7 Habits To Ditch If You're Looking To Get Better Sleep, According To Experts

Getting quality sleep is a bare necessity for optimal health. But that doesn't mean it comes easy.

This one may come as no surprise, but it's still worth mentioning; scrolling through social media, streaming movies on your laptop, and even watching TV before bed can all affect your circadian rhythm and melatonin production, due to the spectrum of blue light that screens give off.

As Harvard- and Yale-trained ER doctor and founder of The TrueveLab Darria Long, M.D., previously suggested to mbg, "If you have trouble falling asleep, I tell people to turn off your devices for 60 to 90 minutes before bedtime." Consider reading a physical book or listening to a bedtime story instead.

Speaking of circadian rhythms, they really love routines, so it's best to eat dinner at around the same time every night. Opt for earlier meals than later. Not only has late-night eating been shown to affect metabolic health, but research finds that it can also affect how long you're actually able to stay asleep1₁.

Sure, drinking a glass of wine before bed may help you doze off faster, but according to nervous system specialist and holistic nurse practitioner Victoria Albina, N.P., MPH, it negatively affects overall sleep quality. "Alcohol can make you feel like you're sleeping deeper, but it can cause problems with sleep architecture, namely affecting the second half of sleep, meaning you spend less time in REM," Albina previously told mbg. Since alcohol has diuretic properties, it can also send you to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Did you know there's an optimal temperature to keep your bedroom for high-quality sleep? Our body temperature naturally dips a teeny bit when we're preparing for sleep, so a hot bedroom is not ideal. As one study on sleep and body temperature2₂ notes, "Heat exposure increases wakefulness and decreases slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep."

We all have those days when we put off going to bed in the name of one more episode, some late-night chores, or some phone scrolling. But this urge, sometimes called "revenge bedtime procrastination," can lead to major fatigue over time, psychiatrist and sleep expert Nishi Bhopal, M.D., previously explained to mbg.

Staying active and exercising regularly is so important, but when it comes to sleep, working out too close to bedtime can have some unintended consequences.

And last but not least, according to Harris, it's important to only get in bed when you're actually ready to fall asleep. "If you can't fall asleep, I'd rather you go to bed when you're really sleepy so that you feel more confident in your ability to fall asleep," she explains.