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Discover simple habits and practical tips to improve your sleep hygiene and wake up feeling refreshed every morning.
8 Min Read | By Holly James
Last Modified 24 April 2026 First Added 17 February 2025
Sleep hygiene is a set of habits and environmental tweaks that help you sleep deeply and wake up properly refreshed. It covers everything from your evening routine to what you get up to during the day.
Our 2026 UK Sleep Survey found that Brits have 3.4 bad nights per week on average, and only around a third (32%) always or often wake up feeling refreshed. That’s a lot of tossing and turning, and a lot of groggy mornings.
Most of the fixes are the small, repeatable kind. Here are 15 to try.
Good sleep hygiene starts with routine. Our bodies respond well to rhythm, and sticking to a regular sleep schedule helps regulate your circadian rhythm, making it easier to fall asleep and wake up ready for the day.
For the best results, stick to the same bedtime and wake-up time every night, even at weekends. Saturday nights happen. Try to keep your schedule as consistent as you can and your body will follow your lead.
Not sure what your schedule should look like? Use our Sleep Calculator to find your ideal bed and wake-up times.
It’s easy to push sleep down the list in favour of work, socialising, or one more episode of that series. The knock-on effects add up fast. When bad sleep hits, 54% of Brits experience low energy the next day and 51% struggle with fatigue, according to our 2026 Sleep Survey. Treating sleep like an appointment worth showing up for tends to pay off, even if some nights don’t go to plan.
Naps have their place, but they can throw off your sleep hygiene if you’re trying to build a consistent routine. They disrupt your schedule and mess with your circadian rhythm.
If you love a mid-afternoon kip, keep it regular. Same time, same duration, so your body gets used to a biphasic sleep pattern. That way, you get the nap without wrecking your bedtime.
For more, read our guide to daytime napping.
An evening routine you stick to tells your body it’s time to wind down. The same calming activities, repeated night after night, help you settle into deeper, more restorative sleep.
Our 2026 Sleep Survey found 35% of Brits read before bed and another 35% watch TV. A hot bath, some journalling, or a few pages of a novel all work well. The key is repetition.
Screens don’t tend to mix well with good sleep. Using phones, laptops and TVs before bed has been linked to poor sleep quality, fatigue and trouble focusing, partly because of the blue light they emit.
Try putting screens away for at least an hour before bed. That gives your body time to produce melatonin, the hormone that makes you feel sleepy. Swap the scroll for a book, a podcast or a chat with whoever’s nearby.
Stress can seriously disrupt your sleep. The stress hormone cortisol makes it harder to fall asleep, causes nighttime wake-ups, and lowers the overall quality of your rest. Our 2026 Sleep Survey found that stress keeps 28% of Brits awake. So, if you find yourself feeling stressed, especially in the evenings, it could be the root cause of your sleep troubles.
To improve both your mental well-being and your sleep hygiene, it’s important to manage stress throughout the day and incorporate relaxation techniques into your bedtime routine. Whether it’s meditation, mindfulness, or any activity that helps you feel calm, taking time to unwind before bed can make a big difference.
Few things are more frustrating than lying in bed wide awake, counting sheep and getting nowhere. Worrying about sleep often makes it worse. Our 2026 Sleep Survey found 27% of Brits worry about not getting a good night’s sleep most or every night, which is a lot of pre-bed anxiety.
Try waiting until you feel genuinely sleepy before heading to bed. If your current bedtime doesn’t match your natural tiredness, shift it by 15 minutes a night rather than forcing an earlier one.
Your environment makes a huge difference, especially if you’re a light sleeper. A bedroom set up for sleep is cool, dark, quiet and clutter-free.
Temperature matters more than most people realise. Our 2026 Sleep Survey found 24% of Brits lose sleep because they’re too hot, so breathable natural bedding or a cooling bedding setup is worth considering if you run warm.
Small sensory tweaks help too. Around 21% of Brits use pillow spray or mist, 17% use an eye mask, and 9% rely on a white noise machine. Essential oils like lavender or chamomile do a similar job. If you sleep light, white, pink or brown noise is worth experimenting with.
Beyond the room itself, your bed does most of the heavy lifting. We spend about a third of our lives sleeping, so investing in kit that actually supports you is worth it. Make sure your mattress matches your sleep position, and your pillow supports your head and neck properly. Try our mattress finder if you’re not sure, or browse our pillow buying guide.
