Building a sleep routine that sticks

Most adults need seven or more hours of sleep a night. Getting there is often less about bedtime and more about keeping your body clock steady.

Anchor your wake time

Pick a wake time you can keep seven days a week, including weekends, within about an hour. Your body clock sets itself mostly from when you wake and when you see light, so a fixed morning does more than a fixed bedtime.

The evening wind-down

• Light: dim lights an hour before bed. Get daylight within an hour of waking.
• Caffeine: stop by early afternoon; its effects last many hours.
• Alcohol: it can make you drowsy but tends to fragment sleep later in the night.
• Temperature: a cool, dark, quiet room helps most people.

If you can’t fall asleep

If you’ve been lying awake for what feels like 20 minutes, get up, do something calm in low light and return when sleepy. This keeps your bed linked with sleep rather than frustration.

Takeaway: Same wake time, morning light, dim evenings. Give it two weeks before judging.

General information only. Ongoing insomnia, loud snoring or daytime sleepiness are worth raising with a doctor.