Sleeptember: 7 tips for a good night's sleep

Sleeptember is running throughout the entire month of September, dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of a good night’s sleep and the negative effects a lack of sleep can have on our health and lifestyle. 

Lack of sleep doesn’t just affect us physically in our day-to-day life but also mentally. 66% of adolescents cite poor sleep as negatively impacting on their mental health, according to Mental Health UK.

Sleep forms an important part of our health and wellbeing and it's important we aim to get the recommended amount of 7-9 hours every night to avoid negative impacts.

Understanding our sleep cycle

The sleep cycle is an important process and contributes to the quality of our sleep. During our sleep cycle we go through two different stages - rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM). Three NREM stages and one REM stage make up our four stage sleep cycle, and we typically go through four to six sleep cycles each night.

The Sleep Foundation explains the sleep cycle stages as: 

Stage 1: NREM - The first stage when a person has just fallen asleep, the body has not fully relaxed but the body and brain activities begin to slow.

Stage 2: NREM -  Our body begins to drop in temperature and we become more relaxed, our breathing is slowed along with our heart rate. 

Stage 3: NREM - This is known as the deep sleep phase and it would be harder to wake up in this state as the body relaxes even further. Experts believe this stage of the cycle is critical to allowing bodily recovery and growth, it can also bolster the immune system.

Stage 4: REM - The final stage of the sleep cycle is when the brain activity levels pick up. REM sleep is believed to be essential to cognitive functions like memory , learning, and creativity.

If you struggle to sleep or sleep is lower on your priority list, due to a busy lifestyle or difficulty switching off, our top tips will set you up for a good night’s sleep and make sure you're getting all the health benefits of sleep.

1. Get active during the day

This may seem obvious, but being more active can help to make you more tired when you go to bed. Getting active during the day will contribute to a better night’s sleep and exercising earlier in the day, rather than closer to bedtime is recommended.

If you work from home or spend a lot of time in an office environment, take time to get outdoors and embrace fresh air to help you get a good sleep.

2. Create a routine for your sleep schedule

This can be easily achieved if you have a routine in other aspects of your life, however, could be challenging for people who work shifts or have irregular routines.

A good sleep routine that includes sleeping at a similar time each evening and waking at a similar time each morning can help to improve quality of sleep. Having a lack of a sleep schedule can contribute to insufficient sleep and a poorer quality sleep.

Setting your alarm to the same time every day is also beneficial to sticking to a good sleep schedule, even on weekends or days off to keep a consistent sleep schedule.

3. Set pre-sleep routines

A pre-sleep routine can help to form part of improving your sleep health. It can also help you to unwind before bed and relax your body, allowing you to get a better quality of sleep.

• Relaxing at least 30 minutes before bed is a great way to unwind, quiet reading or listening to relaxing music can help to create a relaxed environment.
• Taking a warm bath or shower one to two hours before bed can help you to cool down and sleep better.
• Reducing light from your phone and putting your phone away earlier before bed can help to unwind. Phones, tablets and computers all emit blue light, which has been shown to reduce or delay the natural production of melatonin in the evening and decrease feelings of sleepiness.

4. Get the room temperature right

Room temperature can really affect how well you sleep. The recommended ideal sleep temperature is between 15.6 and 19.4 degrees.

Sleeping in hot temperatures means you stay in the lighter stages of sleep, rather than a deeper sleep and you’re more likely to wake up and be disturbed during the night.

5. Avoid getting too much sleep

Can you really have too much sleep? Yes. Too much sleep can be bad for your mental health and heart health and potentially lead to chronic diseases, according to the Sleep Foundation. 

Oversleeping can also make it more difficult to sleep at nighttime which can prevent implementing a good sleep routine.

6. Get up if you can't sleep

If you’re lying in bed tossing and turning, trying to force yourself to sleep will actually make things harder! If you have spent around 20 minutes in bed and can’t sleep, it’s best to get up and move to another room or engage in a relaxing activity, such as reading.

This will help you to feel sleepier and also reduce feelings of frustration. It’s also good to avoid regularly checking the time as that can cause more stress and pressure on getting to sleep.

