If you want to get a good night's sleep, creating a relaxing nighttime routine can help. But what should you include in your bedtime routine and, more importantly, what should you avoid?

When it comes to what not to do right before bed (i.e., within an hour before bed), there are a few obvious things: don't drink too much (especially alcohol, energy drinks, and caffeine) and don't eat heavy meals or sugary snacks. But there are also less obvious mistakes in our evening habits.

We recently spoke with two sleep experts, James Wilson, sleep expert at MattressOnline, and Claire Davis, sleep editor and certified sleep science coach at Tom's Guide, to find out three common things many people do right before bedtime that can quickly They revealed that they may be affecting their ability to fall asleep easily.

These are things that most people do as part of their nightly routine. However, brushing one's teeth, like washing one's face and getting into one's pajamas, should be done at night, but is best done earlier in the day, not just before going to bed and falling asleep.

Sleep expert James Wilson, in his guide to falling asleep faster, explains that nighttime routines should be relaxing and sleep-inducing. Brushing your teeth or washing your face just before getting into bed, especially if you turn on the bathroom light, can actually wake you up, making it take longer to get into bed and fall asleep.

"Before you start relaxing at night, get everything done that you usually do before bed, like getting into your PJs and brushing your teeth," Wilson explains.

"That way, if you feel sleepy, you can jump straight into bed rather than doing anything that might wake you up."

The temperature of the bedroom is critical in creating the perfect sleeping environment. If it is too hot or too cold, it will be difficult to fall asleep. This is especially true if the bedroom is too warm or if there are night sweats.

Sleep science coach Claire Davis advises that if you adjust your thermostat, do so in the early evening. 'When the temperature in your house drops at night, it's tempting to crank up the heat,' Davis explains. But if it's too close to bedtime, the bedroom will become too warm and you won't be able to sleep. This makes it harder to fall asleep and harder to wake up."

"Likewise, turning down the heat just before bedtime doesn't give the bedroom enough time to cool down," she adds. Ideally, "set your smart thermostat to 65-68 degrees Fahrenheit (the optimal temperature for sleep) an hour before bed. If you overheat while sleeping, keep it on the cooler side of that range."

The day is over and you are just about to go to bed when you decide to check your phone again, thinking you may have missed something. A message appears and you reply. Then you wait for the other person to reply, and send another message back. This is repeated.

Using your phone in bed is not only distracting, but with the added effect of the blue light from the phone screen, it can have a negative impact on your sleep when you finally get to bed.

"Checking your phone 'one last time' after you actually get into bed is a common nighttime routine mistake," Davis warns." A review published in 2018 stated that smartphone use within one to two hours of getting into bed affects sleep quality and the ability to fall asleep within a reasonable amount of time." Imagine the impact of doing a doom scroll or replying to a DM when you're actually in bed and expecting to fall asleep soon.

But is there any way to check your phone during busy hours without significantly affecting your sleep patterns? "You can avoid exposure to blue light by putting your phone on night mode an hour before bed. Ultimately, it is best to put your phone away an hour before bed."

There are many ways to create the perfect bedtime routine. While a sleep-friendly environment (clean, cool, quiet) is important, what you do in the 30-60 minutes before sleep is most important. Here are some things you can do before bed to increase your chances of falling asleep easily and quickly: