La muerte siempre ha estado en la mente del macabro Stephen King, por lo que es difícil decir si, a los 77 años, estaba más involucrado con el tema de lo habitual. El autor ha contemplado a Grim Reaper al menos dos veces en su vida, a través del dominio de la adicción al principio de su carrera y, en 1999, el accidente automovilístico que lo dejó en un hospital de Maine durante un mes con lesiones que amenazaban su vida (Y nos regaló el aullido delirante que es el “atrapasueños”.). Al menos, respeta la idea de la muerte sabiendo que no quiere hacerlo, pero lo hará y no hay garantía de que transcurra pacíficamente.
cuando fue Fue entrevistado en 2013 mientras escribía “Joyland”. Para el sello Hard Case Crime, se le preguntó a King si había planeado su muerte como autor, que es lo que quiso decir su interlocutor si se había guardado uno o dos libros finales para publicarlos después de barajar las cartas. No lo hizo intencionalmente, como lo hizo Agatha Christie en la novela “Asesinato en el sueño” y su autobiografía. Pero su prolífica producción aseguró en ese momento que El viento en la cerradura y Doctor sueño, si moría en ese mismo momento, dejarían a sus fieles lectores con dos novelas más.
“Doctor Sleep” podría haber sido un canto de cisne apropiado para el Rey. La secuela de “El Resplandor” le permitió a King revisitar uno de sus personajes más fascinantes cuando era adulto, respondiendo preguntas que él y sus fanáticos han reflexionado durante más de 30 años. Pero cuando escuchó a King decir eso, su inspiración inicial para escribir el libro fue una rabieta.
Stephen King quiso desafiarse a sí mismo con Doctor Sleep
Warner Bros.
Y en la citada entrevista al Sunday Times. King dijo que tomó “Doctor Sleep” como una forma de desafiarse a sí mismo ante los ojos de sus lectores. Por autor:
“Lo hice porque era algo vulgar. Digamos que vuelves a un libro muy popular y escribes la secuela. La gente lo leía cuando eran niños. Luego, como adultos, podrían leer la secuela y pensar que no es buena. El desafío es que probablemente podría ser igual de bueno o diferente. Te da algo para seguir adelante”.
“Doctor Sleep” es definitivamente diferente, porque tiene mucha más ternura que “The Shining” (Especialmente la adaptación cinematográfica, que King odiaba.). Esto se debe a que compartió la curiosidad de sus fans sobre lo que le pasó a Danny Torrence cuando era adulto.
Las respuestas no fueron bonitas, no podían serlo. “Sabía que iba a estar borracho porque su padre estaba borracho”, dijo King. Continuó:
“Será una de esas personas que dice: 'Nunca seré como mi padre'. Y luego te despiertas a los 37 o 38 años y estás borracho, y luego piensas: '¿Qué clase de vida tiene esto?' “Ahora, realmente quiero que sea un trabajador de un asilo de ancianos”. Debido a que tiene el resplandor y puede ayudar a las personas a salir adelante cuando están muriendo, lo llaman Doctor Sueño y saben llamarlo cuando llega el gato. entra a su habitación y se sienta en su cama”.
No todo el mundo es fanático de “Doctor Sleep” (yo también estoy confundido), pero al menos es una pieza contundente que lidia con los demonios que nuestros padres plantan en lo más profundo de nuestras almas. Es una buena historia en general (/Chris Evangelista, del cine, era fanático de la adaptación cinematográfica de Mike Flanagan), lo cual es mejor que enfadarse por una secuela desdeñosa como “Hannibal” de Thomas Harris. King no siempre lo consigue, pero respeta demasiado a sus lectores como para castigarlos por querer profundizar en la oscuridad.
Ha habido una explosión en los accesorios para acampar en vehículos desde 2020, cuando la pandemia mundial alentó a las personas a abandonar el trabajo de escritorio y salir a la carretera.
Conversiones de vehículos recreativos, tiendas de campaña con techo y vehículos recreativos modernos, p. volkswagen californiaTodos los automóviles familiares han experimentado un gran aumento en popularidad, pero muchos de estos dispositivos recreativos se están volviendo cada vez más caros y, de lo contrario, pueden resultar complicados de instalar en un automóvil familiar.
El año pasado, el fabricante de automóviles rumano Dacia, filial de… RenaultGoogle ha presentado su Sleep Pack, una cama plegable que se desliza fácilmente en la parte trasera de su Google Car, proporcionando una solución práctica para aquellos que quieren atrapar zombies en el coche sin tener que recalibrar su columna.
Con el lanzamiento del nuevo SUV Duster, ya a la venta en la mayor parte de Europa, Dacia espera que el accesorio sea una opción popular y asequible a la par de la gama de accesorios de InNature que transforman su pequeño y asequible crossover en una aventura versátil.
Salir afuera
(Crédito de la imagen: Dacia/Adrian Cortesi)
Hay muchas marcas de automóviles que afirman tener un espíritu aventurero y al aire libre, pero muchas simplemente toman un par de tablas de surf o una bicicleta y las lanzan a una sesión de fotos con fines de marketing.
Dacia se diferencia de otras empresas en que fabrica coches asequibles y diseñados para el uso diario. Se da cuenta de que sus clientes trepan bancos con sus botas embarradas, cargan equipos de pesca y explotan sus coches a diario; no son puras reinas del garaje, y muchos en la industria realmente disfrutan de la naturaleza.
Según François Aubier, director de rendimiento de producto de Dacia y apasionado de la naturaleza, el Sleep Pack fue ideado por un ingeniero del equipo Qstomize de Renault, que pasó la mayor parte de sus días preparando camiones y vehículos para necesidades comerciales y de movilidad personalizadas.
