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How to get better sleep

If you're not sure if you're getting enough sleep, or you want to improve the quality of your sleep, the guidance below will help you.

Step 1: Are you getting enough good quality sleep?

The amount of sleep we need changes as we get older. Young children usually sleep for 12 to 16 hours. This decreases to 6 to 8 hours a day for adults, as we tend to go to bed later but still wake-up at the same time.

You may not be getting enough, good quality sleep if you answer 'yes' to any of the following questions:

As an adult do you struggle to get the recommended 6 to 8 hours of sleep most nights?
Do you "bank" sleep by sleeping more at certain times to make up for lost sleep?
Do you sometimes find it is harder to manage your feelings, or that your mental health suffers as a result of poor sleep?
Are you taking more risks due to poor sleep?
Has your educational or work performance dropped because of poor sleep?
Do you find it harder to think clearly because of poor sleep?

Step 2: Learn more about the benefits of good quality sleep and how to achieve it

The benefits of good quality sleep

Good quality sleep keeps us healthy in more ways than we might think:

Energy levels are good as we are less tired
We recover from viruses better
Our mental health and wellbeing are better when our brain health is better
Regularly getting good sleep reduces likelihood of dementia, obesity, or diabetes
We're more able to improve our health in other ways - like becoming more physically active

Top tips for good quality sleep

There are three things that are important to understand to get longer, better quality sleep: your body clock, your sleep drive, and getting your brain ready for sleep.

To focus your body clock:

Try to make sure the time you spend in bed is time spent sleeping
Try to go to bed when you feel ready to sleep. Get out of bed for a while if you can't sleep
Once you are sleeping better, choose a regular bedtime and stick to it
Choose a time to get up in the morning and stick to it
Choose a wind down routine that starts an hour before you go to bed. Try and repeat this routine if you can
Be consistent with your efforts

To enhance your sleep drive:

Exercise - see help and advice for becoming more active
Reduce how much alcohol you drink. See step-by-step guidance to help you drink less alcohol
Avoid caffeine in the evening
Get natural light in the day - sunshine is helpful
Avoid stimulating activities like gaming in the hour before you go to bed. Try something relaxing instead - like having a hot bath
Be mindful. Try to focus on resting rather than worries when winding down

To get your brain ready for sleep:

Limit light: sleeping in a dark room, using black-out blinds, and avoiding blue light from screens can all help
Don't keep any distractions - like smartphones - around or near your bed
Keep noise to a minimum
Make sure the temperature is comfortable for you - most people sleep better in a cool room

Step 3: Begin your sleep journey

To help you on your journey to better sleep, we recommend using our behaviour change resources:

You may also find it useful to:

These resources are based on the COM-B model of behaviour change. Read about behaviour change and the COM-B model.

Further help and support

If you still have trouble sleeping after trying these tips, these resources might help: