Sleep Your Way To Better Health With These 5 (Free) Expert Tips

In recent years, we’ve seen a major commercialization of sleep. Now don’t get me wrong—I love my magnesium supplements and wearable sleep tracker just as much as many of you. 

However, as world sleep expert Fiona Baker, Ph.D. tells us on a recent episode of the mindbodgreen podcast, better sleep lies within your habits, not your shopping cart. 

With over 80 scientific papers under her name and the title of Director of the Human Sleep Research Program at SRI International, you can trust Baker when it comes to getting good shut-eye. 

First, let’s talk about how we treat sleep—because for most people, it’s an afterthought.

Too often, she sees people viewing sleep as something they can sacrifice—as if cutting back on sleep will make them more efficient, help them get more done at work, and free up hours for everything else.

But that mindset needs to change—and here’s the thing: your productivity will actually improve when you start prioritizing sleep. “It really sets you up for the next day,” she says.

It’s easy to think that better sleep is all about your wind-down routine and has nothing to do with how you start your day—but that’s not entirely true.

“Getting up at the same time, or at least about the same time, is important,” Baker says, noting that a consistent sleep schedule is one of the few "sleep hacks" she personally follows—and yes, I did ask, she gets great sleep.

She even goes so far as to say that even if you’ve had a rough night—whether it was a late one or full of tossing and turning—you should still get up at the same time every day.

When it comes to tossing and turning, Baker offers surprising advice on what to do when you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back asleep. If it’s taking longer than, say, half an hour to drift back off, Baker suggests that you should actually get up.

Once you start to feel relaxed, that’s when you should return to bed and try to sleep again.

When you spend time refining your wind-down routine, you’ll discover what truly helps you relax—and you can use those same techniques in the middle of the night, too.

From sleepy-time mocktail recipes to lavender and chamomile bedtime teas, it’s easy to fall into the habit of having a pre-sleep beverage. But that might not be doing you any favors.

While this isn’t the case for everyone, many people find themselves needing to run to the bathroom if they have any kind of drink within two hours of going to bed, leading to sleep disturbances. Personally, I can’t drink anything after 7 p.m. if I’m aiming for a restful night’s sleep.

The same caution applies to food. While sometimes a late-night dinner is unavoidable, you’ll benefit from eating earlier. Otherwise, your body shifts into digestion mode too close to bedtime, which raises your body temperature and makes falling asleep more challenging, Baker says.

Finally, it’s important to recognize when your wake-ups and late nights are becoming persistent—and take action. Too often, people avoid discussing sleep issues with their healthcare provider because they feel fine during the day, thanks to loads of caffeine, or they fear that the only solution will be medication.

But when you’re sleep-deprived, you start losing more than just rest—you lose daytime energy, productivity, optimal physical health, and most importantly, your mental health can front the cost. We know that consistent sleep deprivation increases your risk of numerous physical and mental health concerns, so it’s something to take seriously. 

We often get caught up in the world of sleep products, but your best rest comes from mastering the basics. According to Baker, this means valuing your sleep, waking up at the same time every day, minimizing time spent tossing and turning, eating and drinking well before bed, and knowing when it’s time to seek help.