Sleep tips. Stuart F. Quan, MD, Clinical Director, Division of Sleep and Circadian Rhythm Disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, provides tips to help you sleep better.

1. Create a sleep friendly environment by ensuring your bedroom is quiet and dark.

2. Keep your bedroom cool at night, between about 65 and 70 degrees.

3. Exercise regularly, three or four times a week, preferably in the morning or afternoon.

4. Avoid heavy meals before bedtime.

5. Go to sleep and wake at regular hours. In addition to sleep duration, regularity in sleep habits is almost as important as the amount of sleep you get at night.

6. Morning light exposure will help regularize your sleep schedule.

7. Avoid nicotine and caffeine. Nicotine is a stimulant so smoking before you go to sleep at night will increase your heart rate and your brain activity making it difficult to fall asleep. Caffeine can have a duration of action as long six hours.

8. Make a commitment to better sleep. The most important step in developing healthy sleep habits is to make a commitment to getting an adequate amount of sleep each night.

Learn more about sleep medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital:
https://www.brighamandwomens.org/medi...