What you should – and shouldn’t – do two hours before you want to sleep

From doom-scrolling to drinking an extra glass of wine, here’s what will actually wreck our sleep (and some might surprise you…)

Sleep is as essential to humans as breathing and eating and, ideally, a third of our lives is spent doing it. But for terrible sleepers like me – I was four before I slept through (and with five siblings my parents weren’t novices) – getting the ideal quota can be a challenge. As an adult, I’ve taken to putting my entire head under the pillow, which beats eye masks and earplugs though looks bizarre. 
I’ve tried every (useless) over-the-counter remedy and have begged GPs for sleeping pills. Even – look away now pharmacists – desperately necking Night Nurse. Yes I’m aware of “sleep hygiene”, thanks. I’m just ridiculously bad at practising it.
Coffee, night wees and “doom scrolling” are well-documented sleep saboteurs, but who honestly cuts them out? I grilled the experts on what we can actually get away with, and when, to avoid wrecking our beauty sleep. Here are the rules…
Stop it: Eight to nine hours before bed
Only idiots drink lattes in bed, surely? Though I’ve foolishly downed espresso martinis at 2am, then wondered why I’m wired at dawn. 
Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system, great for warding off fatigue, not ideal for sleep. Coffee, tea and mugs of cocoa should be drunk before 2pm. 
“Caffeine has an approximate six hour half-life, meaning it takes that long to metabolise half the caffeine, leaving half still in your system to keep you awake,” explains Dr Lindsay Browning, the author of Navigating Sleeplessness.
“People metabolise caffeine differently, with some more susceptible to its effect, but it can reduce deep sleep according to a recent meta-analysis. If your bedtime is 10-11pm, stop at 2pm.”
Maz Packham, a nutritional therapist of W-Wellness, recommends herbal teas containing valerian or passionflower. “Research suggests these sedative herbs may increase levels of GABA [gamma-aminobutyric acid] in the brain, a neurotransmitter promoting relaxation.”
Stop it: Three hours before bed
Tucking into a large meal can cause sleep-disrupting indigestion, and research suggests avoiding evening meals within three hours of bedtime. Packham explains: “Processing food is a metabolic activity – digestion requires energy, encouraging blood flow to the digestive organs – and thus increases chances of keeping you awake. Also, acid reflux can strike when you lay down, again impacting your ability to fall asleep.”
Red meat takes longer to digest, she says, as do raw foods and vegetables (despite being healthy), so lighter meals with lean protein,  like chicken or fish are better.
“Foods rich in the amino acid tryptophan (such as turkey, chicken, pumpkin seeds and walnuts) and vitamin B6 (chickpeas, bananas, salmon) are great to support sleep. Tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin which then gets converted into melatonin, and the body needs B6 to do this. Magnesium is also an important mineral involved in relaxation and supports sleep, so look to include leafy greens, nuts, seeds and legumes in the diet.” Avoid cracking into the Tony’s as chocolate (especially darker varieties) contains caffeine.
Stop it: Three hours if several units; 10 minutes for nightcaps
I justify the odd soporific glass of red in bed as a well-deserved privilege of adulthood. Yet I’ve noticed it hammers my REM sleep score on my Garmin. 
Prof Russell Foster, an Oxford University academic, the director of the Sir Jules Thorn Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute and the author of Life Time, explains: “Alcohol has a rapid sedating effect, and so can help you fall asleep. A small occasional glass of alcohol 10 minutes before bed – such as a small whisky and hot water – helps some people get to sleep.” 
There is, of course, a ‘but’. 
“Alcohol should never be used as a regular sedative. In large quantities it can rapidly sedate you and then prevent you from staying asleep,” warns Prof Foster.
“If you are having quite a bit of wine and then a whisky, it’s wise to stop a few hours (perhaps three) before sleep so the alcohol is metabolised and won’t disrupt it.” He adds that booze can also disrupt some of the brain’s important activities while we sleep, such as memory formation. “The bottom line is that while the occasional small drink before bed can be relaxing, it should never be used routinely as a sleep aid.”
What’s more, booze is a diuretic, making us more likely to wake in the night needing the toilet (which 76 per cent of women and 69 per cent of men in the UK do). If you’re one of them, and it bothers you, it’s best to limit even water-drinking to just sips in the two hour run-up to bedtime.
Stop it: 90 minutes before sleep
Exercise improves sleep, right? On the rare occasions I’ve run 5k post-work, I’ve been left successfully exhausted. Some studies suggest it improves deep sleep, says Browning, but don’t exert yourself too late in the day. Especially if you’re a “lark” (with a morning chronotype). These people should ideally avoid evening exercise so as not to interfere with dropping off. For “owls” (evening types) it’s less of an issue.
