Tips for Increasing Sleep Quality
Are you still doom scrolling at midnight and finding yourself in an exhausting cycle of broken sleep? The problem usually isn't discipline, it's usually more so that a few environmental cues are working against your biology without you realizing it.
Here are a few tips that can help increase your sleep quality:
Fix Your Evening Light
Reduce blue light. Blue light from phones, laptops, and most LED bulbs suppresses melatonin in a dose-dependent way: the more blue-enriched the light, the more your sleep hormone gets shut down (West et al., 2011). Research shows that homes with brighter evening lighting show more time awake after bedtime (Cain et al., 2020). Warmer, lower-intensity evening light shortens time to fall asleep compared to bright, blue-enriched light (Schöllhorn et al., 2023).
What to do: Swap evening bulbs for warm tones, or use circadian rhythm lighting that shifts color temperature automatically as the evening goes on, so you don't have to think about it. If screens within two hours of bed are unavoidable, and for most people, they are, BlockBlueLight glasses reduce the wavelengths most responsible for melatonin suppression, letting you keep your evening routine without paying for it at bedtime.
Support Your Magnesium Levels
Magnesium plays a role in regulating the neurotransmitters involved in relaxation and sleep onset, and low levels have been linked to poorer sleep quality. A randomized, placebo-controlled trial found daily magnesium bisglycinate significantly reduced insomnia symptom scores over four weeks, with the biggest benefit seen in participants who had low baseline dietary intake (Schuster et al., 2025).
What to do: Consider a practitioner-grade oral supplement like OptiMag Neuro from Xymogen. An Epsom salt bath is a good wind-down ritual too.
Sleep Hygiene Basics
Keep a consistent wake time, even on weekends. Your internal clock responds to consistency more than total hours slept, so an erratic schedule can undo a lot of your other efforts.
Get morning daylight. Natural light exposure early in the day anchors your circadian rhythm and makes your evening wind-down more effective.
Bed is for sleep and intimacy. Working, scrolling, or watching TV in bed weakens the mental association your brain relies on for sleep initiation, so it starts taking longer to fall asleep even when you're tired.
Reduce or eliminate caffeine and alcohol, especially later in the day. Caffeine can affect sleep quality for six or more hours after you drink it, and alcohol fragments sleep later in the night even though it can make falling asleep feel easier.
Can't fall asleep? Get up. Lying there frustrated trains your brain to associate bed with wakefulness rather than rest. Get up, do something calm and low-stimulation, and return to bed once you feel sleepy.
Want support building a sleep routine that fits your life? Reach out, our team is happy to help.
References
Cain, S. W., McGlashan, E. M., Vidafar, P., Mustafovska, J., Curran, S. P. N., Wang, X., Mohamed, A., Kalavally, V., & Phillips, A. J. K. (2020). Evening home lighting adversely impacts the circadian system and sleep. Scientific Reports, 10, 19110. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75622-4
Schöllhorn, I., Stefani, O., Lucas, R. J., Spitschan, M., Slawik, H. C., & Cajochen, C. (2023). Melanopic irradiance defines the impact of evening display light on sleep latency, melatonin and alertness. Communications Biology, 6, 228. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04598-4
Schuster, J., Cycelskij, I., Lopresti, A., & Hahn, A. (2025). Magnesium bisglycinate supplementation in healthy adults reporting poor sleep: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Nature and Science of Sleep, 17, 2027–2040. https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S524348
West, K. E., Jablonski, M. R., Warfield, B., Cecil, K. S., James, M., Ayers, M. A., Maida, J., Bowen, C., Sliney, D. H., Rollag, M. D., Hanifin, J. P., & Brainard, G. C. (2011). Blue light from light-emitting diodes elicits a dose-dependent suppression of melatonin in humans. Journal of Applied Physiology, 110(3), 619–626. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.01413.2009
