Sleep Hygiene Checklist: Free 7-Day Printable (PDF)

Sleep hygiene means the daily habits that support sleep, such as a fixed wake-up time, daylight in the morning, no late caffeine and a dark, cool bedroom. This checklist runs for a week: tick each habit on the days you kept it, rate how rested you feel each morning, and see which changes went with better mornings. You fill it in on screen, then print it with your entries or save a PDF. It's free, needs no sign-up, and saves nothing you type.

The evidence is modest. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggests that doctors not use sleep hygiene as the only treatment for chronic insomnia; therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the first choice there. For one bad night, use how to fall asleep fast.

Opens your browser's print window. Choose "Save as PDF" to keep a file.

How to use it: each evening, tick the habits you kept that day. Each morning, rate how rested you feel. Star one or two habits to focus on this week. At the end of the week, compare the Days column with your ratings. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.

Sleep hygiene checklist: one week

Week of Most items are standard advice from sleep organizations; not every one has been tested on its own. Change one or two at a time.

On a phone, swipe the table sideways to see all 7 days. Days counts your ticks, and your average rating appears under the ratings.

HabitMonTueWedThuFriSatSunDays
Got up at the same time as yesterday AASM
0/7
Got daylight within an hour of waking NHLBI
0/7
No caffeine in the 6 hours before bed Drake 2013
0/7
Napped 20 minutes or less, or not at all NHLBI
0/7
Finished exercising 2 to 3 hours before bed NHLBI
0/7
No alcohol close to bedtime CDC
0/7
No large meal in the last few hours NHLBI
0/7
Screens off 30 minutes before bed CDC
0/7
Bedroom dark, quiet and cool CDC
0/7
Used the bed only for sleep and sex AASM
0/7
Went to bed only when sleepy AASM
0/7
Got up after about 20 minutes awake AASM
0/7
0/7
Morning: how rested, 0 to 10?
 –

Sleep habits alone are not a treatment for long-term insomnia. If you have trouble sleeping on most nights for weeks, or feel very sleepy in the daytime, see a doctor. In danger or thinking of ending your life: call or text 988 (US, Canada), or your local emergency number.

quietarium.com/en/resources/sleep-hygiene-checklist/ · Sources: AASM, CDC, NHLBI, Drake 2013 · CC BY-NC 4.0 · self-help, not treatment

Sleep hygiene questions

Does sleep hygiene work?

For everyday sleep, the habits are standard advice from the CDC, NHLBI and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. For chronic insomnia, the AASM suggests that doctors not use sleep hygiene as the only treatment (Edinger 2021); CBT-I works better there. That is why the checklist tracks your mornings: you see what helps you.

How many hours of sleep do adults need?

Adults should sleep 7 or more hours a night on a regular basis, according to the joint statement of the AASM and the Sleep Research Society (Watson 2015).

How late can I have coffee?

In a home study, a large dose of caffeine taken 6 hours before bed still cut sleep time (Drake 2013). That is where the 6-hour line on the list comes from.

Should I change all 12 habits at once?

No. Star one or two, keep them for a week, and compare your morning ratings. If your sleep time itself has drifted late, start with the sleep schedule planner.

Source
How to fix your sleep schedule
License
CC BY-NC 4.0
Updated

Free to print for your clients and students. Please credit Quietarium; not for sale.