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(Crédito de la imagen: Dacia/Adrian Cortesi)
El astuto hombre era un hábil carpintero y usó su tiempo libre para hacer un prototipo de una caja de madera que podía guardarse en el maletero de un automóvil y plegarse para convertirse en una cama doble para una fiesta de pijamas sorpresa.
Unos meses más tarde, el director general de Dacia se tumbaba sobre el aparato y daba su visto bueno para que entrara en producción como opcional oficial.
Pero con el último modelo del familiar Jogger y el nuevo SUV Duster, cuyos precios comienzan en alrededor de £20,000 en el Reino Unido (equivalente a alrededor de US$25,500/AU$38,000), la compañía ha ido un paso más allá en la creación de una línea de accesorios. bajo el paraguas InNature, que incluye cortinas opacas, bolsas de almacenamiento e incluso una carpa adjunta en la parte trasera, todo por un precio razonable.
El paquete para dormir, que cuesta alrededor de £1,500 (alrededor de US$2,000/AU$2,850), ha sido especialmente rediseñado para caber en la parte trasera del nuevo Duster, proporcionando una solución para acampar tres en uno que incluye una caja de almacenamiento y un comedor y rejilla para cocinar.
Haz tu cama y acuéstate en ella ahora.
(Crédito de la imagen: Dacia/Adrian Cortesi)
En el pintoresco entorno de los Alpes franceses, Aubert está ocupado mostrándole lo fácil que es configurar un Sleep Pack. Con el cronómetro listo, se apresura hacia el baúl y comienza a construir.
Después de quitar la tapa de la caja, tome un par de patas de madera y vigas transversales para darle cierta rigidez al marco. Es como un rompecabezas de madera gigante y, en 30 segundos, pudo plegar los asientos traseros y dibujar los contornos básicos de la plataforma del automóvil.
A partir de aquí, pliega el somier, coloca el colchón y presenta lo que parece ser un lugar muy cómodo para dormir. También hay un par de cojines laterales para proporcionar algo más de ancho. No tomó más de un minuto.
La cama mide 1,90 metros de largo y 1,30 metros de ancho, lo que es bastante grande para dos personas, pero muy cómoda. Naturalmente, el espacio para la cabeza es limitado debido a la altura de la cama y hay que subir por las puertas traseras, pero el colchón es blando y todo parece acogedor.
Además, la caja de salto de la cama proporciona un amplio espacio de almacenamiento para sacos de dormir, almohadas y otros equipos de campamento, como una estufa de gas y utensilios de cocina esenciales.
(Crédito de la imagen: Dacia/Adrian Cortesi)
Inteligentemente, la trampilla trasera del Duster brinda protección contra la lluvia, y un estante que se extiende desde la tapa del maletero está diseñado para contener hasta 20 kg de equipo, lo que lo convierte en una cocina o una estación de preparación de refrigerios.
Hay varias empresas de posventa que fabrican carrocerías de madera para autocaravanas, pero pocas se fabrican específicamente para el modelo en cuestión y ninguna está disponible en su concesionario Dacia local.
Del mismo modo, mis presumidos amigos fanáticos de Tesla me han informado que las empresas de posventa fabrican colchones que se ajustan al respaldo de la mayoría de los modelos, pero muchos de ellos son inflables, propensos a pincharse y filtrarse aire, mientras descansan sobre los respaldos de los asientos traseros y el piso. del tronco, lo que significa que a menudo sientes cada onda y cambio en la superficie mientras duermes.
Además de la gama Sleep Pack, Dacia también ofrece una gama de cortinas opacas diseñadas específicamente para ventanas, así como una gama de accesorios YouClip económicos.
Estos incluyen soportes para teléfonos, luces recargables y clips para teléfonos inteligentes o tabletas que se acoplan perfectamente a una amplia gama de puntos de montaje repartidos por toda la cabina, lo que permite mover una multitud de accesorios por el interior cuando y donde sea necesario.
Con un par de luces LED y un portavasos a mano, el escenario está preparado para una noche de sueño reparador.
Dulces sueños (un poco) están hechos de esto.
(Crédito de la imagen: Dacia/Adrian Cortesi)
Despertarse con el sonido de los cencerros de las vacas alpinas y el olor del estiércol de las vacas alpinas es una sensación maravillosa, y el sueño nocturno tampoco fue malo.
La falta de un calentador auxiliar (como el que se puede encontrar en una autocaravana dedicada) y el espacio para la cabeza limitado hicieron que me despertara varias veces y ocasionalmente me golpeara la cabeza contra el techo. Pero aparte de eso, el lugar era acogedor y confortable.
Los accesorios YouClip garantizan que una botella de agua esté al alcance de la mano, y las luces LED fueron útiles para las inevitables pausas para ir al baño que parecen aparecer con una urgencia antinatural cuando se estaciona en medio de la nada.
“No queríamos crear algo que pudiera competir con una autocaravana. Un saco de dormir no está diseñado para un viaje de una semana”, explica Aubier.
(Crédito de la imagen: Dacia/Adrian Cortesi)
“Es un accesorio divertido para aquellos que quieren ser los primeros en llegar al lago en un viaje de pesca o para parejas que quieren salir a explorar el fin de semana”, añade.
El Sleep Pack es simple y económico, y ofrece enormes pantallas táctiles opcionales y la posibilidad de jugar desde los asientos traseros. Por supuesto, no son tan lujosos como los campers o vehículos recreativos personalizados, pero cuestan una fracción del precio.
Dacia ha sido durante mucho tiempo una marca valiosa, y la compañía afirma que sus productos son “fuertes y duraderos” y se nota.
El Sleep Pack es una extensión de esta mentalidad y, si bien puede que no sea la última palabra en ingeniería de precisión, funciona y está diseñado para durar. A diferencia de esas endebles camas de aire disponibles en línea.
