Set Your Room Up Well And The Rest Should Follow

There’s no need to feel like you’re losing at the sleep game: set your room up well and the rest should follow

- Sarah Pickette

A glance at recent headlines is telling: ‘Insomnia nation: 60 per cent of adults have sleep disorder’ (Sydney Morning Herald); ‘Will science ever give us a better night’s sleep?’ (New York Times); ‘Why we are all losing sleep’ (The Atlantic). Sometimes it feels like getting a good night’s sleep is impossibly tricky to achieve. Meanwhile, study after study illuminates just how important sleep is – for your brain to detox, for memories to cement, even for gut health.

“Sleep is now broadly accepted as the third pillar of health, alongside diet and exercise,” says Dr Moira Junge, health psychologist and spokesperson for the Sleep Health Foundation. “Most of us understand the importance of sleep, even if we don’t always get enough of it ourselves.”

Many factors play into how well you sleep (and they’re different for everyone), but high on the list is how your home is set up. “As evening draws in and you begin to wind down, it’s good to keep any artificial light low,” she says. “This triggers melatonin production, a hormone produced at night by the pineal gland in the brain that regulates the sleep-wake cycle.” Opt for dim lamplight rather than bright overhead illumination and, if the budget allows, consider smart lights that can mimic shifting daylight.