How to Sleep Better: 10 Habits Backed by Science

If you wake up tired even after a full night in bed, or you lie awake running through tomorrow’s to-do list, you’re far from alone. Poor sleep affects your mood, focus, and energy, and over time it’s linked to a long list of health problems. The good news is that most of what improves sleep is free, and you can start tonight.

This guide covers how much sleep you actually need, a simple way to set your bedtime, 10 habits that make the biggest difference, a two-week reset plan, and the signs that it’s time to talk to a doctor.

How much sleep do you need?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends these amounts for adults:

Age	Recommended sleep per night
18 to 60	7 hours or more
61 to 64	7 to 9 hours
65 and older	7 to 8 hours

Time in bed isn’t the same as time asleep. Most people need a little while to fall asleep and wake briefly during the night without remembering it. If you’re aiming for seven hours of sleep, plan on about seven and a half hours in bed.

Step 1: Work backward from your wake-up time

Your wake-up time is usually the one thing you can’t change, so build your schedule around it:

1. Write down the time you need to get up on workdays.
2. Subtract the hours of sleep you’re aiming for.
3. Subtract another 20 to 30 minutes to fall asleep.
4. Subtract 30 minutes more for a wind-down routine.

Example: Marisol has to be up at 6:30 a.m. She wants seven and a half hours of sleep. Working backward, she needs to be asleep by 11:00 p.m., lights out by about 10:40, and her wind-down starts at 10:10. Setting an alarm for 10:10 p.m., not just for the morning, is the trick that makes the plan stick.

10 habits that help you sleep better

1. Keep the same schedule every day. The CDC recommends going to bed and getting up at the same time, including on weekends. Sleeping in two or three hours on Saturday makes Sunday night harder.
2. Put screens away at least 30 minutes before bed. Phones, tablets, and TVs keep your brain alert. Charge your phone across the room if you can.
3. Make the bedroom quiet, dark, and cool. Use blackout curtains or an eye mask, earplugs or a fan for noise, and keep the room on the cooler side.
4. Cut off caffeine early. Caffeine can stay in your system for hours. Try stopping by early afternoon, and remember that tea, soda, energy drinks, and chocolate count too.
5. Avoid large meals and alcohol right before bed. Alcohol may make you drowsy at first, but it tends to break up sleep later in the night.
6. Get daylight in the morning. A few minutes outside soon after you wake helps set your body clock, which makes it easier to feel sleepy at night.
7. Move during the day. Regular physical activity helps many people fall asleep faster. Finish hard workouts a few hours before bedtime. See our guide on fitting exercise into a busy week.
8. Keep naps short and early. If you nap, 20 to 30 minutes before mid-afternoon is less likely to hurt your nighttime sleep.
9. Use the bed for sleep. Working, scrolling, or watching TV in bed teaches your brain that bed is a place to be awake.
10. Get up if you can’t sleep. If you’ve been lying awake for what feels like 20 minutes, go to another room and do something calm in dim light, like reading a paper book, until you feel sleepy.

A simple 30-minute wind-down routine

A routine tells your body that sleep is coming. It doesn’t need to be fancy:

• Minutes 1 to 10: get tomorrow ready. Lay out clothes, pack lunch, and write a short to-do list so your brain doesn’t have to hold onto it.
• Minutes 10 to 20: shower, brush your teeth, dim the lights.
• Minutes 20 to 30: something relaxing without a screen: reading, gentle stretching, or slow breathing. Our guide on how to manage stress includes a simple breathing exercise.

A two-week sleep reset plan

Days	Focus	What to do
1 to 3	Track	Write down when you go to bed, when you fall asleep (roughly), when you wake up, and how you feel. Don’t change anything yet.
4 to 7	Fix the schedule	Pick one wake-up time for all seven days and set a wind-down alarm.
8 to 10	Fix the room and the evening	Darken the room, move the phone, set a caffeine cutoff.
11 to 14	Fine-tune	Add morning daylight and daytime movement. Compare your notes with days 1 to 3.

Change one or two things at a time. If you change everything at once, it’s hard to know what helped, and harder to keep it up.

If you work nights or rotating shifts

• Keep your sleep time as consistent as possible, even on days off.
• Make your bedroom very dark during the day, and ask people at home to keep noise down during your sleep hours.
• Wear sunglasses on the drive home after a night shift if bright morning light keeps you awake.
• Avoid caffeine in the last part of your shift.

When to talk to a doctor

Better habits help most people, but some sleep problems need medical care. Talk to a doctor or other health professional if:

• You have trouble falling or staying asleep on most nights for several weeks, even with good habits.
• Someone tells you that you snore loudly, gasp, or stop breathing during sleep.
• You feel very sleepy during the day, especially while driving.
• Your legs feel uncomfortable or jumpy when you try to rest.
• Poor sleep comes with ongoing sadness, worry, or loss of interest in things you used to enjoy.

These can be signs of conditions such as insomnia, sleep apnea, or depression, which are treatable. Be cautious with over-the-counter sleep aids and supplements, and check with a pharmacist or doctor before using them, especially if you take other medicines. If cost is what’s stopping you from seeing someone, our guides on getting free preventive care and keeping Medicaid coverage can help.

4 sleep myths to drop

• “I can catch up on weekends.” Sleeping in helps a little, but it shifts your body clock and makes Monday harder.
• “A drink helps me sleep.” It may help you fall asleep, but it often makes sleep lighter later in the night.
• “Watching TV relaxes me before bed.” Many people find a screen-free wind-down works better.
• “Some people only need five hours.” Very few adults do well on that little sleep over time.