Created on: 26 Apr 2021 | Last modified: 19 Apr 2023
Sleep and its impact on our well-being has been a recurring theme talked about during the well-being programme workshops. Equally, growing attention is being given to the topic by mental health and well-being organisations and websites. Here, we draw together some hints, tips, and resources to maximise your sleep time.
Top four tips:
1. Discover your sleep habits. The Sleep Foundation’s sleep calculator is a quick way of gauging what you get versus what you should be aiming for. Download and fill in the Sleep Charity’s Sleep Diary to discover your sleep patterns.
2. Limit social media use as part of creating a restful environment. The Mental Health Foundation’s Top Ten Tip for Sleep covers technology, temperature, and other aspects of your sleeping environment.
3. Get out into the fresh air and sunlight early in the day. Thinking about sleep as soon as you waken up may seem too much, but the Sleep Charity explains how this behaviour can help.
4. Tackle troubled sleeping. The NHS Every Mind Matters website offers easy to implement activities to help tackle troubled sleeping, when it occurs.
Further resources:
The Sleep Charity has a wealth of resources on all of the above and more on the topic.
The NHS One You website covers all of the above, and includes some useful videos.
Mind explores the causes of troubled sleeping, and the impacts.
World Sleep Society hosted the 14th Word Sleep Day in March, with the theme 'Regular Sleep, Healthy Future'.