By the H&L Editorial Team
Keep your wake-up time consistent. Your morning wake time is a powerful anchor for the body’s clock.
Get daylight during the day, particularly earlier in the day.
Exercise regularly. Daytime physical activity generally supports better sleep.
Limit late caffeine. Its effects can persist for hours.
Do not use alcohol as a sleeping medicine.
Create a dark, quiet, comfortably cool bedroom.
Build a wind-down ritual. Reading, quiet music, prayer, breathing exercises or another relaxing routine can signal that the day is ending.
Move the phone away from the pillow. Bedtime should not become another work shift.
Stop fighting with sleep. If you are lying awake becoming increasingly frustrated, CBT-I stimulus-control principles favor leaving the bed temporarily for a quiet activity and returning when sleepy.
Do not watch the clock all night. Calculating how little sleep remains increases arousal.
Healthy sleep habits are useful both during treatment and in preventing recurrence.
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