Getting a good night's sleep improves your health and mood.

You make the same resolution every January: Im going to take better care of myself this year. Its one of the most popular health-related goals. (The other three are quit smoking, exercise and eat healthier.) That looks a bit different for everyone, but a common and highly beneficial self-care strategy is getting more and better sleep. Its foundational to good health and happiness, and is worth considering if you havent yet.

Why Busy Adults Really Need Sleep

Why should you prioritize sleep as part of your self-care regimen? Even in the context of optimal nutrition, exercise and other factors, if you are not sleeping well your alertness, performance and mood will clearly suffer, declares Cathy Goldstein, MD, a sleep neurologist at Michigan Medicines Sleep Disorders Centers.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society recommend getting at least seven hours of sleep on a nightly basis, the doctor shares. Not getting enough can lead to obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and stroke, depression, pain, poor immune function, and greater mortality, she adds. It can also lead to poor functional outcomes (increased errors and accidents).

A few spontaneous awakenings at night are normal; it is unlikely that anyone sleeps continuously for seven hours, Goldstein observes.Awakenings are problematic when they are frequent (indicating an underlying sleep disorder like sleep apnea) or prolonged (insomnia). If youre plagued by either, consult with your physician or a specialist. For many adults, though, lack of sleep has more to do with lifestyle and environment than health.

Why Youre Not Sleeping Enough

So many of us say we don't have time to sleep, Goldstein says. Keep in mind that hopping into bed at 11 p.m. and setting an alarm for 6 a.m. is not seven hours of sleep; you need some time to unwind and ease into sleep. Sound familiar? I recommend a countdown to shut-down, she suggests. Here's what that looks like:

Its likely that your bedtime routine looks quite a bit different than the sleep doctors suggested model.

Optimizing Your Bedroom For Sleep

Our internal clock, which controls our sleep, is evolved to expect darkness after sundown. Your back-lit electronic devices are like miniature suns that you take into the sleep environment not good, Goldstein scolds. Try blue-blocking amber glasses during the last three to four hours before bed, she suggests. (Some electronics including phones, TVs and tablets have internal settings to automate this switch after dark.)

She recommends making your bedroom an electronics-free zone, if possible. Replace the notes function on your phone with a notepad if you tend to ruminate or plan in bed. Keep the phone charging in another room and watch TV elsewhere in the house.

Another source of light that can impact your sleep is outside your window, (and outside your control). You may have a street light that beams into your room, or perhaps youre on a heavily-trafficked road with headlights interrupting your sleep at odd intervals. Blackout window coverings can help with these, and are available as drapes, liners or shades.

Blackout window coverings help eliminate one sleep challenge.

Your bedroom and bathroom lighting may also be impacting your sleep; many fixtures you use just before bedtime employ energy-efficient LEDs or compact fluorescent bulbs. These are also blue light sources. Swapping to circadian-friendly warm light bulbs is one option. If youre using or considering smart home technology, look for a human-centric (also known as circadian) lighting component to tie into it. These HCL systems adjust automatically through the day to mimic the suns shift from cold and bright to warm and soft to help with your sleep cycles.

Having a supportive mattress and pillows help you sleep better too. If youre regularly waking up with a sore back or neck, one or both may need to be replaced. Your bedding also counts. Choose fabrics that can be machine washed regularly with nontoxic cleaners. This will keep dust mites and chemical irritants away when youre breathing deeply in sleep.

Last but not least, your bedrooms noise levels may be impacting your sleep. A fan or white noise machine is great, Goldstein says. Leafy plants and tall storage can also block out noise from the other side of a wall.

Bookcases and leafy plants can help muffle noise.

Bottom Line

The most important self-care resolution you can make this year is getting more sleep. Goldstein recommends that you devote eight hours in bed at about the same time daily including on your days off. Dont think about these eight hours as a loss of time in your day, but as an investment in your performance to come.

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Here are the publication dates for the rest of the series:

(Part 1) Quit Smoking Monday, January 6

(Part 2) Eat Healthier Monday, January 13

(Part 3) Get Exercise Monday, January 20

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How Your Home Can Help With Your Self-Care Resolution - Forbes