We spend a lot of time thinking about how to have a better morning. Morning sunlight, protein at breakfast, exercise, hydration, coffee at exactly the right time.
But a better day often starts much earlier.
How rested you feel when you wake up can be influenced by what happens in the hours before bed, from the light you’re exposed to and when you have your last coffee, to how you transition out of the busyness of the day.
The good news? A supportive nighttime routine doesn’t need to involve a twelve-step wellness ritual. Simple, repeatable habits can help create the right conditions for more restful sleep.
Here’s where to start.
Keep your sleep and wake times consistent
Your body loves rhythm.
Going to bed and waking up at roughly the same time each day helps reinforce your natural sleep-wake cycle. Australian sleep guidance recommends keeping regular sleep patterns as one of the foundations of good sleep hygiene.1,2
Rather than obsessing over the perfect bedtime, try starting with your wake-up time. Keeping this relatively consistent gives your body a reliable anchor each morning and can make it easier to settle into a regular sleep routine.
Weekends included, at least most of the time.
Get plenty of light during the day, then dim things down at night
Light is one of the main signals your body uses to distinguish daytime from nighttime.
Getting outside and exposing yourself to natural light during the day, particularly earlier in the day, can help support your body clock. Then, as evening approaches, reducing bright light and stimulation can help create a clearer distinction between your active hours and your wind-down time.2
You don’t necessarily need to create a completely screen-free evening. Instead, think about gradually reducing stimulation as bedtime gets closer.
Dim bright overhead lights. Step away from work emails. Reduce screen time where you can. Put your phone down a little earlier.
Your nighttime environment should look and feel different from the middle of your day.
Give caffeine a curfew
Your afternoon coffee may be hanging around longer than you realise.
Caffeine promotes alertness, and research shows that consuming it too close to bedtime can reduce total sleep time and sleep efficiency while making it harder to fall asleep.3
Exactly when you should stop drinking it varies from person to person. How much caffeine you regularly consume, the dose and individual genetic factors can all influence how sensitive you are to its effects.4
If you regularly struggle to wind down at night, try moving your last coffee earlier. The Sleep Health Foundation recommends avoiding caffeine for at least four hours before sleep, with some people benefiting from stopping after lunch.2,4
And remember, caffeine isn’t only in coffee. Tea, energy drinks, cola and chocolate can contribute too.
Be mindful of alcohol
A nightcap might make you feel sleepy, but feeling sleepy isn’t the same as getting a good night’s sleep.
While alcohol can initially make it easier to fall asleep, it can disrupt normal sleep stages later in the night, contributing to more fragmented sleep and poorer sleep quality.4
If you’re trying to improve how rested you feel in the morning, reducing alcohol in the hours before bed is one variable worth experimenting with.
Give dinner some breathing room
A huge meal immediately before lying down isn’t always the best recipe for a comfortable night.
Australian sleep guidance recommends leaving around two to three hours between your last main meal and bedtime, while also avoiding going to bed overly hungry.2,4
There doesn’t need to be a rigid rule. Think of it as giving your body some space to digest before sleep.
If you are genuinely hungry later in the evening, a light snack is perfectly reasonable.
Create a transition between your day and your night
For many of us, the problem isn’t that we’ve forgotten how to sleep. It’s that we expect our brain to go from 100 to zero in approximately three minutes.
One minute you’re replying to messages, checking tomorrow’s calendar and scrolling through Instagram. The next, you’re lying in a dark room wondering why you don’t feel sleepy.
A wind-down routine creates a buffer.
It could be as simple as:
- Taking a warm shower
- Reading a few pages of a book
- Stretching or doing gentle mobility
- Listening to music
- Writing tomorrow’s priorities down so you can stop thinking about them
- Practising slow breathing
- Making a caffeine-free tea
- Lowering the lights and putting your phone away
There isn’t one magical activity that works for everyone. Relaxation techniques can form part of healthy sleep habits, but the important thing is finding something that genuinely helps you shift gears and that you’ll actually repeat.5
Ten consistent minutes beats an elaborate routine you abandon after three days.
Make your bedroom somewhere you actually want to sleep
Cool. Dark. Quiet.
It sounds basic because it is, but your sleep environment matters.
Healthdirect recommends making your bedroom comfortable, dark and quiet, while keeping screens and work out of the sleep space where possible.1
Blackout curtains, an eye mask, earplugs or adjusting the temperature may help depending on what tends to disturb you.
And if you work from home, try not to turn your bed into your desk.
You want getting into bed to become a cue for sleep, rather than another place to answer emails.
Remember that good sleep starts during the day
Some of the most useful things you can do for tonight’s sleep happen long before your nighttime routine begins.
Getting outside, being physically active and exposing yourself to natural daylight can all support healthy sleep habits and your body’s sleep-wake rhythm.2
That’s why it can be more helpful to think about sleep as part of your entire 24-hour rhythm rather than something you suddenly need to “get right” at 10 pm.
A simple nighttime routine to try
You don’t need to overhaul your life tonight. Start small.
During the day: Get outside, move your body and keep caffeine earlier where possible.
A few hours before bed: Finish your main meal and be mindful of alcohol.
An hour before bed: Lower the lights and start stepping away from stimulating work and screens.
30 minutes before bed: Choose one or two things that help you slow down. Shower, stretch, read or make something warm to drink.
At bedtime: Keep your bedroom cool, dark and quiet, and aim for roughly the same sleep and wake times each day.
Then do it again tomorrow.
The value of a nighttime routine isn’t that any single habit guarantees perfect sleep. It’s that consistent habits can help create a clear transition from your busy day into rest.
Make winding down something you look forward to
A good night-time routine doesn’t need to be complicated. Sometimes, having a few small rituals you genuinely enjoy can make it easier to slow down and stick to a consistent routine.
That might be reading, stretching, taking a warm shower or making an evening drink.
Chief Sleep can become part of that wind-down routine. It helps reduce time to fall asleep and supports deep sleep & relaxation.
Because sometimes the best thing you can do for tomorrow happens the night before.
ALWAYS READ THE LABEL AND FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS FOR USE. If symptoms persist, talk to your health professional.
References
- Healthdirect Australia. Sleep: stages, tips, disorders and sleep apnoea. Australian Government-supported health information covering regular sleep patterns, bedroom environment, screens, caffeine, alcohol and relaxation before bed.
- Sleep Health Foundation. Sleep Hygiene: Good Sleep Habits. 2024. Guidance on consistent sleep schedules, daytime sunlight, wind-down routines, bedroom environment and evening habits.
- Gardiner C, Weakley J, Burke LM, Roach GD, Sargent C, Maniar N, Townshend A, Halson SL. The effect of caffeine on subsequent sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2023;69:101764. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2023.101764.
- Sleep Health Foundation. Caffeine, Food, Alcohol, Smoking and Sleep. 2025. Guidance on caffeine timing, meals before bed and the effects of alcohol on sleep quality.
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health. Sleep Disorders and Complementary Health Approaches: Usefulness and Safety. Evidence review covering relaxation techniques and behavioural approaches to sleep.
If you consistently have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, regularly wake feeling unrefreshed, or experience excessive daytime sleepiness, speak with your GP or another qualified health professional.
