Better sleep might be the easiest health goal you’re ignoring. These simple habit changes could transform your nights.
Sleeping better isn’t always a New Year’s resolution. Yet, it’s a healthy goal to achieve, just like getting more exercise or eating healthier. But everyday elements, from phone screens to light fixtures in our homes, don’t make it easy. These are habits that are hard to break.
Emma Loewe, journalist and author of The Spiritual Almanac: A Modern Guide to Ancient Self-Care, details for Mind Body Green the “bad” routines to absolutely lose to regain good sleep in 2026.
Watching screens before bed
Prolonged exposure to blue light from screens primarily has negative consequences on sleep quality: it suppresses the production of melatonin, which signals bedtime.
Often held close to the face, mobile phones are even more stimulating than other devices. “Even if the amount of light coming out isn’t huge, it goes directly into our eyes,” Michael Grandner, director of the sleep and health research program at the University of Arizona (USA), told the media.
Especially since you may also be exposed to distressing news, increasing your stress level before sleep.
It’s advisable to turn off your phone and other electronic devices at least an hour before going to sleep. Setting a recurring bedtime alarm can help. You can also replace this activity with writing down your thoughts from the day in a journal or reading a book.
Use bright lights in your home
Still with the idea of seeing your melatonin production reduced, phones are not the only culprits: exposure to any type of bright light can disrupt your biological clock, making it harder to fall asleep.
To prevent your circadian rhythm from being disrupted, try to take advantage of daylight as much as possible and avoid darkness in the evening and at night.
To achieve this, why not divide your home’s lighting into “daytime lights” and dark “nighttime lights”? This is what Steven Lockley, a neuroscientist and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School (USA), recommends.
Eating too late in the evening
Have you ever felt like you slept less well after eating dinner later than usual? Nothing abnormal: eating too close to bedtime causes digestive processes that prevent you from falling asleep, especially if the meal was spicy, sweet or alcoholic.
Try to finish your dinner at least three hours before going to bed. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean you should go to bed on an empty stomach, as this can negatively impact the quality of your sleep. In that case, opt for a snack rich in complex carbohydrates.
Sleeping late on weekends
To sleep well, your body needs regularity. The tendency to shift your bedtime later on weekends can have negative consequences for your sleep.
Find and maintain a bedtime and wake-up time that you can reasonably stick to all week.
“Decide on the bedtime and wake-up time that best suits your schedule and stick to them every day, including weekends. Following a consistent sleep schedule helps train your brain to feel naturally tired at bedtime,” advises the Sleep Foundation.
This article was originally published by LR Medias on the Marie Claire France website.
Translated and syndicated for Marie Claire Nigeria by Esther Akinbola