With your Fitbit purchased and charged up, you can simply place it by your phone, then open the Fitbit app for Android or iOS, and you should see a prompt to connect the device—provided Bluetooth is enabled on your phone. All of your physical activities will then start to be logged and synced automatically to the app.
Track Your Sleep
You don’t need to press a button or turn on a toggle switch for your Fitbit device to start logging your sleep; it does so automatically once it recognizes your body is going into sleep mode. It’ll record naps of an hour or longer, too. In a sense, all you have to do to track your sleep with a Fitbit is to wear it.
There’s a little bit more to know about it. Your Fitbit will be smart enough to detect restless sleep through the way your body’s moving, and if your wearable has a heart rate monitor built in, it knows what to look for to tell the difference between light, deep, and REM sleep. (There’s more on this on Google’s website.) When your Fitbit feels you moving in ways that wouldn’t be possible if you were asleep, the sleep logging is stopped.
Your sleep stats appear on the Today tab, and you can edit settings.
Photograph: David Nield
Open up the Today tab in the Fitbit app to see the sleep you logged last night, in hours and minutes. If you tap on the sleep card, you can see your stats going back over time, for several months or even a year. You’re able to toggle between Hours slept and Sleep schedule using the buttons under the charts.
If your device has a heart rate monitor, which all but the oldest Fitbits do, you get a sleep score as well: This weighs several factors, like the amount of moving you did during the night and the amount of deep sleep you got, to give you a number up to 100. The higher this is, the better you’re doing in terms of sleep.
Keep tapping through on the stats to see more details—which times of night you were in deep or light sleep, for example. If you’re a Fitbit Premium subscriber, you get a Sleep Profile reading too: This uses various sleep metrics to tell you about trends in your sleep patterns, and how they compare to other people of your age and gender.
When you’re curled up on your best mattress, it can feel like the rest of the world simply disappears. But as comfortable as your bedding cocoon might be, if you want to get the best night’s sleep, then it’s important to consider your entire sleep environment – and that includes the temperature in your bedroom.
“We suggest maintaining a cool bedroom temperature for optimal sleep,” says James Higgins, founder and CEO of Ethical Bedding. “It supports the body’s natural dip in core temperature that occurs during sleep, promoting deeper and more restful sleep cycles.” In the bedroom, this translates to an ambient temperature around roughly 65 degrees Fahrenheit / 18 degrees Celsius.
A cooler bedroom isn’t just a way to save on your heating bills – these lower temperatures are a way to keep your environment in sync with your circadian rhythms. In this guide, we’ll take a look at why lower temperatures are better for your rest, plus some advice on how to achieve that perfect sleep environment.
What is the best temperature for sleeping?
The best temperature for sleeping is between 60 to 66 degrees Fahrenheit, (16 to 19 degrees Celsius). Our internal body temperature peaks in the afternoon, gradually lowering as we get closer to bedtime and cooling further as we sleep, before rising slowly in the morning as we prepare to wake up. When the bedroom is cooler, our body recognizes this as a cue that it’s time to sleep, while a warmer room tells your circadian rhythms to wake up.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
How temperature affects sleep
Ambient temperature plays an important role in how well we sleep, so you want to avoid a bedroom that’s too hot (or too cold). A study from 2015 found that high temperatures could cause fatigue, while research from 2022 linked increased temperatures during the night to worse sleep efficiency and quality. And a 2012 2012 study concluded that temperature was a key factor in sleep quality, with heat affecting sleep stages and thermoregulation.
(Image credit: Getty)
If you’re struggling to sleep in hot weather, try opening a window at night or using an electric fan to cool the room. Taking a lukewarm shower in the evening and drinking a glass of cold water can also help keep your body temperature down.
And consider the role your bed itself might play. A cooling pillow is an easy way to upgrade your sleep setup – we have some excellent options in our best pillow guide – or if you regularly struggle with night sweats,consider investing in one of the best cooling mattresses.
Can it get too cold in the bedroom?
Although we recommend keeping the bedroom on the cooler side – so your environment supports your body as it prepares for sleep – don’t make your bedroom frigid. “There is a point where the room gets too cold,” says Lisa Artis, deputy CEO at Simba Sleep’s charity partner, The Sleep Charity. She warns that a cold bedroom “could cause you to wake up and take a while to get back to sleep while you warm up. Especially when the outside temperature drops to its lowest in the early hours.”
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And sometimes, it is better to prioritize comfort over the cooler nights. Dr Lindsay Browning, psychologist, neuroscientist and sleep expert at And So To Bed suggests that, “when you are unwell you might want your room a little hotter or cooler than ‘sleep recommendations.’ It’s always important to listen to your body and do what feels right for you.”
However, as anyone who has spent the night searching for the cooler side of the pillow can attest, a lot of the time, what your body wants is a lower temperature in the bedroom. Below, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite bedding choices for maintaining this perfect ambient temperature.
Whether you’re a casual exerciser or a seasoned athlete, you probably wouldn’t mind adopting foolproof, healthy hacks to improve your physical abilities. Perhaps you already have a few in your toolkit, such as cross-training and staying on top of your protein intake and hydration status.
Yet there’s one in particular that’s completely free and proven to improve everything from endurance and reaction time to muscle recovery, as well as providing countless benefits for your overall health. In case you haven’t guessed, it’s simply getting enough sleep – and sleeping well, at that (ideally on the best mattress for your sleep requirements).
Read on to discover how the quantity and quality of your sleep can either help or hinder your physical performance and overall fitness regimen.
The relationship between sleep and exercise
A bidirectional relationship exists between sleep and exercise. Not only can exercise improve sleep by helping to regulate your circadian rhythms (aka biological clock or sleep-wake cycles) and assisting thermoregulation to induce sleep, but getting enough shuteye can also benefit your physical performance in a number of ways.
How can sleep improve physical fitness?
