Healthy Sleep Patterns

9 Ways to Improve Messy Sleep Patterns for the Better

Written by Aprinda Puji · Date updated :10/02/2024

Apart from exercising regularly, keeping your sleep of good quality is a way to maintain optimal body health. On the other hand, if your sleep pattern is messy, your body's health will also decline. If you are someone who has a bad sleep pattern, follow the method below to improve your sleep pattern. That way, you will always be enthusiastic about facing the day and avoid various risks of disease.

How can you enhance your disorganized sleep routines for a more positive outcome?

Sleep patterns or sleeping habits greatly influence the biological clock, which regulates whether we are awake and asleep for 24 hours. This change in sleep patterns usually occurs because you stay awake longer at night or stay up late. 

This has an impact on sleeping habits and shifts in the biological clock, causing sleep hours to change and become messy. In the short term, the effects are drowsiness and difficulty concentrating. However, in the long term, this can result in lack of sleep and the body not working optimally. 

According to the National Health Service website, the negative effects of poor sleep patterns are that it can weaken the immune system, increase body weight, reduce healthy sexual and mental function, and increase the risk of chronic disease. 

Try to re-evaluate, is your sleep pattern good or bad? If not, follow these tips to fix it.

1. Create a sleep routine

The typical sleep pattern involves getting around 7-8 hours of sleep during the night. Nevertheless, some individuals do not adequately achieve this recommended duration of sleep.

If you sleep less than that duration, try to establish a good sleep routine so that your sleep pattern will also be better. Recognize and overcome factors that interfere with you getting enough rest. 

Set your bedtime and wake-up time to the same every day, even if it's a holiday. Do this gradually, namely by going to bed early and waking up in the morning, 5 to 15 minutes earlier, until you get used to the time you wake up.

2. Be consistent with the sleep routine you create 

Consistency is the main key if you want to improve poor sleep patterns. That means, you have to form a habit of the duration of falling asleep, as well as the time to start sleeping and wake up at the same time. 

The task should be completed for a period of seven days, encompassing both weekends. Sticking to a routine may pose challenges, yet it is imperative to exert self-discipline in implementing this routine in order for your body to become accustomed to it.

3. Avoid pressing the snooze button in the morning 

To improve your bad sleep patterns for the better, avoid pressing the snooze alarm button in the morning. The reason is, pressing the snooze button on your alarm can increase your sleep time in the morning. As a result, your waking up routine will change again. 

In other words, the wake cycle will change and over time there may be a shift in sleep time. If you are trying to improve your sleep time for the better, wake up according to the plan you made.

4. Pay attention to food and drink before bed

Apart from being consistent with your routine, those of you who want to change your sleep patterns for the better need to pay attention to the food and drinks you consume before bed. The reason is, certain types of food and drinks can prevent you from going to bed early or interfere with you sleeping soundly. 

The following is a list of foods and drinks that you should avoid before bed.

• Tea, coffee, fizzy drinks, or energy drinks contain caffeine and make you urinate continuously. 
• Alcohol can disrupt the body's process of sleeping more soundly. 
• Sour and spicy foods that give you an upset stomach.

It's best to choose to drink water at night. However, don't do this right before you get into bed. You can also choose fruit, a glass of warm milk, or yogurt.

5. Create a comfortable sleeping environment 

The next step to implementing a good sleep pattern is to create a comfortable sleeping space, how to:

• Reduce or eliminate noise both from inside and outside the home environment. Avoid repetitive sounds such as engine noise from fans. If you cannot minimize the source of noise, use aids such as earplugs to sleep. 
• Keep the room temperature cool, too hot or too cold will affect the quality of your sleep, try to keep the room temperature around 18° Celsius.
• Make sure you fall asleep in a comfortable position with supportive sleeping equipment, such as a clean pillow and blanket.

6. Adjust the room lighting 

The body's biological clock is easily affected by light stimuli. If you want to improve your bad sleep patterns for the better, try reducing your exposure to light at night from lamps or computer monitors. 

In the morning, make your room filled with light, both sunlight and lamp light. A bright room will make it easier for someone to wake up.

7. Follow the nap rules

Taking too long a nap can be the reason you have trouble sleeping at night. As a result, sleeping hours change and sleep patterns get worse if you continue to do this habit. 

Therefore, to restore better sleep patterns, follow the nap rules. Try to take a nap for only 2o minutes or no more than an hour, and do it in the afternoon, namely after 3 in the afternoon. Then, don't take a nap after you eat.

8. Do activities that relax you at night

If you find it hard to fall asleep at night, it is typically because of stress and an excessive number of thoughts resulting from brainstorming prior to going to bed. In such instances, it is advisable to leave the bed.

Do activities that relax you. Make it a priority for your mind and body to relax first before you try to fall asleep. You can relax your body and brain by practicing meditation or breathing exercises.

9. Set a proper schedule for physical activity 

You can get a good sleep pattern if you exercise regularly. This physical activity can help reduce stress by putting you in a better mood. 

If you have a habit of exercising, do this activity regularly and try it in the morning. If you don't do it in the morning, it's best to do it about 4-5 hours before bed, giving about an hour to relax from physical activity before bedtime.