7. Set a cutoff for caffeine

A cup of coffee can be the best part of a morning, but did you know the caffeine you consume during the day could be affecting your ability to sleep at night? Even if you’re not having caffeine right before bed it can still stay in your system for up to 12 hours.

Of course it varies for different people, however, it’s best to limit your caffeine intake to just the morning time or be mindful of what time you want to sleep and when to have your last caffeinated drink.

Some great ways to stay energised without caffeine include: drinking plenty of water, getting exercise during the day and eating foods containing protein and fibre, such as fruits and vegetables and oiler and fattier fish.

What causes a bad night's sleep?

Stress or worry

Being stressed or worried can contribute to a bad night’s sleep as it can occupy your mind and make it difficult to turn off. Creating a relaxing environment 30 minutes to an hour before bed can help to settle down. Journaling, reading, meditating or taking a warm bath or shower can help to feel more relaxed. Learn more about how stress can affect your health in our blog.

Drinking Alcohol

Drinking alcohol can affect our night’s sleep, even if it's only a couple. Although often alcohol can relax people and make us feel more sleepy, you may even find you drift off quicker after drinking, the quality of sleep is actually compromised.

According to Bupa, if you drink alcohol in moderate to heavy amounts, it increases the amount of time you spend in NREM sleep. And when you drink large amounts of alcohol, it decreases how much REM sleep you get. This is an affect on the sleep cycle and effects quality of sleep.

Changes to routine

A change in your routine, for example when travelling or on holiday can contribute to a bad night’s sleep. It’s best to try and stick to your usual schedule as much as possible when travelling to ensure you are still prioritising your sleep. Although a few bad nights of sleep aren’t considered too harmful.

How can a lack of sleep affect us?

Having a lack of sleep can affect the rest of our day-to-day life and routine. Being tired can affect our ability to do our jobs properly, affect our social interactions or could pose dangerous risks when driving.

Not getting enough sleep may also make us less likely to want to partake in physical activity and exercise, which is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Exercise and being active also helps to form a good sleep routine, so the effects of a lack of sleep could cause a difficult cycle to break.

Sleep deficiency is also linked to more serious problems including: heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, obesity and depression. 

Lack of sleep can also affect our mental health too, which can be another difficult cycle to break. For example, someone who struggles with their mental health may struggle to sleep, and a lack of sleep can cause tiredness and difficulty to cope with daily situations.

It can also have negative effects for someone who doesn’t necessarily struggle with mental health, for example, the lack of sleep and effects on our day-to-day life can cause us to feel stress and anxiety which can lead further to lack of sleep.

There are many great benefits to prioritising and getting a good night’s sleep, take a look at our blog with 10 benefits of sleep.

Sleep plays such an important role in our physical and mental health and contributes to our day-to-day lifestyle. Following steps to a healthy sleep cycle can be very beneficial and should be prioritised.

Help and Support

If you have trouble sleeping or getting into a good routine, there is plenty of support for you and advice to help.

NHS: NHS offer a free mind plan that allows users to get tips to deal with stress and anxiety as well as improving your sleep and boosting your mood. They also offer a self-help guide for sleeping problems with useful support and guides.

The Sleep Charity: The Sleep Charity offers a National Sleep Helpline that you can call to discuss anything about your sleep on 03303 530 530 541.

The Exeter: As part of a health insurance policy with The Exeter, they offer six lifestyle and nutrition consultations per policy year, which includes help with stress management, improving sleep and motivation to exercise.

Bupa: Bupa offers quick round-the-clock access to mental health support via the Digital GP app. A specialist mental health team is also available through Bupa.

AXA: AXA support is available around the clock for members with AXA’s 24/7 Health at Hand service. Counsellors are just a phone call away.

Aviva: Aviva offer a 24-hour Stress Counselling helpline, seven days a week.

Vitality: Vitality offer mental health support and full cover for Talking Therapies, with online or face-to-face counselling available.

If you're looking to put your health first, you can talk to one of our expert advisers to find out what health insurance cover is available to you. You can fill out our form below and one of our team will give you a call, or give us a call now on 01285 864470.