Worth flagging: 23% of Brits in our 2026 Sleep Survey say they struggle to get comfortable in bed, and the average British mattress is 6.4 years old. If yours is past the eight-year mark, it may be time for a new mattress. Our mattress care guide and our article on how often to wash your bedding handle the maintenance side.
Pyjamas count too. Light, breathable fabrics help with temperature regulation overnight.
Natural sunlight during the day, especially in the morning, is good for both sleep hygiene and overall health. Even a short walk helps regulate your circadian rhythm and supports melatonin production later in the evening. Sunlight is also linked to better mood and mental well-being.
The run-up to sleep starts earlier than most people think. Your daytime habits shape your nights, too. Regular exercise helps. Smoking works against you. Studies link it to poor sleep quality and issues like insomnia.
Try to keep some daytime consistency where life allows. And if you’ve had a rough night, it’s tempting to write the day off and crawl back under the duvet. Sticking to your usual routine tends to work better for the night ahead.
Read our guide on how to create a healthy morning routine.
To set yourself up for excellent sleep hygiene, try to avoid stimulants like caffeine after midday and steer clear of alcohol before bed. Caffeine can disrupt your sleep by stimulating the nervous system and blocking key sleep-promoting hormones, while alcohol can interrupt your sleep cycle, reducing both sleep quality and quantity.
For a sleep-friendly alternative, check out our list of the best drinks to help you wind down and support a restful night’s sleep.
In addition to avoiding drinks that can keep you awake, aim to eat at least 2-3 hours before your bedtime to ensure your food has had enough time to be properly digested before lying down. This helps prevent issues like indigestion, allowing your body to enter a more restful state. If you do tend to get peckish at night, discover our top late-night snacks to keep you going without keeping you awake.
To strengthen your sleep hygiene, try reserving your bed for sleep and intimacy only. This helps your brain associate the space with rest, so it’s easier to wind down when it’s actually time.
Working in bed, watching TV in bed or scrolling in bed all weaken that association. Our 2026 Sleep Survey found 29% of Brits look at social media in bed before sleep, 24% watch videos on TikTok or YouTube, and 9% eat in there. Shifting those habits out of the bedroom, even partially, can make a real difference.
If your sleep struggles persist or you want to perfect your sleep hygiene, try keeping a sleep diary. Jot down how well you slept each night and any changes to your routine to track what helps and what doesn’t. This can offer valuable insight into your sleep patterns. If you’re still tossing and turning and can’t pinpoint the cause, it’s worth speaking with your doctor to rule out any underlying health issues that could be affecting your rest.
Sleep hygiene refers to the habits, practices, and environmental factors that support a good night’s rest. It’s about crafting a space that’s ideal for sleep and sticking to routines that encourage deep, restorative slumber. Everything from your pre-bedtime rituals to daytime activities affects the quality of your sleep.
Sleep hygiene matters because sleep matters. Good sleep hygiene can make all the difference to both sleep quality and duration which are crucial for mental and physical well-being. Poor sleep can not only interfere with how we feel and our ability to carry out daily activities, but it is also linked to more serious health issues, like diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.
Improving your sleep hygiene can also help with several sleep issues and disorders, like insomnia. In fact, it’s often a more effective long-term solution than relying on sleeping pills. While medication might offer short-term relief, it’s not recommended for long-term use due to the risks of dependency. On the other hand, combining healthy habits with approaches like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can offer a more sustainable approach to good sleep.
Good sleep hygiene is all about crafting a routine and environment that work together to help you get the best sleep possible. While everyone’s ideal routine might look a little different, it typically involves sticking to a regular schedule, adopting healthy habits, and, above all, making sleep a priority. We’ll explore simple yet effective ways you can improve your sleep hygiene and set yourself up for the most peaceful nights ahead later on in this article.
If you’re regularly waking up tired, struggling to fall asleep, dealing with disruptions, or running an inconsistent routine, your sleep hygiene may need some attention. Our 2026 Sleep Survey found Brits have 3.4 bad nights per week on average, and around 30% rarely or never wake up feeling refreshed. If there’s no obvious underlying cause, poor sleep hygiene is often to blame. A reset of habits and environment is usually where to start.
Small, repeated habits do most of the work here. The tips above are the usual suspects. Try a few for a few weeks and see what takes.
By making small yet impactful changes to your daily habits and bedtime routine, you can significantly improve your sleep hygiene and, ultimately, your overall well-being. Prioritising good sleep hygiene brings more restful nights, leaving you feeling refreshed and ready to take on each day.
See all articles by Holly James
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