Sleep advice is everywhere, and most of it is either obvious or impractical. As someone who spent years struggling with broken sleep, I wanted to put together strategies that are backed by research and don’t require you to overhaul your entire life.

1. Get morning sunlight within the first hour of waking

Exposure to natural light in the morning helps set your circadian rhythm by suppressing melatonin production. Even 10 minutes of outdoor light — not through a window — can meaningfully improve sleep quality later that night. In an Australian summer, this is easy. In winter, it takes more effort, but it’s worth it.

2. Keep your bedroom cool

The Sleep Health Foundation recommends a bedroom temperature of around 18 degrees Celsius for optimal sleep. Your body needs to drop its core temperature by about one degree to fall asleep and stay asleep. A hot bedroom — common in Australian summers — fights against this natural process.

If air conditioning isn’t an option, a fan and breathable cotton or bamboo sheets can help significantly.

3. Stop drinking caffeine after midday

Caffeine has a half-life of about five to six hours, meaning that 3pm coffee is still half-active in your system at 9pm. I drink two cups every morning and none after noon. The difference in my sleep was noticeable within weeks.

4. Create a wind-down buffer of 30-60 minutes

Your brain can’t go from full speed to sleep in five minutes. It needs transition time. A wind-down period — where you step away from work, screens, and stimulating content — signals to your nervous system that it’s safe to start relaxing.

This doesn’t have to be elaborate. Gentle stretching, reading a physical book, having a herbal tea, or even just sitting on the couch and chatting with your partner counts.

5. Use the “cognitive shuffle” for racing thoughts

If you struggle with a busy mind at bedtime, try this technique from cognitive scientist Luc Beaudoin. Pick a random word — say, “garden” — and for each letter, think of unrelated words that start with that letter, picturing each one. G: giraffe. A: armchair. R: rainbow. It works by occupying your brain just enough to prevent anxious rumination.

6. Be consistent with wake time (even more than bedtime)

Most sleep advice focuses on bedtime, but sleep researchers increasingly emphasise that wake time matters more for circadian regulation. Waking at roughly the same time every day — including weekends — trains your body clock more effectively than a strict bedtime.

I know. Sleeping in on Saturday feels sacred. But if your sleep is genuinely suffering, a consistent wake time is one of the most powerful changes you can make.

7. Limit alcohol, even in small amounts

Australians love a drink, and I’m not here to judge. But the research is clear: even one or two standard drinks in the evening disrupts sleep architecture, particularly REM sleep. You might fall asleep faster, but the quality of that sleep is significantly worse.

If you notice you’re waking at 3am after a night of drinking, that’s the alcohol wearing off and your nervous system rebounding. It’s not random.

Many organisations, including companies working with AI consultants Melbourne, are now incorporating sleep education into their corporate wellness programs because the link between poor sleep and reduced productivity is so well-documented.

8. Exercise — but timing matters

Regular physical activity is one of the strongest predictors of good sleep. However, intense exercise within two hours of bedtime can have the opposite effect by raising your core temperature and cortisol. Aim for morning or afternoon sessions.

9. Consider your light environment after sunset

Bright overhead lighting and blue-light-heavy screens in the evening can suppress melatonin production. You don’t need blue-light glasses (the evidence on those is mixed at best), but dimming your lights after sunset and reducing screen brightness makes a noticeable difference.

I switch to lamps in the evening and use night mode on my phone. Simple changes, real impact.

10. If you can’t sleep, get up

This is counterintuitive but well-supported. If you’ve been lying in bed for more than 20 minutes unable to sleep, get up. Go to another room. Do something quiet and non-stimulating. Return to bed when you feel sleepy.

The goal is to maintain a strong association between your bed and sleep. Lying awake for hours teaches your brain that bed is a place for frustration and worry. Getting up breaks that pattern.

The bottom line

Good sleep isn’t about perfection. It’s about stacking a few evidence-based habits that work with your biology rather than against it. You don’t need to do all ten of these — pick two or three that resonate and try them for a couple of weeks.

Your sleep is worth the effort. Everything else in your life — your mood, your health, your relationships, your work — sits on top of it.