Is Poor Sleep Hygiene Keeping You Awake? These Products Will Help

As fully grown adults, we all know that sleep is something we need to function, but all the factors you need to get enough top-quality rest can be complex. Here, we’ve rounded up a range of products to improve your sleep hygiene including bed sheets and pillows that will help you make the most of your rest.

The science behind sleep is pretty complex, and the reasons you’re not getting enough of it – or feeling like you’re not – can be equally complicated. When it comes to improving your sleep hygiene, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, and no guarantee, either. But the following products may be worth investing in so that when you do hit the sack, you’re sacked out in the most efficient way.

Invest in the right bed sheets

Presuming you’re happy with your actual bed (a topic unto itself, really), the simplest thing you can do to improve your sleep hygiene is to upgrade the quality of your bed sheets.

Most experts agree that high thread count cotton is your best friend here, but it’s worth investigating other materials, as flannel sheets can be a better match if you live in one of Australia’s cooler areas, and then there’s the whole business of renewable material sheets such as bamboo or eucalyptus. For those special luxury occasions, it’s also nice to have a really good set of silk sheets ready to go too. You can check out Amazon’s range of bed sheets on sale here.

Best bed sheets: 

• 1000 Thread Count Ultra-Soft Sheet Set ($36.99)
• 100% Cotton Sheet Set ($89.99)
• Hypoallergenic Bedding Set ($32.72)
• Koala Sheets ($185)

Hit the best possible pillow

With sheets sorted, it’s time to decide on the best pillow to match your sleep needs.

Our guide to the best pillow choice can help here, but broadly speaking, if you sleep mostly on your back, consider a memory foam pillow (like this one on Amazon). If you sleep on your front it’s trickier, but a body pillow may help give you the sleep assist you need.

Best pillows: 

• Tontine Allergy Sensitive Pillow ($13.49)
• U-Shape Full Body Pillow ($74.99)
• Memory Foam Pillow with Cooling Gel ($62.90)
• Emma Sleep Foam Pillow ($90)

Work on your sleep hygiene

If you’re still struggling to sleep, it’s time to consider other factors, and the products that can help you block out anything that’s stopping you sleeping or waking you up too early.

First, ensure you’re disabling those devices that you tend to stare at just before you go to bed… yes, we’re talking about that smartphone or tablet that you peruse just before you put the lights out. Do it now, and you should very quickly feel an improvement in your sleep patterns. If you’re still struggling with this step, here’s a variety of apps that can help you kick the bedtime smartphone habit. On the flip side, if you’re not sure about your sleep quantity or quality, there are a wide array of apps that can help you quantify that too.

A sleep mask (like these sold at Amazon) is a simple low-tech way to block out external light sources and deal with any issues of pesky dawn lights waking you up too early, as long as you’re comfortable with a little facial furniture overnight.

For some of us, it’s a question of noise interruptions, and no quantity of earplugs can help. That’s where having a white noise generator can come to the rescue, providing a consistent level of background noise to block those smaller-but-more-persistent noises that can interrupt your dreamtime. There’s a wide range of approaches to this, with some working to a more industrial level while others try to mimic natural sounds like rainfall or surf waves to soothe you to sleep.

Also consider a weighted blanket, because for many people the extra mass of a specifically designed blanket can do more to help you slumber than any number of extra quilts. While weighted blankets are often recommended to help kids and teenagers sleep, the same physiological benefits are there for adults too.