According to licensed clinical psychologist and board-certified behavioral sleep medicine specialist Shelby Harris, PhD, good sleep can result in a slew of benefits related to physical fitness, including focus, endurance, and recovery.
“Sleep is very important for muscle recovery, your best cognitive function, and keeping your hormones balanced,” she explains. Logging enough quality sleep, she continues, canallow your body to release growth hormones (which stimulate energy systems that support muscle and cardiovascular function), replenish glycogen stores (to increase your capacity to exercise and offset fatigue), improve concentration and reaction time, increase testosterone levels and enhance confidence and overall physical performance.
A large body of research demonstrates the benefits of improving sleep duration in athletes. A 2017 review published in Current Sports Medicine Reports notes that increases in sleep duration and quality alike are linked to improved performance, competitive success, and a lower risk of injury and illness in athletes. As such, adequate sleep can optimize health, enhance athletic output, and boost participation during training.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
More specifically, a range of studies have investigated the impact of set hours of sleep amongst different types of athletes:
A small 2019 study (of 9 participants) found that cyclists and triathletes maintained better endurance after extending their usual sleep time by 30 percent over 3 nights, concluding that they should sleep more than 8 hours per night to optimize performance.
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A small 2011 study (of 11 participants) found that men’s college basketball players who slept for more than 10 hours a night for up to 7 weeks experienced faster sprint times, improved shooting accuracy, increased vigor, and a stronger sense of physical and mental well-being during practice and games.
A small 2015 study (of 12 male and female participants) found that college tennis players who increased their sleep by approximately 2 hours, to sleep at least 9 hours daily (including naps) for a week, significantly improved their serving accuracy.
By and large, athletes and those who train rigorously will require more sleep than most people, due to their extensive output and subsequent heightened requirements for recovery. Still, these results show just how crucial getting enough quality sleep truly is, when linked to various markers of physical performance and well-being.
How can poor sleep negatively impact physical performance?
Anyone who’s struggled with a lack of sleep and/or disrupted sleep is sure to know that they don’t function at their best the day after. (Perhaps you experience trouble concentrating, stress, irritability, adverse changes in appetite… or a mix thereof.) So it’s no surprise to learn that sleep deficits and poor sleep quality can hinder exercise performance and then some.
“Not getting enough sleep can affect your decision-making during workouts, make physical activities feel more tiring than they generally should be, and make it harder for your muscles to recover,” Dr. Harris explains.
Plus, if you’re seeking specific gains — including, but not limited to, muscle growth and improved personal records for speed or accuracy — both short- and long-term sleep deficits can stack the odds against you. “Overall, bad sleep makes it harder for your body to adapt and get stronger from the exercise you do,” the sleep expert continues.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Frequent sleep issues will take a hit on your health in general, creating a domino effect that can hinder your athletic abilities.
“This could include feeling tired all the time, being more likely to have impaired decision-making and reaction times while working out where you could get hurt, and having trouble with performing at your best both physically and mentally,” says Dr. Harris. “Poor sleep can also disrupt your hormones and weaken your immune system, making it harder for you to get the most out of your workouts and increasing the risk of you getting sick.”
Disturbed sleep can affect everyone from occasional joggers to elite athletes. For instance, a 2022 study published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology investigated 10 NBA seasons’ worth of data to see how jet lag affected pro basketball players’ performance and game outcomes. Home teams subjected to eastward jet lag (i.e., in which they ‘lost’ time and played in direct opposition to their biological clock) were linked to:
Reduced wins
Fewer points scored
Fewer rebounds
Less effective field goal percentages
The researchers concluded that this type of circadian rhythm disruption — which involves impaired sleep quality — may have significant consequences on both game performance as well as recovery.
The bottom line
In short, if you want to improve pretty much any marker of athletic performance as well as facilitate recovery thereafter, it’s imperative to prioritize sleep as best you can. “To stay healthy and perform your best while exercising, it’s important to get enough good quality sleep every night,” Dr. Harris reiterates. Doing so won’t only support the likes of vigor, speed, endurance, and reaction time — but also more generally promote hormonal health, immune function, and physical and mental well-being.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Even one night of poor rest can throw your exercise regimen or sports performance off track. In these cases, it’s best not to exert yourself too much as you may heighten the risk of injury and adverse outcomes. “Getting a bad night’s sleep can make you tired the next day and affect how well you exercise, but an easy fix for this is to make sure you get enough rest that night and the nights following,” says Dr. Harris.
Of course, sleeping well is often easier said than done, namely if you have a history of sleep issues. In addition to following healthy dietary, lifestyle, and sleep hygiene practices, it’s best to consult your physician or a sleep specialist if you struggle with sleep regularly. This will benefit both your physical performance and overall health, helping you to score wins at the gym, during sports, and wherever else life takes you.
Dr Shelby Harris
Dr Shelby Harris is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in White Plains, New York and director of sleep health for Sleepopolis. She is board-certified in behavioral sleep medicine (BSM) and works to improve the sleep of everyone from babies through older adults using evidence-based methods.
Can’t start your day without a hearty dose of coffee? Regularly brew a cup of green tea after lunch? While these caffeinated drinks offer health benefits that go beyond helping you perk up and stay focused, relying on them in high quantities and/or drinking up too late in the day could mean bad news for your shuteye come nightfall, and having even the very best mattress may not be enough to lull you off to sleep.
If you can’t bear to part ways with your go-to sources of caffeine, it’ll be in your best interest to at least cap off intake at a certain point in the day; it’s also useful to know that the best time in the morning to drink coffee is 10am, not first thing.
We spoke to a dietician to discover if there’s an ideal time to stop caffeinating for the sake of better sleep, and also learned why caffeine and sleep are at odds with each other, as well as finding out about some surprising sources of the stimulant you may also want to steer clear of.
When should I stop drinking caffeine before bed?
