Sleep Hygiene: The Complete Science-Backed Guide to Better Sleep

One of the easiest ways to improve your sleep, and it's free, is a printable sleep hygiene pdf. Sleep hygiene is the day-to-day habits and sleep environment we create that determine whether we fall asleep fast, stay asleep, and wake up refreshed. The CDC reports that 1 in 3 American adults regularly gets less than the recommended seven hours, and most of those gaps come from habits, not insomnia.

Here's what sleep hygiene is, the changes research shows are effective, and a printable sleep hygiene pdf to put on your refrigerator. The point is simple, sustainable changes that add up over the long haul, rather than a 3-day bedtime routine.

What is sleep hygiene?

Sleep hygiene refers to the behaviours you have during the day and night that affect your sleep. It includes your sleep and wake times, what you eat and drink, your bedroom environment, evening screen time and the regularity of your wake schedule. It doesn't involve drugs or high-tech devices.

The term came from sleep medicine in the 1970s and has held up well in modern research. A 2021 systematic review in Sleep Medicine Reviews found that consistent sleep hygiene practices improved sleep quality scores by 25 to 50% in adults with mild to moderate sleep problems, often without any other treatment.

The sleep hygiene PDF and checklist

A sleep hygiene pdf is a page-long action list based on research. The following list includes the most researched practices, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and peer-reviewed journals of sleep medicine. Print it and stick it inside a kitchen cabinet - check off the habits you currently have.

You can save this article as a sleep hygiene handout or pdf using your browser's print function, then choose "Save as PDF" instead of a printer.

What disrupts good sleep hygiene

Everyone knows they could get more sleep. The question is why not? The research shows some common offenders.

Caffeine is the most underestimated. The review of sleep research by the National Sleep Foundation illustrates that 400 mg of caffeine six hours before bedtime reduces sleep time by over an hour. That's 4 p.m. coffee if you go to bed at 10 p.m.

Alcohol is the second. It makes you fall asleep quicker but prevents REM sleep and disturbs you in the second half of the night. Even a couple of drinks decreases the quality of sleep, according to a 2018 review in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Unpredictable sleep times is the third. A 11 p.m. bedtime on weekdays and a 1 a.m. bedtime on weekends causes "social jetlag", which a 2019 study in Current Biology found associated with increased obesity, depression and heart disease.

And light exposure is the key. Daytime light from your phone, TV and bathroom. Light in the morning is good, light at night is bad.

Sleep hygiene tips that actually work

Simple sleep hygiene tips, done for weeks, are the most effective. Choose two, practise those for a month, then move on to another. Five tips all at once never works.

Wake at the same time. It's the most important habit to start with because it helps set the stage for everything else. Consistency is at the top of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine's list of ways to beat insomnia.

Next, manage light. Get sunlight or a bright lamp on your face within 30 minutes of waking. Dim household lights two hours before bed. Use the warm/night setting on your phone after sunset.

Then look at your room. Cool, dark, and quiet beats expensive mattresses for most people. Blackout curtains or a sleep mask, a fan or white noise machine, and a thermostat at 65 to 68°F cover most needs.

A health companion app like August AI can help you track sleep alongside daily habits like caffeine, alcohol, and screen time, and notice which ones actually move your sleep quality.

Sleep hygiene habits for adults vs. teens

Sleep hygiene for adults and teens overlaps mostly, but the two groups have different leverage points. Adults need 7 to 9 hours per night. Teens need 8 to 10. The biggest adult problem is screen and caffeine timing. The biggest teen problem is delayed circadian rhythm, which biology shifts later during puberty.

Adult sleep hygiene habits work best when tied to existing routines: morning coffee with sunlight on the face, last caffeine before lunch, dinner before 8 p.m., phones charging outside the bedroom. Teens benefit most from a fixed wake time on weekends (within an hour of weekdays) and no phones in the bedroom overnight.

When to see a doctor

Most common sleep issues can be solved by sleep hygiene but not all of them See a doctor if you have trouble falling or staying asleep three nights a week for at least a month, if you have loud snoring accompanied by gasping or choking (a type of sleep apnea), if you are always sleepy during the day despite getting seven hours of sleep, or have restless legs that prevent you from falling asleep. Such problems may require treatment.

For chest pain during sleep, severe, new-onset breathlessness, or new-onset confusion on awakening, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department, as these can be heart or brain emergencies.

If you're not sure if your symptoms are serious, August AI allows you to write them in your own words and advises you if you should wait, make an appointment, or go to urgent care.