to bed
Alcohol can make you feel sleepy at first, but it often fragments sleep later in the night and changes sleep architecture. Avoiding alcohol within 2 hours of bedtime is a useful minimum; many people sleep better with a longer buffer. [7]
Do not bring worry to bed
Do not go to bed worried or angry. Set aside time earlier in the evening to write a worry list, close the notebook, and return to it the next day. Bedtime should become a transition, not a problem-solving session.
Stop trying to force sleep
Sleep cannot be commanded. Trying harder often creates the opposite state: attention, effort, and frustration. As the original page puts it: "Do or do not. There is no try."
Why worry feels worse at night
Sleep includes repeated stages, including REM sleep. Many people briefly wake after REM periods. If you take problems to bed, those brief awakenings can become a place where the brain restarts the problem-solving loop.
The middle-of-the-night brain is also not always the best problem solver. Attention, logic, and emotional perspective can be compromised when you are tired, which is why nighttime thinking often becomes repetitive worry rather than useful planning.
SleepSpace support
Turn sleep hygiene from advice into a routine
SleepSpace goes beyond sleep tracking by helping people build repeatable sleep routines: wind-down sounds, meditations, a deep sleep sound machine, smart alarm features, recovery scoring, and sleep diary feedback.
You can place the phone on a nightstand, mattress, or SleepSpace Smart Bed and Phone Charger, and optionally connect devices such as Apple Watch, Oura, WHOOP, and smart lights. Dr. Snooze, SleepSpace's AI-powered sleep chatbot, and trained coaches can help personalize the next step when you are unsure what to try.
How sleep hygiene fits with CBT-I
Useful foundation, not the whole treatment
Sleep hygiene can remove avoidable barriers: late caffeine, alcohol near bed, too much light, a hot room, heavy meals, worry carried into bed, or an inconsistent wake time.
When insomnia is chronic, sleep hygiene is usually not enough by itself. That is where CBT-I components such as stimulus control, sleep restriction or compression, cognitive therapy, relaxation training, and diary review become more important. [1] [2]
Use clinical judgment when
- You have insomnia that lasts months or significantly affects daytime function.
- You snore loudly, gasp, choke, or have witnessed breathing pauses.
- You feel unsafe driving or have severe daytime sleepiness.
- Pain, restless legs, medication, alcohol, mood symptoms, or another condition may be driving the sleep problem.
Common questions
FAQ about sleep hygiene and better sleep routines
What is sleep hygiene?
Sleep hygiene is the set of habits and environmental cues that support sleep, including light, temperature, noise, exercise timing, caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, meals, fluids, worry time, and a consistent routine.
Is sleep hygiene enough for chronic insomnia?
Usually not by itself. AASM guidance suggests sleep hygiene should not be used as the only treatment for chronic insomnia disorder, though it can be included inside broader behavioral care. [1]
What bedroom temperature is best for sleep?
SleepSpace's original page recommends 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Research also suggests that thermal comfort matters and that hotter bedrooms can reduce sleep efficiency for many people.
Does white noise help sleep?
It can help some people by masking disruptive sound, but the evidence is mixed. The best approach is personal: use a comfortable volume, avoid harsh sound, and stop if it makes sleep worse. [8]
Why does alcohol make sleep worse if it makes me sleepy?
Alcohol can shorten the time it takes to fall asleep, but it often disrupts sleep architecture and fragments sleep later in the night. [7]
How can Dr. Snooze help with sleep hygiene?
Dr. Snooze can help users think through habits and routines, while SleepSpace supports tracking, wind-down tools, smart sounds, sleep diary feedback, and coaching pathways.
Related SleepSpace resources
Keep going based on your pattern
CBT-I Overview
See how sleep hygiene fits inside broader behavioral insomnia care.
Stimulus Control
Retrain the bed as a cue for sleep instead of effort, worry, or wakefulness.
Sleep Restriction and Compression
Use a structured sleep window to reduce excess awake time in bed.
Sleep Stress and Relaxation
Use wind-downs, relaxation, and meditations when stress follows you to bed.
Digital Sleep Diary
Track whether habits, timing, and the sleep environment are changing your sleep pattern.
Dr. Snooze AI
Use Dr. Snooze when you want guidance about your sleep habits and next steps.
Research references
Selected citations on sleep hygiene, insomnia, exercise, substances, light, sound, and bedroom environment
Show citations (10)
- Edinger JD, Arnedt JT, Bertisch SM, et al. Behavioral and psychological treatments for chronic insomnia disorder in adults: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. 2021.
- Chung KF, Lee CT, Yeung WF, Chan MS, Chung EW, Lin WL. Sleep hygiene education as a treatment of insomnia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Family Practice. 2018.
- De Pasquale C, El Kazzi M, Sutherland K, Shriane AE, Vincent GE, Cistulli PA, Bin YS. Sleep hygiene: What do we mean? A bibliographic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2024.
- Irish LA, Kline CE, Gunn HE, Buysse DJ, Hall MH. The role of sleep hygiene in promoting public health: A review of empirical evidence. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2015.
- Banno M, Harada Y, Taniguchi M, et al. Exercise can improve sleep quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PeerJ. 2018.
- Clark I, Landolt HP. Coffee, caffeine, and sleep: A systematic review of epidemiological studies and randomized controlled trials. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2017.
- Colrain IM, Nicholas CL, Baker FC. Alcohol and the sleeping brain. Handbook of Clinical Neurology. 2014.
- Riedy SM, Smith MG, Rocha S, Basner M. Noise as a sleep aid: A systematic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2021.
- Shechter A, Quispe KA, Mizhquiri Barbecho JS, Slater C, Falzon L. Interventions to reduce short-wavelength light exposure at night and their effects on sleep. Sleep Advances. 2020.
- Caddick ZA, Gregory K, Arsintescu L, Flynn-Evans EE. Associations of bedroom PM2.5, CO2, temperature, humidity, and noise with sleep. Sleep Health. 2023.