In our busy lives, it can be tempting to create more hours in the day by sacrificing the time we spend sleeping. However, sleep is essential to our well-being—benefits of high-quality sleep include memory consolidation, improved cognitive performance (alertness, attention, and vigilance), and improved mood regulation. Chronic insufficient sleep can lead to multiple long-term adverse health effects. Unfortunately, the average American sleeps only 6.5 hours/night and the average healthcare worker only sleeps 6.1 hours/night—far less than the recommended 7–9 hours. 

Building our sleep drive is a complex process involving a symphony of hormones conducted by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). The SCN is triggered by environmental cues throughout the day which can either increase or decrease the sleep drive.

Here are some proven ways to harness these cues and improve the quality of your sleep:

1. Make your bedroom a sleep-inducing environment—quiet, dark, cool, comfortable, and free of electronics and work materials.
2. Only use your bed for sleep. Your body will learn to recognize your bed as a cue for sleep.
3. Maintain a consistent sleep schedule for weekdays and weekends.
   • Weekend fluctuations can lead to “social jet lag.”
   • Avoid sleeping in late after a “bad night.”
4. Harness your sleep drive, which builds up over the course of the day.
   • Wait until you are truly tired to go to bed.
   • Avoid long naps or naps late in the day.
   • Short naps—less than 30 min—can refresh your energy without interfering with your nighttime sleep.
5. Harness light signals
   • Use bright light in the earlier parts of the day.
   • Go outside and get some sun.
   • Use soft, warm lights at night.
   • In the hour before bedtime, avoid electronics with blue light.
6. Create a relaxing bedtime routine to provide separation between work and sleep. This allows you to wind down and process your thoughts about the day and primes you for sleep.
   • Include relaxing, low-energy activities: take a bath, read, meditate, stretch.
   • Avoid stimulating activities: work, exercise, video games, watching the news, and surfing the internet.
7. Set aside time earlier in the evening for “constructive worrying” if you find your mind races as you are going to sleep.
8. Practice Healthy Daytime Habits:
   • Exercise, earlier in the day is best
   • Eat light dinners
   • Limit caffeine intake earlier in the day. Avoid caffeine entirely after the early afternoon.
   • Limit alcohol intake.
9. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is a structured, evidence based and highly effective first-line therapy for insomnia and has been shown to be more effective than medications. Sleepio is an online sleep improvement program that uses CBT-I techniques and may be available to you at your workplace.

For CU employees and adult dependents covered by an Anthem-administered CU Health Plan at no additional cost. Check it out! (https://www.becolorado.org/program/sleepio/)