“It is suggested that most people should stop consuming caffeine at least six hours before bedtime [to avoid] disruptive effects on sleep,” says Amy Shapiro, MS, RD, CDN, founder and director of Real Nutrition in New York City.
People who are sensitive to caffeine and/or have ongoing sleep issues may want to cease caffeinating even earlier than the six-hour mark. On the other hand, some may take to a post-dinner shot of espresso just fine and have no difficulty catching their ZZZs within a few hours’ time.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
In short, the ideal caffeine cutoff time will be based on the individual, so the six-hour mark is a decent general guideline. “The timing may vary due to the high variability of individual responses to caffeine consumption based on sex, age, diet, health, metabolism etc.,” Shapiro explains. “Depending on the individual, the effects of caffeine consumption can last up to 12 hours.”
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The amount of caffeine present in the beverage will also play a role, she adds. For example, a large cup of coffee can pack over 400 milligrams of caffeine, while a bottle of iced tea can offer 20 to 50 milligrams per serving. Caffeine content will vary based on factors such as the size of the drink, brands, and brewing times.
What caffeine does to your body
“Caffeine is a stimulant that increases activity in your brain and nervous system, and increases circulation of neurotransmitters including cortisol and adrenaline,” Shapiro explains. (Cortisol is known as the stress hormone yet it also helps us stay alert. Similarly, adrenaline helps prepare us for fight-or-flight mode and allows us to react quickly.)
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Short-term effects of caffeine, she continues, typically include:
Mental alertness
Physical energy
Increased breathing
Faster heart rate
Caffeine isn’t without its risks. Shapiro warns that high doses, frequent use, or potential adverse effects may include:
Restlessness
Excitement
Tremor
Anxiety
Headaches
Insomnia
Physical and/or psychological dependence
Why caffeine disrupts sleep
Most people reach for caffeine since it helps them stay awake, so it makes sense that it’d be at odds with falling asleep.
“Caffeine acts primarily on receptors in the body that are related to functions of the brain associated with sleep, arousal, and cognition,” Shapiro explains. “Adenosine receptor agonists in the brain generally promote sleep, and caffeine promotes wakefulness by antagonizing [i.e., inhibiting or counteracting] those receptors.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
In other words, caffeine disallows certain sleepiness cues to kick in when they should—which is how coffee, caffeinated tea and the like can prevent a good night’s rest.
In addition to affecting sleep latency (i.e., the time it takes to fall asleep), caffeine may also worsen sleep quality. In a 2021 randomized controlled trial in healthy men, published in the Journal of Biological Rhythms, those who had 150 milligrams of caffeine three times in the daytime over 10 days experienced the following sleep issues compared to a placebo group:
Delays in REM sleep (a sleep stage that heavily influences subjective sleep quality)
Greater difficulty waking up
Feeling more tired upon arising
What foods and drinks contain caffeine?
You likely already know that coffee, some teas (namely black and green tea), and energy drinks contain caffeine. However, they’re not the only dietary items that pack the stimulant.
According to Shapiro, additional sources of caffeine you may want to cut off by the afternoon include:
Soft drinks, such as soda
Gum
Some protein bars
Chocolate/cacao
Some medications
Moreover, it’s worth remembering that the terms ‘decaf’ and ‘caffeine-free’ aren’t interchangeable. The former indicates that caffeine was removed from a given product and trace amounts will likely remain present. Meanwhile, the latter indicates that caffeine wasn’t in a given product (such as the majority of herbal teas) to begin with.
The takeaway
If you struggle to fall asleep at night, you may find relief by ceasing caffeine intake 6 hours before bedtime. However, since caffeine tolerance varies by the individual, you might need to extend this timeline, sometimes to as long as 12 hours.
It could also benefit your ZZZs to reduce the amount of caffeine you consume (i.e., going from two cups to one cup daily) or perhaps even slowly taper off caffeine entirely.
Last but not least, you can always add items that promote better rest—such as chamomile tea and tart cherry juice—into your nightly regimen.
Amy Shapiro
Amy Shapiro MS, RD, CDN, has been the founder and director of Real Nutrition, an NYC-based private practice, for over 15 years. She is dedicated to healthfully and successfully guiding clients to their optimal nutrition, weight, and overall wellness. Recognized for her individualized, lifestyle-focused approach, which integrates realistic food plans, smart eating habits, and active living.
Achieving consistently better sleep is sometimes a matter of habit. Good sleep hygiene encourages making sleep-positive adjustments to your environment and pre-bed behaviors. By regularly practicing good sleep hygiene, quality rest becomes a matter of routine.
Proper sleep hygiene encompasses your day and night, but while it might seem intimidating at first, sleep hygiene primarily relies on small but significant changes. And the more you do it, the easier it becomes, until sleep hygiene doesn’t feel like any effort at all – it’s just what you do before bed.
In this guide, we’ll explore why good sleep hygiene matters and how to develop your own sleep-friendly routine. For sleep hygiene to be effective, it’s important that your environment supports your rest, so make sure to check out our best mattress guide if your bed isn’t providing the support you need.
What is proper sleep hygiene?
Proper sleep hygiene uses regular repetition of sleep-friendly habits to develop a healthy sleep routine. Sleep hygiene is both behavioral and environmental, and it involves following a sleep-friendly routine during the day and at night. Done correctly, sleep hygiene becomes a habit, providing a long-term solution for sleep difficulties.
“Quality sleep is essential for cognitive function, mood regulation, and overall well-being. By practicing good sleep hygiene, you’ll feel more alert, focused, and energized during the day,” says Lisa Artis, sleep expert and deputy CEO at Simba mattresses charity partner, the Sleep Charity.
Why is sleep hygiene important?
Sleep hygiene prepares your body and mind for good sleep, and while it relies on consistency to work, it also delivers consistency. By practicing correct sleep hygiene, you should be able to enjoy high quality, high quantity sleep almost every night. Essentially, sleep hygiene turns good sleep into a habit.
