Improve sleep quality by understanding and applying the principles of good sleep hygiene—especially as more people across the U.S. struggle with restlessness, insomnia, and poor sleep patterns. With rising cases of sleep disorders, it’s more important than ever to build healthy nighttime habits that promote restorative sleep and better overall well-being.
To improve sleep quality, you must first focus on establishing effective sleep hygiene. This includes setting a consistent sleep schedule, limiting screen time and stimulants before bed, keeping your bedroom dark and quiet, and engaging in relaxation techniques like reading or meditation before sleep. These small, intentional changes can make a big impact on how rested and alert you feel each day.
A consistent lack of restful sleep doesn’t just affect your energy—it can also impact your mood, mental clarity, and long-term health. That’s why working to improve sleep quality is essential, especially for those managing stress, anxiety, or fatigue. Good sleep supports emotional balance, boosts immune function, and helps your body recover from both physical and psychological strain.
This article shares expert-recommended strategies to help you improve sleep quality, avoid sleep disturbances, and build habits that promote deeper, more restorative rest.
If you’re experiencing ongoing fatigue or suspect an underlying issue, it’s time to seek help. Visit the best Mental Health Clinic in Brooklyn at Doral Health & Wellness or log on to Behavioral Health – Doral Health & Wellness NY to begin your journey toward better sleep and a healthier lifestyle.
Improve sleep quality With These Tips You Can Start Today
Here’s some tips to improve your sleep hygiene habits to get better sleep, including:
- Follow a consistent sleep schedule:
Many people struggle to follow this one because they break their schedule at weekends or vacations. Avoid that mistake because when we follow a consistent sleep and wake-up schedule our body’s natural cycle adapts which makes it easier for us to fall asleep and wake up on time. Any inconsistency disrupts this natural internal cycle.
So, try to stick to a consistent schedule. It also lowers daytime sleepiness. Make sure you pick a bedtime that allows you to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night.
- Create a relaxing bedtime routine:
A relaxing bedtime routine can make it relaxed and ready to sleep. Keep this as a consistent routine so that your body recognizes its bedtime when you start your routine. This also improves your chances of falling asleep quickly.
The best time for this routine is around 30 to 60 minutes before you go to bed for sleep.
Your routine can include anything that makes you feel relaxed unless it involves a device that emits blue light. Here are some suggestions:
- Take a warm bath or shower because it will relax your body as it drops the body temperature which makes you feel sleepy.
- Do some gentle stretches to help your muscles relax and release tension.
- Spend a few minutes meditating which calms your mind and body.
- Try to listen to some soothing music while focusing on your breath.
- Spend time reading a book but avoid electronic reading apps on devices.
Avoid any stressful or overly stimulating activities such as emotional conversations or working.
- Maintain a cool and comfortable sleeping environment:
Your ideal room for sleeping should be cool, quiet, and dark. Studies show that a bedroom temperature should be around 65 degrees Fahrenheit to get most conducive to healthy and restful sleep. That’s why you should maintain a cool and comfortable sleeping environment to get a good peaceful sleep. For that, you can also make sure your mattress and pillows are also comfortable, allowing your body to settle down instantly and relax.
- Avoid electronic devices before you go to sleep:
Electronic devices like your phone, laptop, T.V. etc. emit blue light, which can lower the melatonin levels in your body.
Melatonin is a chemical that our body produces naturally which controls your sleep/wake cycle. Its levels correspond to light. When you sleep in a dark environment without any light, it levels up and makes you fall asleep. And in the morning the drops make you wake up.
But these devices emit blue light which reduces melatonin levels and makes it difficult for you to fall asleep. You may not even know that even when you’re not looking at your phone, it still disrupts your sleep, even when you’re not aware of it.
The message notifications, buzzing, and light can suddenly pop up can disrupt your sleep in the middle of the night and wake you up momentarily, leading to an interrupted sleep.
That’s why you should avoid devices before you go to sleep.
- Exercise regularly:
Not being physically active also affects your sleep quality. As you stay active throughout the day, it makes it easier to fall asleep at night. As little as 30 minutes of aerobic exercise per day can improve your sleep quality, and your overall health.
And if possible, to exercise outside, it can increase your benefits even more because you get natural light exposure that regulates your sleep cycle. If not, don’t worry, even indoor exercise may make you sleep better.
However, make sure to avoid exercising within an hour or two of your bedtime because it can increase your energy levels and body temperature, which makes it harder for you to fall asleep. If you want to do some kind of physical activity later then try some stretches or yoga.
- Limit your caffeine intake:
Caffeine can affect your system for 3 to 7 hours after you consume it. This means even an afternoon cup of coffee can make you feel awake and alert quickly longer. That’s why coffee is the friend of late-night workers.
But if you don’t work at night, you need to reduce your caffeine intake in the morning hours. However, understand that everyone has a different tolerance level to caffeine. So, some people may be able to stretch their consumption to midafternoon, while others may need to totally cut themselves from drinking coffee much earlier to get a good sleep easily.
The less you consume caffeine, the better you may avoid its effects.
- Go to bed when you feel tired:
If you’re not tired, avoid lying in bed to think you’ll fall asleep. Instead, try to do a relaxing activity until you start feeling tired, then head to bed.
If you don’t fall asleep within 20 minutes of going to bed then get up because if not able to fall asleep in a few minutes it leaves you frustrated, which can even make you awake even longer.
Once you get out of bed, do something to help you unwind like reading on the couch, until you start feeling tired enough to go back to bed for sleep.
If you need help with sleep disorder signs, then visit our behavioral clinic in Brooklyn for professional medical help. For further inquiries, call us on +1-347-384-5690 to get a consultation. We have some of the finest experienced psychiatrist doctors who listen to your concerns, examine your symptoms, and create a treatment plan to improve your condition as soon as possible. If you need help learning coping methods, register your information and make direct contact with our doctors and psychiatrists to learn those methods, log on to www.doralw.org. Visit us at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11212.
