Importance of Sleep Consistency for Good Health: 3 Fundamentals

Considerations for your bedroom environment, daily wake-up time & time spent in bed

Morning Sun by Edward Hopper. 1952. Oil on canvas. Columbus Museum of Art. Ohio, USA.

Sleep has rightfully earned its status as a cornerstone “lifestyle” behavior essential for physical and mental health.

The National Sleep Foundation (NSF), a US non-profit, has released new guidelines (2023) stressing the importance of maintaining consistent sleep and wake times, in addition to sleep duration of 7-9 hours, for both mental and physical health and cognitive performance among adults.

Sleep consistency helps regulate your body's internal clock, or circadian rhythm, which plays a crucial role in determining when you feel awake and when you feel sleepy during the 24-hour day.

Each person’s unique circadian clock is based on their own genetics and behaviors.

NSF’s findings are based on their review of 63 studies in their report, “The importance of sleep regularity: a consensus statement of the National Sleep Foundation sleep timing and variability panel.”

The authors write:

The overwhelming body of evidence led the panel to conclude that sleep regularity is important for health and performance. Regular schedules were associated with improved outcomes across multiple dimensions of health and performance, including alertness, health and safety behaviors, cardiovascular health, metabolic health (including fasting glucose, hemoglobin A1C, and metabolic syndrome), inflammation, mental health (including depression, mood, and suicidal ideation), academic performance, cognitive performance, sleep duration, and sleep quality. The odds of all these adverse outcomes were found to be increased on irregular schedules compared to regular schedules, consistent with data indicating that increased SJL [social jet lag] (ie, 1 source of sleep timing variability) is associated with worse health outcomes.

“Social jet lag” is sleeping at inconsistent hours on weekends due to social activities.

For good sleep and maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, here are three fundamental strategies.

1) Create healthy bedroom conditions

Temperature control

Maintaining a cool, comfortable temperature in the bedroom is generally conducive to sleep. The ideal temperature is typically around 65°F (<68°F) or 18.3°C for most adults.

Limit light and noise

Minimizing exposure to light and noise can help you fall asleep easily and improve sleep quality. Using blackout curtains or sleep masks to block out light, and using white noise machines or earplugs to mask disruptive sounds, can be beneficial.

Declutter

Decluttering your bedroom can reduce stress and anxiety by creating a peaceful environment, aiding relaxation before bedtime. This benefits those with racing thoughts or difficulty unwinding.

Additionally, decluttering improves air quality by reducing dust and allergens, promoting better sleep, and minimizing disruptions, especially for those with allergies or respiratory problems.

2) Wake up at the same time every day (yes, on weekends too)

Consistency is key when it comes to regulating your circadian rhythm. Waking up at the same time every day, even on weekends, helps synchronize this rhythm and reinforce a regular sleep-wake cycle.

When you consistently wake up at the same time each day, your body becomes accustomed to this schedule and naturally begins to feel sleepy around the same time each night. This regularity promotes better sleep quality and can make it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night.

It's also important to expose yourself to natural light soon after waking up, as this helps signal to your body that it's time to be awake and alert.

If you’re experiencing insufficient sleep on workdays, adding 1-2 extra hours of sleep per day (“catch-up sleep”) during non-work days have been shown to be helpful to reduce sleep debt for most people.

Sleep debt is the cumulative deficit that occurs when getting less sleep than what your body needs over time.

3) Reduce your awake time in bed

Get into bed when you feel sleepy, rather than simply feeling tired or when you believe you “should” be going to bed at what appears to be a “reasonable” time.

Sleepy is when you’re yawning, your eyes are getting heavier and closing, and you have the sense that if you were to put your head down you would drift off to sleep pretty easily. This is different than feeling tired.

For example, if you normally get into bed at 10:00 pm but tend to fall asleep around 11:00 pm, then start getting into bed at 11:00pm.

This principle is based on the idea that spending too much time awake in bed can lead to a conditioned association between the bed and wakefulness, rather than sleep.

If you find yourself unable to fall asleep within about 20-30 minutes at the beginning of the night or when you wake up in the middle of the night, get out of bed and engage in a relaxing, non-stimulating activity until you feel sleepy again. This helps reinforce the association between bed and sleep, making it easier to fall asleep when you return.

A non-stimulating activity might entail lying down on your sofa and watching a familiar video or show or reading something that lacks novelty or excitement. Try an activity that is calming and not mentally or physically activating.

This approach helps to limit prolonged awakenings during the night by limiting the time spent remaining passively awake in bed.

Long passive awakeness in bed indicates to the brain that you are meant to stay up during that time so it learns to keep at it. So by getting out of bed during long awakenings, we are attempting to break the association between wakefulness and being in bed.

Despite making some of these changes, if you’re struggling with ongoing sleep issues consider consulting a sleep specialist for further evaluation and guidance.