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Why is habit important? Studies – plus a lot of anecdotal evidence – show that humans are creatures of habit. We like routine, often doing the same things everyday, sometimes without even realizing. Regularly practicing sleep hygiene teaches our body the routine of going to bed, until good sleep becomes something that happens without thought or effort.
And one of the biggest benefits of proper sleep hygiene is that it’s so easily incorporated into your pre-existing daily routine. It’s not about making a massive, drastic change, but about small, habitual adjustments that should gradually become second nature.
Without sleep hygiene, you could find your habits are actually holding you back from getting the rest you need. A bad sleep hygiene routine – like bright lights in the evening and big meals before bed – might inadvertently be keeping you awake and accumulating sleep debt. And research shows that frequent lack of sleep can have both short-term and long-term implications on health. Which is why you want to replace those bad sleep habits with a good sleep hygiene routine.
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“Establishing a consistent sleep routine and creating a comfortable sleep environment can help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep throughout the night,” explains Lisa. “Practicing good sleep hygiene can help prevent or alleviate common sleep disorders such as insomnia and sleep apnea.”
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And while even with the best sleep hygiene it’s impossible to guarantee every night is a good night – we can’t always avoid busy evenings, stress, or changes to the routine – these good habits will make it easier to return to quality rest after a few nights of disruption..
What is poor sleep hygiene
Poor sleep hygiene is when you don’t have a regular sleep-friendly routine in place to help you achieve consistently good rest. The most obvious sign of poor sleep hygiene is bad sleep. You might struggle to drift off, wake up frequently during the night, or find that even after eight hours of sleep, you still feel tired.
It’s not always obvious that you have poor sleep hygiene until you take a step back. But what seems like an ordinary evening routine might be the reason you spend your nights disrupted. Keeping a sleep diary can provide an overview of your sleep, helping you identify problems and find solutions.
Is sleep hygiene the same for everyone?
While the general rules of sleep hygiene are the same for everyone, it’s important to personalize your routine to suit your needs. Take a gradual approach when determining what proper sleep hygiene looks like for you. For example, move your bedtime by 15 minutes, rather than an hour. The rules we’ve outlined below should act as a starting point, from which you build your own good habits.
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“Adequate sleep is crucial for maintaining a healthy immune system, metabolism, and cardiovascular health,” explains Lisa. “By prioritizing sleep hygiene, you can reduce the risk of various health problems.”
Sleep hygiene can improve sleep, but it won’t work for everyone. If you’re suffering from severe insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, or other sleep disorders, consult with your doctor to find the best course of action.
5 rules for sleep hygiene
These overarching rules from the basis of sleep hygiene. They prioritize schedule and repetition, and they aren’t just focused on those last few minutes before bed – what you do during the day is also important. As well as behavioral aspects, sleep hygiene focuses on your environment, so make sure to think about your bedroom. And remember that these rules are general, not specific, and need to be personalized to your needs.
1. Set a sleep schedule
A sleep schedule determines when you go to bed and when you wake up, to ensure you’re getting as much sleep as you need. If you want to keep a close eye on your schedule, the best sleep trackers provide the exact data. Otherwise, a sleep diary can help you create an overview of just how much shut-eye you’re getting, and when.
Find your sleep window Pay attention to when you feel sleepy and when you feel awake to determine your sleep window. This is the best time for you to sleep and you can use it to schedule your drop-off and wake-up times. Learning your sleep chronotype can also help you build a schedule that suits your natural inclinations.
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Wake up at the same time everyday “Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. This helps regulate your body’s internal clock,” says Lisa. If you can’t stick to the exact time, try to roughly wake up in the same time window throughout the week. This can help you avoid the groggy effects of social jet lag; when your weekday and weekend alarms are so far apart they’re almost in different time zones.
Get out of bed if you can’t sleep Lying in bed when you can’t drift off erodes the connection between ‘bed’ and ‘sleep’, so if you can’t fall asleep after 15 minutes, it’s time for a change of scenery. Move to a different room if you can, and pick up a relaxing hobby for a few minutes, before heading back to bed. Known as the 15 minute rule, this technique also works if you wake up in the middle of the night.
2. Have a sleep-friendly bedtime routine
A relaxing bedtime routine prepares the body and mind for rest, lulling you into the perfect headspace for sleep. This routine should be followed nightly and adapted to suit your own needs and interests.
Set a time to wind-down There should be a point in your evening when you switch into pre-sleep mode, and it shouldn’t be 10 seconds before you go to bed. Start your wind-down at least 30 minutes before your bedtime, to get you into a calm headspace.
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Enjoy relaxing activities “Engage in activities that help you wind down before bed, such as reading a book, taking a warm bath, or practising relaxation techniques like deep breathing or meditation,” suggests Lisa. Choose the right activities, and your bedtime routine can be the best part of your day.
Put away blue light “The blue light emitted by screens can interfere with your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, so try to avoid screens (phones, computers, TVs) at least an hour before bedtime,” says Lisa. At least one hour before bed, put down your smartphone and pick up other sleep-friendly activities.
Save the bed for sleep Most of your bedtime routine should take place outside the bedroom, so you don’t start to associate the mattress with being active. Reserve the bed for sleep and intimacy, and on the weekend, avoid bed rotting.
3. Optimize the bedroom for sleep
Sleep hygiene encompasses environmental factors, not just behaviors. Your bedroom should echo the calm feeling you’ve created during your bedtime routine, to keep you in that relaxing headspace. “Make sure your bedroom is conducive to sleep by keeping it cool, dark, and quiet,” says Lisa.
Don’t forget the pillow “Invest in a comfortable mattress and pillows that don’t make you too hot or cold,” advises Lisa. Sleeping on a bad pillow could be the reason why you keep waking up with a pain in the neck. A pillow should cradle your head and help keep your spine aligned through the night. Our best pillow guide can help you one that works for you.
