The hour or two before bed is a runway, not a cliff. Warm your body so it can cool, move earlier in the day, and wind down deliberately — and avoid the handful of things that sabotage the landing.
A hot bath or shower 1–2 hours before bed is one of the best-evidenced routines: warming your skin drives blood to the surface so your core temperature drops faster afterward, and a meta-analysis found it cuts the time to fall asleep by about a third. A sauna does the same. Counter-intuitive but real — get warm to get sleepy. Evidence ●●●●○
Regular exercise is one of the strongest sleep improvers, and the old 'never exercise at night' rule is largely debunked: evening exercise is fine for most people, with one exception — vigorous exercise ending within about an hour of bed can delay sleep. Morning or afternoon training has the bonus of reinforcing your circadian rhythm through activity and light. Evidence ●●●●○
Give yourself 30–60 minutes of low-stimulation wind-down: dim light, no work, no doomscrolling. What sabotages the landing: screens in bed, late heavy meals, a nightcap, late vigorous exercise, intense work or arguments, and clock-watching. Keep the bed for sleep (and sex) only, so your brain keeps linking the two. Evidence ●●●○○
A wind-down that actually works
A warm shower, dim lights, and 30 minutes away from screens is a pre-bed routine that genuinely helps — and it's free. The point isn't ritual for its own sake; it's giving your body the temperature and light cues that trigger sleep.
The Sleep Guide