Are my habits hurting my sleep? A 3-minute sleep-habits self-check

This self-check looks at the everyday habits that make sleep easier or harder. Its ten questions cover your sleep timing (going to bed and waking at very different times, or sleeping late to “catch up”), what happens in bed (phones, laptops or TV, lying awake worrying or scrolling), what you have in the evening (tea, coffee, energy drinks or cola, heavy meals, smoking or tobacco), daytime naps, your bedroom, and taking sleeping pills or other medicines without a doctor's advice. The last question asks about a calm routine in the hour before bed, a habit that helps.

This is a habits check, not an insomnia test. If your habits look fine but you still sleep badly, the insomnia self-check looks at the symptoms themselves: difficulty falling asleep, waking at night and not feeling rested.

Think about a typical week in the past month. Each answer scores from 0 (“Rarely or never”) to 3 (“Almost always”). The question about a calm routine before bed is scored the other way round. The total runs from 0 to 30, and a higher score means more habits that work against sleep: 0–9 suggests mostly sleep-friendly habits, 10–19 that some habits may be getting in the way, and 20–30 that many habits are working against your sleep.

If you say you often take sleeping pills without a doctor's advice, the result adds a short note about using them safely.

Our team at Dr. MR Siddique Psychiatry Centre wrote the questions in English and Bangla together; the Bangla is not a translation of any published questionnaire. The questions and score ranges have not been tested in research, and the check cannot diagnose insomnia or a breathing problem during sleep. Your answers are scored in your browser and are never sent to us.

A lower score suggests your habits mostly support sleep. A middle score usually means one or two habits, such as an irregular wake-up time or a phone in bed, are costing you sleep. A higher score suggests several habits are working against you at once.

Look at the questions you answered “Often” or “Almost always”. Those habits are the place to start: change one or two at a time rather than everything at once. Research links everyday habits such as caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, daytime naps and irregular sleep times with how well people sleep³.

Habits are only part of the picture. Worry and low mood can disturb sleep, and worrying about sleep can itself make insomnia worse⁶. If you sleep badly and also feel low, worried or on edge most days, it is worth looking at both.

Change one habit at a time and keep it up for a few weeks. NHS and US National Institutes of Health advice on healthy sleep habits includes¹²:

• Keep regular sleep hours. Go to bed and get up at about the same time every day, including weekends and holidays.
• Make your bedroom restful: dark, quiet and comfortable. In hot weather, a fan, curtains or an eye mask can help.
• Cut down on caffeine, especially later in the day. Tea, coffee, energy drinks and cola all contain it.
• Avoid heavy meals, alcohol and nicotine in the evening, including smoking and chewing tobacco.
• Wind down for the last hour before bed with something calm, such as a warm shower, reading or quiet music, and put screens away.
• Avoid daytime naps if you sleep badly at night; if you do nap, keep it short.
• Don't sleep in after a bad night. Get up at your usual time, even at weekends.

If you lie awake for a long time, getting up and doing something calm until you feel sleepy is one of the methods used in therapy for insomnia⁴. Better habits help, but on their own they are not a full treatment for long-lasting insomnia³⁴. Our guide to better sleep habits covers these steps in more detail.

If you have been taking sleeping pills most nights, do not stop suddenly: stopping should be planned with your doctor⁵.

See a doctor, such as a BMDC-registered psychiatrist, if:

• poor sleep has lasted more than a month;
• you rely on sleeping pills, or take them without a prescription;
• someone notices that you snore loudly or stop breathing in your sleep — this needs a medical check; or
• you feel very sleepy during the day, for example while driving.

Long-lasting sleep problems, including insomnia, can be treated. A structured talking therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), is strongly recommended for adults with long-term insomnia⁴; a clinical psychologist can provide it. A psychiatrist can look at whether worry, low mood or another health problem is keeping you awake. NHS guidance says sleeping pills can cause side effects and dependence, so they are used rarely and only for a short time¹. Never start, stop or change a medicine without talking to your doctor. If you are under 18, please talk to a parent or another adult you trust; a parent or guardian can book an appointment for you.

If poor sleep comes with thoughts of harming yourself, or you are in danger now, call 999 or go to the nearest hospital emergency department.