To be on the safe side, employ a 90-minute pre-bed cut-off time for moderate to high-intensity workouts. 
“This ensures that core body temperature, which is elevated during exercise, can return to normal before sleep,” says Browning, who is also a sleep expert at Trouble Sleeping. “Our core body temperature needs to drop by around 1C as we drift off.” However, gentle exercise (say, stretching and light yoga) can be done a bit closer to bedtime.  
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Stop it: One hour before bed
I love a hot bath, which is great news as a 2019 meta-analysis of several studies concluded that taking a warm one one to two hours before bedtime can improve sleep. “Especially helping you fall asleep faster, most likely by enhancing the drop in core body temperature needed for sleep onset,” explains Browning. 
Interestingly, while showers are a classic “morning” ritual, studies show they boast the same benefits as a soak in the tub. 
Stop it: One hour before sleep
Unless whispering the sweetest of nothings in pillow talk, bedtime conversations – especially emotional or challenging ones – are a bad idea, says Browning. “We need to be calm and ready for sleep, not physiologically aroused.” While there are no studies proving talking is detrimental, it’s common sense that stressful subjects keep minds busy. Aim for “stimulus control,” which means keeping your bedroom as a peaceful sanctuary only for sleep – and sex.
Stop it: 30 minutes to one hour before bed
Scrolling Instagram, X, Hinge or – most embarrassingly of all – LinkedIn, while propped up on pillows doesn’t bode well for relaxation. Ditto checking emails.
However, Browning cites an upcoming article in Sleep Medicine Reviews which modified previous literature about how screens and blue light affects sleep. Surprisingly, it concludes that tech use before bed is not as terrible as once believed.
He says: “The bright lights from screens may not be the main cause of sleep disturbance, since the studies showed a maximum delay in falling asleep after watching bright screens is 9.9 minutes.” 
So, while the blue light itself may only cost us 10 minutes kip, seeing your ex’s post about their younger, hotter lover, or a nemesis’s work promotion, will surely lead to further minutes tossing, turning and teeth-gnashing. 
Stop it: 30 minutes before sleep
Regardless of whether you deem televisions in the bedroom as naff, Browning doesn’t approve. “Because, as mentioned, it’s better for our brains to associate bed with just sleep and sex – not other activities.”
However, she cites recent studies that indicate watching television before bed, say, in the living room, may not be as detrimental as previously assumed, and may even help us switch off. 
“Just make sure not to stay up late binge-watching Netflix – stick to your planned bedtime, and avoid the news (which can induce anxiety) or scary films.
“If you are watching on a tablet or a device, use the night mode to reduce the brightness and blue light frequency of the emitted light which can affect production of melatonin (the ‘sleep hormone’).”
Stop it: Right until sleep (but for audio books leave 20 minutes if you tend to snooze while listening)
Bedtime stories aren’t just for kids. “Reading is an excellent way to wind down, readying your brain and body for sleep,” says Browning. You could also try reading in a different room, for the aforementioned strictly “sex-and-sleep” bedroom hygiene. 
I’m personally fond of listening to news podcasts or audiobooks as I drift off, a habit Browning suggests needs a longer break – of maybe 20 mins –  before nodding off. “Because you might fall asleep whilst listening to it, then be woken again by the noise or the narrator. But if you don’t tend to fall asleep listening then it would be fine to listen until right until sleep.”
Stop it: No cut-off time needed 
Fill your boots! This is the only activity that never has to end. (Though it might depend on your bed partner whether that’s welcome news.) 
“The question ‘does sex help you sleep?’ is something many people want to ask me, but are too afraid to enquire in public,” laughs Prof Foster. The French expression for how quickly men fall asleep after orgasm is la petite mort. And every heterosexual female in the land has surely had to listen to a snoring partner post-coitally within mere minutes?
“The short answer is sleep is good for sex, and sex is good for sleep,” says Prof Foster. But how, if sex is (ideally) arousing, can it promote sleep? 
Prof Foster cites a recent survey of 778 participants (442 females, 336 males; around 35 years of age) in which the authors conclude that sex – including solo sex – promotes sleep.
“Sex increases the release of oxytocin, which in this context, makes you feel more connected to your partner and lowers cortisol, reducing stress. In addition, having an orgasm releases prolactin, a hormone that makes you sleepy and relaxed, which can remain elevated for at least an hour after orgasm.”
That’s definitely what I would call a “happy ending.” Night night.
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