IT'S 11pm and you're still still watching TV, scrolling on your phone, with an empty popcorn bag beside you.

Even if you take yourself off to bed now for an "early night", it's unlikely you'll go to sleep.

When it comes to a good night's sleep, it's not as simple as getting under the sheets before midnight.

It's the little habits in the evening, and sometimes earlier in the day, that dictate the quality and quantity of your shut-eye.

Nailing a bedtime routine takes effort and time – and let's face it, a lot of us don't have the commitment for it.

But once you start getting consistent sleep, and the effects of sleep deprivation wear off, you'll never look back.

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We rounded up tips from a number of experts on how to plan your evening around a good night's sleep.

1. Do some exercise 

Exercise may be beneficial for sleep, as long as you do it a few hours before bed time.

A 2018 review of 23 studies showed adults who did evening exercise got to sleep faster and spent more time in deep sleep compared to those who did not.

But the findings, published in Sports Medicine, warned those who did high-intensity exercise less than one hour before bedtime took longer to fall asleep and had poorer sleep quality.

It’s thought exercise can induce sleep because it produces helpful hormones, like serotonin.

James Nguyen, of Zoma Sleep, said: “Exercising a few hours before bed can help improve sleep quality, while also giving the body time to re-adjust before bed.”

2. Eat dinner earlier

When life is so busy, it’s no wonder dinner can end up being as late as 9pm. 

But if you plan to go to bed at a normal time, you should try avoiding a heavy meal so late.

Lying in bed on a full stomach can be uncomfortable. And aside from that, it’s difficult for the body to relax and try and sleep when it is busy digesting food, experts say.

Snacking really close to bed could also make your blood sugar levels spike, boosting energy at the exact time you want to get sleepy. 

Eating around three hours before bed “allows the stomach to properly digest food and focus on preparing for sleep,” Nguyen said. 

3. Watch what you eat

It’s not just when you eat, but what you eat.

Sleep expert Rosie Osmun from Eachnight.com said: “Studies have found that eating carbs approximately four hours before bedtime can shorten how long it takes to fall asleep, so try to incorporate carbs into your dinner.

“Overly salty, fatty or spicy meals can cause acid reflux and heartburn, so avoid eating these late at night. 

“Instead, try to opt for foods like sleep-promoting fruits and vegetables, such as cherries or bananas, to avoid nights of tossing and turning.” 

Marie-Pierre St-Onge, an associate professor of nutritional medicine at Columbia University in New York, agrees that cherries and bananas, as well as pineapple, apple, nuts and animal products may help induce sleep.

In an article for Knowable Magazine in December, she wrote: “Our studies over the past seven years have shown that eating more fiber and less saturated fat and sugar during the day results in deeper, less disturbed sleep at night. 

“It may be particularly helpful to eat a Mediterranean-type diet rich in fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains and olive oil.”

4. Set a time for turning screens off

Using screens is almost unavoidable. But if you’re serious about getting a good night's sleep, you might want to cut back.

A number of studies have shown that late-night screen use can trick the brain into thinking it’s still daytime, preventing nodding off. 

Blue light stimulates the brain and reduces melatonin production, making people feel more alert before bed, and preventing sleep.

Social media apps can also prevent the brain from switching off.

A survey by Sleep Junkie found that TikTok was the worst app to use pre-bedtime, as it cut the vital amount of time spent in REM sleep by half.

After using TikTok in bed, users took an hour and seven minutes to get to sleep compared to 25 minutes for those who used no electronic devices.

If you find yourself desperate to mindlessly scroll before bedtime, you may have what’s been dubbed “revenge sleep procrastination”.

This is when you put off going to sleep in order to do other things you haven’t had the time to do during the day, such as catching up with friends, scrolling through social media or online shopping. 

James Wilson, sleep practitioner and co-founder of Beingwell, said to avoid mindlessly scrolling or TV-viewing into the night, try and set aside time for it in the evening.

He said: “Give yourself more space to wind down. It’s about building that time to ‘think’ earlier in the evening.” 

5. Hack your sleep cycles

The benefits of a good night’s sleep are felt in the morning.

In order to wake up feeling as refreshed as possible, work out how many sleep cycles you need. 

Each sleep cycle is 90 minutes long and is made up of various stages of sleep – dozing off, light sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep (dreaming).

If your alarm goes off halfway through deep sleep or REM sleep, you’ll likely feel groggy. 

But if you wake at the end of your 90 minute cycle, you’ll feel more refreshed.

“Therefore, it’s a good idea to calculate the sleep cycle and work backwards to figure out the best time to go to sleep and wake up,” Nguyen said.

If you need to wake up at 7am, you need to count backwards in 90 minute cycles then add on 14 minutes – the average time it takes to get to sleep. You’ll be looking at hitting the sack at either 9.45pm or 11.15pm.

6. Drop heart rate and core temperature

Wilson says the most important thing before bedtime is to make sure you are dropping your heart rate and core temperature.

For the latter, Wilson recommends resting your bare feet on a hot water bottle of lukewarm water while watching TV in the evening.

He told the Sun: “A bath or shower does the same thing [as warming the feet with a hot water bottle], but if you haven’t got time for that, it's quite handy.”

“What that does is that it will raise your core temperature slightly. And then as you sweat a little bit, it will then drop your core temperature.

“Dropping core temperature is part of that process before we fall asleep. So it's kind of like saying to your body that you're ready for sleep now, and that helps the relaxation process.”

To drop heart rate, you could try anything from reading a book, doing a skincare routine or listening to a podcast. 

Avoid anything that will cause it to rise, such as housework, watching a scary horror film, or arguing with someone over text.

7. Breathing exercises and relaxation

Once you’ve taken all the necessary steps to get yourself into bed at a decent time, you can try some exercises to relax the mind and body.

“Progression muscle relaxation (PMR) can help relax your body before bed,” said Osmun from Eachnight.com.

“Aiming to ease any tension, the focus of this technique is to tense your muscles briefly before relaxing them.”

Follow this PMR routine to promote sleep:

• Close your eyes and breathe slowly. 
• Tense your entire face (eyes, mouth, nose, jaw and lips) for approximately 10 seconds, then breathe deeply and relax your muscles. 
• Repeat this procedure of tensing and relaxing muscles down your body, from your shoulders and neck, all the way down to your calves and feet. 
• As your tensed muscles become relaxed, you will feel them become relaxed, as they should be in order to fall asleep.

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