What can I do to sleep better?
CBT-I is the most powerful approach for persistent sleep problems; if you do not have access to it, ask your general practitioner about a shorter behavioural treatment of four sessions. Fixed sleep times, less caffeine and alcohol in the evening, and regular exercise are the best-supported self-help steps.
Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, also known as CBT-I, is the best-supported approach. In multiple systematic reviews, CBT-I scores an average of 3.8 points better on a widely used severity scale for sleep problems, and sleep efficiency improves an average of 8% more than with education alone. CBT-I also works for older adults and is explicitly recommended as the first-choice treatment for that group. If you do not have access to a full CBT-I programme, a shorter behavioural treatment of four sessions (deliverable by a general practitioner or practice nurse) is a good alternative: it too reduces the time it takes to fall asleep and the amount of time spent awake during the night, and in some people leads to complete resolution of symptoms.
Sleep hygiene advice on its own helps as well, but to a lesser degree. Multiple systematic reviews find an average improvement of approximately 3.4 points on that same scale and a sleep efficiency that improves by around 5%. That is measurable, but modest. Most of the underlying studies had methodological limitations, meaning the effect may be smaller in everyday practice. Sleep hygiene is therefore a good foundation, but not a fully adequate treatment if you are genuinely struggling with insomnia.
The most commonly cited concrete recommendations: avoid caffeine, alcohol, heavy meals and bright light in the evening, as these are associated with more fragmented and poorer sleep. Get up at the same time every day and go to bed at a fixed time as well, with a calm routine leading up to it. The recommended sleep duration for adults is seven to nine hours per night. Regular physical exercise also appears to help: in one systematic review, exercise scored an average of 2.9 points better than sleep hygiene education alone.
Mindfulness and relaxation exercises are recommended in reviews as a supplement, but the available sources provide no concrete figures on how large the effect is. They therefore represent a reasonable addition, though no firm claims can be made about them.
Based on two systematic reviews with meta-analysis (PMID 29194467, 40449065), four narrative reviews (PMID 36841492, 38761649, 31029189, 34210445), one study not further indexed (PMID 18853708) and one systematic review without meta-analysis (PMID 27755323). Total number of participants cannot be estimated accurately on the basis of the available abstracts.
Does pain make me sleep worse, and what can you do about it?
Pain and poor sleep reinforce each other, with sleep deprivation typically aggravating pain more than the other way around. The treatment with the strongest evidence is cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-i), which demonstrably improves sleep, although the pain does not automatically disappear as a result.
How much sleep do I really need?
Seven to eight hours per night is the best-supported target range for adults. If you are consistently sleeping fewer than 7 hours, getting more sleep is not a luxury but a serious investment in your health.
How much melatonin should you take to sleep better?
For most adults, 4 mg appears to have the greatest effect, but it should be taken 2 to 3 hours before bedtime; if you are older than 55, the extended-release formulation (2 mg) is the only one officially recommended.
Does getting more sleep improve my memory?
Sufficient sleep demonstrably benefits your memory: your brain processes and stores new information while you sleep. Too little sleep impairs that processing after just one night.
Does walking outside during the day help me sleep better at night?
A daily walk of around half an hour outside helps improve your sleep, as shown by a randomised study. The surroundings matter little, but air pollution can dampen the effect.
Does CBD oil help you sleep better?
There is currently too little good research to say that CBD oil genuinely helps with sleep problems; if you suffer from them, there are better-supported options to discuss with your doctor.