How to sleep well? To sleep better, you need to know a few tricks to get rid of certain bad habits, improve your sleeping environment and tame the "ruminations" caused by stress or anxiety factors. Here are our 10 tips to sleep well and improve the quality of your sleep! 

1. Establish a regular schedule

A night is normally composed of 3 to 6 sleep cycles of 60 to 120 minutes each. When we ignore the first signs of fatigue (yawning, drowsiness, feeling cold...), we will have to wait for the next cycle to find the desire to sleep, thus shortening our night. Sleep also needs regularity: by alternating late nights during the week and late mornings on the weekend, we disrupt our circadian rhythm, which regulates sleep. As far as possible, try to respect your natural rhythm (late night and late morning or vice versa).

2. Turn off your cell phone

41% of French people consult their cell phone in the middle of the night and 7% answer their messages, reports a 2016 Deloitte study. A very bad habit. On the one hand, the blue light emitted by the screens reduces the production of melatonin necessary for sleep. On the other hand, the incessant alerts (or the fear of having alerts) will clearly prevent you from sleeping peacefully. When you consult your phone in the evening, choose the dark mode which emits less blue light.

3. Engage in daily physical activity

Accumulating a certain amount of physical fatigue allows you to fall asleep more easily and enjoy a deeper and more restful sleep. It also affects your mood and allows you to "clear your head". However, there's no need to push yourself: the intensity of the sport has no effect on sleep, according to a 2015 meta-analysis. Go for a walk or a jog outside. Contrary to popular belief, physical activity in the evening does not prevent sleep. However, avoid sports less than an hour before bedtime, as it increases body temperature and generates excitement.

5. Sleep in total darkness

Just the glow of a candle can interfere with sleep for sensitive people, according to a 2019 study. The effect of light on sleep is so powerful that it even manages to disturb us with our eyes closed. The light from screens is the most damaging: blue light has as much effect as white fluorescent light 100 times more intense. But smartphones are not the only ones at fault. 24% of French people are exposed to street lighting in their bedrooms, according to the National Institute of Sleep and Vigilance (INSV). Make sure you turn off all light sources in your room, close the shutters as soon as it gets dark and installs blackout curtains if necessary.

6. Keep in touch with natural light

If too much artificial light is harmful in the evening, insufficient lighting during the day also makes it difficult to sleep. However, confined to an apartment or office, we tend to have little exposure to sunlight. When you are indoors, open your windows as often as possible and choose a work area that is exposed to the sun. In the winter, force yourself to go outside in the middle of the day when the sunlight is at its brightest.

4. Limit naps

Unless you've had very little sleep in the past few nights, avoid dozing off during the day or afternoon, as this can deplete your sleep quota for the night. To respect the natural dozing period after eating, plan a quiet activity after dinner, such as a crossword puzzle or reading. If you tend to have short nights, a short nap (20 to 30 minutes) can significantly improve cognitive performance in the afternoon, according to various studies.

7. Putting together a good dinner

Eating a meal that is too heavy, spicy or too rich in proteins in the evening can alter sleep, since digestion is an energetic process. On the other hand, eating too light a meal can lead to hypoglycemia and wake you up in the middle of the night. Choose slow carbohydrates, such as pasta, rice, or legumes, which will keep you going all night, as well as dairy products and vegetables, which help produce serotonin, which has a calming effect. Preferably eat dinner at least two hours before bedtime: digestion prevents the body from resting properly.

8. Do not overheat the room

According to the INSV, the ideal temperature for sleeping well is between 16°C and 18°C. The body needs to lower its internal temperature by 0.5°C to 1°C to sleep well. However, in summer, 43% of French people say that the temperature of their bedroom is above 21°C. And in winter, we tend to overheat our apartments. Think of turning down the radiator 30 to 40 minutes before going to sleep and turning off electronic devices (tablets, television, computers...) that produce heat. During heat waves, create air currents and air the room when it is less hot.

9. Avoiding sleeping pills


43% of French people have already consulted a health professional to remedy a problem of insomnia. Often with a prescription in hand. If medication can help you get through a difficult period or recover from jet lag, it should never become a long-term solution. Sleeping pills and anxiolytics such as benzodiazepines lead to addiction in less than 4 weeks, side effects, as well as a decrease in vigilance during the day. This creates a real dependency that is difficult to break.

10. Relax before going to sleep


The stress accumulated during the day, the next day's program to prepare, the ideas that run in a loop in your head... So many concerns that increase the time it takes to fall asleep. Take some time each night to disconnect and read a few chapters of a book or flip through a magazine. Avoid watching movies or series, especially if they are emotional or violent content that will generate anxiety or excitement. Also beware of sleep aids that require you to keep your cell phone on all night.