Clean up clutter A messy room is a catalyst for bad sleep, causing feelings of stress and guilt by reminding us of incomplete tasks. Decluttering your bedroom clears away this anxiety, but if you’re low on time, here’s a quick hack – only clean the parts of the room visible from the bed.
Get the right temperature “We sleep better when we are a little cooler,” says Dr Lindsay Browning, neuroscientist, psychologist and sleep expert at And So To Bed. “I’d recommend bedrooms are kept cooler than the rest of the house as our core body temperature drops overnight.” Around 16 to 19 degrees Celsius (60 to 66 degrees Fahrenheit), is ideal.
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Block out light Bright light signals to the body clock that it’s time to wake up, while dim light indicates it’s time for sleep. Use blackout curtains or an eye mask to keep light out when you’re in bed.
4. Consider your daytime routine
What we do during the day has a direct impact on your sleep, and while you shouldn’t spend the entire day waiting to go to bed, you want to avoid bad habits that will have you lying awake all night
Eat well A healthy diet is important for your sleep, putting your body in the best place to achieve optimum rest. While there are some foods that can help you sleep (such as cashews and pumpkin seeds), don’t think of them as the equivalent of a sleeping pill. Aim to incorporate them into your diet throughout the day, if you want to feel the benefits.
Avoid eating late at night As well as what you eat, it’s important to consider when you eat. Lisa recommends to avoid: “heavy meals and spicy foods close to bedtime, as they can cause discomfort and disrupt sleep.” Eating late at night can keep you up, as your body is focused on digestion, and not sleep. In addition, lying down after eating can cause indigestion, which further contributes to bad sleep.
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Choose drinks carefully Lisa advises to; “avoid consuming caffeine and alcohol close to bedtime, as they can disrupt your sleep.” The 10-3-2-1-0 sleep methodrecommends cutting out caffeine 10 hours before bed and alcohol three hours before bed. In general, try to hydrate consistently throughout the day, instead of late at night, so you can avoid waking up to go to the toilet.
Get active Exercise can help you sleep by regulating your body clock. “Engage in regular physical activity, but try to avoid vigorous exercise close to bedtime as it can be stimulating,” says Lisa. If you have to exercise before bed, keep things light – a relaxing walk or light stretching should work.
5. Keep it regular
Sleep hygiene, much like regular hygiene, isn’t a one and done kind of activity. Consistency is key. Just like you should brush your teeth every morning, you should commit to sleep hygiene every night.
But because sleep hygiene is all about habit, the more frequently you do it, the more natural it becomes. With regular repetition, it won’t feel like you’re practicing sleep hygiene – you’ll just be going through your day-to-day routine.
While sleep hygiene should become habit that doesn’t necessarily mean it has to remain static. Over time, you might need to gradually adapt your sleep hygiene to suit life changes, such as aging (our sleep needs change with our age), growing kids, or even a new job. However, with a good basis of routine in place, you should find these small adjustments won’t disrupt your overall sleep habits.
When you think about how well you are sleeping, one factor that probably comes into it is the number of hours you’re clocking up each night. All of today’s best sleep trackersreport this kind of data. But focusing on these numbers could be doing more harm than good, according to Angela Kondinska, a neuroscientist and sleep specialist who works with Emma (one of our best mattressbrands).
“There’s a very strong focus on eight hours – that this is the solution for everybody,” she says. “I believe a lot of this focus is also the stress around sleep.” Rather than setting a mental timer and getting frustrated if you don’t hit your hourly goal, here’s what to do instead…
1. Explore what works for you
When working out your ideal bedtime routine, don’t get too hung up on following external ‘rules’. The best approach will always be whatever what works for you.
“It’s all about focusing away from micromanaging sleep,” she continues. “The more we say, ‘Okay, you have to do this, [the more] stress builds up, and then we end up sleeping less because of the stress. And then it creates this cascade.”
Instead she suggests trying out whatever methods appeal to you. “Allow yourself to explore in a curious way. There’s a long list of sleep tips. Try out different things… and see what works,” says Angela. “If [one thing] doesn’t work, that’s okay, because there’s something else that will work.”
2. Think about the hours either side of sleep
Rather than concentrating entirely on the time that you’re asleep for, Angela recommends widening that out to include the hours either side of bedtime. Figure out a bedtime routine that works for you – that might include saving special activities for bedtime, using music to relax you, trying a bedtime box, or even just adding some structure with something like the 10-3-2-1-0 sleep method.
And while you’re at it, take a look at your morning wakeup habits. If you’re finding you’re hanging about in bed for too long or developing an over-reliance on the snooze button, the 3-2-1 method might be the solution for you.
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A little bedtime listening can help you relax and drift off (Image credit: Getty Images)
3. Give it time
While you’re figuring out your routine, don’t expect instant results. You need to give each technique at least a few nights’ trial to give it a fair chance. “What usually brings a lot of relaxation is repetitiveness – our brains love being able to predict something,” says Angela. Sleep studies are never just one night; they’re run over a few weeks in order to see the effects.
Angela suggests repeating the same routine every night, so you become familiar with the situation, the tasks, and the order in which you do them. That will help amplify the feeling of relaxation.
4. Listen to your body
The figure of eight hours a night isn’t a hard-and-fast rule in any case. General consensus is somewhere between seven to nine hours, and how much sleep you need varies by age, too, as well as from person to person. So the best way to tell if you’ve had enough sleep is by listening to your body, suggests Angela. If you wake up after seven hours’ sleep and you feel comfortable and awake, then that’s fine. If you’re an adult and you’re sleeping a bit more than 8 hours but you’re not having the effects of oversleeping, then that’s also fine.
