The Science of Better Sleep: Seven Tips to Improve Your Sleep

We all experience the occasional bad night of sleep, and that’s perfectly normal. However, improving both the quantity and quality of our sleep can have profound benefits. 

Here are seven scientifically grounded tips to help you achieve better rest.

1. Keep a Regular Sleep Schedule 7 Days a Week

The National Sleep Foundation says that people will feel their best when they get 7–9 hours of sleep every night.¹ Studies also show that consistency in your sleep schedule is crucial to optimal health and performance in humans.²

To get your best sleep, go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. This regularity anchors your sleep and enhances both its quantity and quality, regardless of whether it’s a weekday or weekend.

Our brains have a master 24-hour clock that thrives on regularity, including our sleep-wake schedule. Do yourself a favour and set a go-to-bed alarm in addition to your wake-up alarm to maintain a regular sleep schedule.

2. Chill Out

Temperature is a crucial factor affecting our sleep quality.³ A cool sleep environment promotes better rest. Your brain and body need to lower their core temperature by about one degree Celsius to initiate and maintain sleep. This explains why it’s easier to fall asleep in a cooler room.

Aim for a bedroom temperature of around 18 degrees Celsius. It may seem chilly, but it’s essential for a good night’s sleep.

Additionally, a combination of micro coils and individually wrapped pocket coils ensures continuous airflow through the mattress for optimal temperature regulation. And no cool bed is complete without cooling bamboo sheets.

LEARN MORE: What Is a Hybrid Mattress?

3. Tune Your Body Clock

Melatonin – “the hormone of darkness” – is released in response to the absence of light.⁴ Light (or its absence) can also be used as an effective and noninvasive therapeutic option with little to no side effects, to improve sleep, mood and general well-being.⁵ A recent study in the journal Nature found that we should get a “healthy light diet to facilitate health and wellness.”⁶ 

 

What does this mean? Spend time outdoors during the day. Spending time outside helps improve your mood and keeps your body clock on track. In the last hour before bed, don’t use screens and turn down the lights. You might be surprised at how sleepy you become. You should also consider wearing an eye mask or using blackout shades to help induce production of melatonin and improve your sleep quality.

4. Don’t Lie Awake

Feeling awake and anxious in bed can cause insomnia. If you often feel worried, scared, or frustrated when you are in bed, your brain starts to link the bed with these feelings. Your brain forms strong associations, so if it learns that the bed is a place for being awake, you might find it hard to sleep. This makes it hard to fall asleep and stay asleep because your bed becomes a place that keeps you awake.⁷ 

Your bedroom is for sleeping. If you’re not sleepy, it’s recommended that you get out of bed and go somewhere quiet until you feel tired again.

Similarly, at bedtime, only go to bed if you’re feeling sleepy. This helps your brain relearn that the bed is a place for consistent, sound sleep.

5. Limit Your Alcohol and Caffeine

People often use alcohol and caffeine to change their mood. We don’t usually see them as drugs, but they are. Caffeine is common in coffee and many other foods and drinks. Caffeine can fight sleepiness and improve our performance. On the other hand, alcohol slows down our brains and makes us feel sleepy, but it can disturb our sleep if consumed before bed. Caffeine keeps us alert by blocking sleepiness, leading to less sleep.⁸

In short, for better sleep, avoid caffeine in the afternoon and evening, and try not to go to bed too tipsy.⁹ 

6. Try the 10-3-2-1-0 Routine

Falling asleep is like cooling down after an intense workout. Your body needs time to transition from high energy and activity to a state of rest, gradually slowing your heart rate and breathing, helping you to relax and recover.  

Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center suggests the “10-3-2-1” pre-sleep routine.¹⁰  This is a simple yet effective guideline designed to help improve sleep quality by managing daily habits and creating a healthy sleep environment. Here’s a detailed description of each step in the routine:

• 10 hours before bed: Avoid caffeine.
• 3 hours before bed: Avoid food and alcohol.
• 2 hours before bed: Stop working.
• 1 hour before bed: Turn off screens and do something relaxing.
• 0 after sleeping: No hitting the snooze button when you wake up.

This routine helps to optimize your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, ensuring you wake up feeling refreshed and energized each day.

7. Choose the Right Mattress

As a mattress company we are definitely a little biased, but we believe that choosing the right mattress is crucial for a good night’s sleep. Elevate your sleep with the luxury hybrid mattress the Logan & Cove Frontier hybrid.

This mattress supports your body and sleeping position and can make a significant difference in your sleep quality. Whether you prefer a medium-firm mattress or need something to accommodate any specific health concerns like back pain, investing in a good mattress is essential. 

Try it home with our 365-night sleep trial. You can also take the Logan & Cove Mattress Quiz to find the mattress that provides you the best support and comfort.

Conclusion

If you suffer from sleep disorders or suspect that you might have something like insomnia or sleep apnea, then these tips won’t fix all of your problems. If you think you have an underlying condition, consult a doctor. Sleep is like the engine of a car. Without a well-functioning engine, the car won’t run efficiently, just as your body won’t function optimally without proper sleep.

By following these scientifically grounded tips, you can enhance your sleep and, consequently, your overall well-being. For more comprehensive sleep advice, explore Logan & Cove’s extensive sleep resources.

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Sources

1. National Sleep Foundation’s updated sleep duration recommendations: final report. Accessed June 5, 2024. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352721815001606
2. Sleep timing, sleep consistency, and health in adults: a systematic review. Accessed June 5, 2024. https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full/10.1139/apnm-2020-0032
3. Effects of thermal environment on sleep and circadian rhythm. Accessed June 5, 2024. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3427038/
4. Melatonin, the Hormone of Darkness: From Sleep Promotion to Ebola Treatment. Accessed June 5, 2024. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4334454/#:~:text=Melatonin%20is%20the%20only%20known,to%20the%20organisms%20in%20vertebrates
5. Effects of light on human circadian rhythms, sleep and mood. Accessed June 5, 2024. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6751071/
6. Light exposure behaviors predict mood, memory and sleep quality. Accessed June 5, 2024. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-39636-y
7. The assessment and management of insomnia: an update. Accessed June 5, 2024. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6732697/
8. Sleep, alcohol, and caffeine in financial traders https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0291675
9. The assessment and management of insomnia: an update. Accessed June 5, 2024. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6732697/
10. Count Down–Not Sheep–to a Good Night’s Sleep. Accessed June 5, 2024. https://www.columbiadoctors.org/news/count-down-not-sheep-good-nights-sleep