If you’re feeling this perky after 7 hours sleep, that’s fine (Image credit: Getty Images)
5. Don’t rely on ‘topping up’ with naps
Angela flags that the focus on hitting a certain nightly quota of sleep means some people will try and ‘top up’ with naps in the day. “[There’s a belief that] we can sleep little, overnight, and then take naps to overcome the sleep debt,” she says. “Something that is still important is to have a full night of sleep, and to not chop it up throughout the day.”
That’s important because we need our body to go through sleep cycles– starting in light sleep, moving into deep sleepand finally REM sleepto get the full physical and mental benefits. A nap can be useful on occasion, but it’s rare you’ll be getting your full 90-minute sleep cycle, so it’s not a substitute for sleeping in one long block.
6. Don’t panic over a few bad nights
No one likes a sleepless night, but it’s not the end of the world, Angela reminds us. “Sleep happens, right?” she smiles. “It’s part of life. And sometimes it’s okay to have a few nights… of bad sleep.”
For the vast majority of us, it’s only going to be temporary. “Keep in mind that a good night is coming soon. It could be the next night; it could be in a night or two. So that’s okay.”
You wake up and check the clock – 2am, plenty of time left to fall back to sleep on your best mattress. Then you check again and this time it’s 3am, then 4am, and now you’re just lying there watching the clock tick closer to morning. While monitoring the time may seem like a smart way to ensure you’re getting the amount of sleep you need, this clock-watching might actually be the reason you can’t drift off.
“Many people feel ‘pressure’ to sleep, and clocks can have a negative effect when patients are sensitive to this,” explains Dr Jake Deutsch, board certified emergency physician and medical advisory board member for Oura. In our Oura review, we found this smart ring sleep tracker was excellent at monitoring your kip without invasive and anxiety-inducing numbers – and Dr Deutsch’s advice is to take the clock out of the bedroom altogether. And yes, this does include your phone. If it tells you the time, it’s a clock.
Should I sleep with a clock in the room?
Research has shown that watching the clock can lead to pre-sleep anxiety, resulting in later sleep onset latency – that means it takes you longer to get to sleep. Getting rid of the clock means you can’t watch the time, removing that source of anxiety and making it easier to get some quality rest.
If you’re worried about oversleeping without the clock in your room, consider covering the face or turning it towards the wall, so you can still hear your alarm. But Dr Deutsch believes if you prioritize your sleep hygiene, it shouldn’t be a problem. “I find you don’t need a clock in the bedroom when you have a sleep schedule to serve as a guide, rather than checking the time.” (And the best sleep trackers can help you keep an eye on how much shut-eye you’re getting.)
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For Dr Deutsch, removing the clock is part of optimizing your environment for good sleep. “My sleep hacks include removing clocks, making the room pitch black, cooling the environment, and taking the phone out of the bedroom.”
What to do instead of watching the clock
Whether you’re yet to drop off or you’ve woken up in the pitch black, the best thing to do when you can’t sleep is get out of bed. The 15-minute rule encourages getting up if you’ve been lying awake for more than a quarter of an hour, to prevent your brain and body associating being in bed with anything other than sleep (this is also why bed rotting is a bad idea).
We recognize that this sounds like a slightly contradictory rule to mention here – how do you know if you’ve been waiting 15 minutes when there’s no clock? But 15 minutes should be a general guideline, not a set time period. Instead of counting down 15 minutes, wait until you start to feel anxious or frustrated that you can’t sleep. That’s your cue to get up, go to another room, and take up your bedtime routine until you feel sleepy again.
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Removing the clocks can be one way to limit pre-sleep anxiety, but this isn’t your only tool for preventing stress from keeping you awake. Our guides ‘how to sleep better when you’re anxious‘ and ‘how to sleep when you’re stressed‘ are full of tips and techniques, but if stress is severely impacting your sleep, contact your doctor for advice.
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Naps often seem like the enemy of a good night’s rest, but when done properly, naps can help you sleep. Excellent news for anyone who likes to spend some quality time with their best mattress. Even better – it might actually be best to take a nap every day.
That’s according to Anush Pervez, sleep expert at SleepSeeker. “Napping often gets a negative reputation, with people believing it prevents you from sleeping well overnight. However, napping can be beneficial to your daily routine when properly moderated.”
I’m never going to complain about being told to nap more, but I was curious about why napping is best when it’s a habit. I asked Anush, and she explained to me that, like your evening sleep routine, it’s best to keep things regular when it comes to naps.
Why nap regularly?
“Consistency is key with napping,” explains Anush. “If you know napping is something you need in your lifestyle, try and add this to your daily routine. Napping at the same time and for a set interval will help regulate your body clock.”
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It’s no surprise that our body clock prefers rhythmic repetition for good sleep. It’s why we encourage you to develop a bedtime routine. But I hadn’t considered how this might apply to naps. An unexpected nap at 12 noon can confuse our inner timer – why is bedtime suddenly in the middle of the day, and why is it happening again at night? But when a quick nap at 1pm becomes an everyday experience, your body learns to predict it, and can prepare accordingly.
While daily napping might not sound like the most productive choice, Anush doesn’t recommend dozing the day away. “Try to keep your naps short, aiming between 20 to 30 minutes. This will prevent you from feeling overly fatigued when waking up from the slumber and will reduce any interference with your nighttime sleep routine.”
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Before taking your daily nap, there’s a few things you need to do. First, pick the right time. Early afternoon is a good choice as it’s often when we need a refresh, but for a smart approach, Garmin‘s Forerunner watches can tell you when to nap. Second, set an alarm, to ensure you don’t oversleep (a bad idea in the middle of the day). Finally, remember you’re in good company – even Super Bowl winning athletes swear by a nap.
And napping shouldn’t take priority over a full night’s sleep. If you start to find you can’t fall asleep at night, then consider cutting out your daytime nap, and see if that helps. You might find you’ve been oversleeping.