Can you change your routine to get a better night's sleep?

Half of Irish people wake up every day feeling groggy, and while stress is a cause of sleeplessness, stress is exacerbated by tiredness. Before summer turns to autumn is the time to change your pattern, says Sharon Ní Chonchúir

'A bad night’s sleep impacts our enjoyment of the next day, but also far more than that. Sleep is a vital biological process that allows the brain and body to function properly and repair.'

Seven in 10 people say sleep is one of life’s greatest joys. Half claim they prefer to stay in bed doing it instead of socialising. That is the conclusion of a 2025 Ikea survey that asked 55,000 people in 57 countries about their sleep.

The survey’s findings in Ireland pose cause for concern. Almost half of us (49%) wake up feeling tired most days, and 43% worry we’re not getting enough sleep.

In this final instalment of our Disconnect to Connect series, we ask how we can sleep more soundly.

Dr Sophie Crinion is a respiratory consultant in St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin. She specialises in sleep and explains why it’s so important.

“A bad night’s sleep impacts our enjoyment of the next day, but also far more than that. Sleep is a vital biological process that allows the brain and body to function properly and repair. It’s known to affect mood, concentration, and motivation, and chronic sleep deprivation is associated with increased heart disease and all-cause mortality.”

Research showing just how much sleep affects our health includes a 2024 US study that linked poor sleep with a higher risk of heart disease, depression, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.

Sophie Crinion: 'Most of us should get between seven and nine hours sleep a night, but the amount of sleep you need is quite individual and not always consistent.' Picture: Conor McCabe Photography

According to the 2024 Healthy Ireland Survey, Irish adults sleep for an average of 6.9 hours a night, while a third spend less than six hours snoozing. Should we be worried if we’re not getting the recommended eight hours?

Not necessarily, says Crinion. “Most of us should get between seven and nine hours sleep a night, but the amount of sleep you need is quite individual and not always consistent. Illness, stress, activity during the day, and monthly hormonal changes can all temporarily alter your sleep requirements.”

Professor Andrew Coogan, a behavioural neuroscientist and director of the Sleep Research Laboratory at Maynooth University, says let your body be your guide. He says: “If you wake up feeling tired or groggy, in a low mood or with a short temper, it’s telling you that you didn’t get enough sleep”.

The summer holidays can be a good time to figure out your individual sleep needs, provided your circumstances allow you to turn off your alarm clock.

“Go to sleep when you’re tired and allow your body to wake you up when it’s ready,” says Coogan. “You may sleep in for the first few days as you catch up on any sleep deficit, but your body will eventually settle in to its preferred pattern. When you return to the regular routine and have to turn the alarm clock back on, try to build your schedule around that pattern.”

People with sleep disorders will struggle to establish a pattern that works for them. Up to 10% of adults suffer with insomnia at any given time, says Coogan.

Insomnia is when it takes you half an hour or more to fall asleep, you wake up during the night and can’t get back to sleep, or you wake feeling unrefreshed. We all have occasional nights like this, but it becomes chronic when it happens most nights for at least a month.

Another 10% of people have sleep apnoea, whereby the airway repeatedly collapses and disrupts breathing during sleep. “Symptoms are loud snoring and regular waking,” says Coogan. “People may not realise or remember it happening, but typically feel sleepy during the day.”

He urges anyone who suspects they may have either disorder to visit their GP.

Sleep specialist Tom Coleman believes people’s lifestyle habits could be affecting their slumber.

The 10% of us who are insomniacs, plus the 10% with sleep apnoea, only adds up to 20% of the population. What of the other 29% who feel tired most days?

Tom Coleman is a health scientist who specialises in sleep. He believes people’s lifestyle habits could be affecting their slumber.

When working with clients, he goes through each of the letters in the word ‘sleep’, starting with ‘S’ for stress. “The systems that regulate stress are the same systems that regulate sleep,” he says. “You can’t be stressed and sleep well.”

The solution to stress is relaxation. Coleman encourages us all to explore techniques, such as “connecting with nature, breathwork, warm baths, meditation, and yoga, to find out which help us downregulate our minds and bodies, so that we can sleep”.

‘L’ is for light, which reinforces our body’s natural circadian rhythm. Coleman recommends spending time outside in the morning light and investing in blackout blinds or an eye mask to wear at night.

‘E’ is for exercise. “The more physically active we are, the more adenosine builds up in our bodies,” says Coleman. “Adenosine is a chemical that creates sleep pressure, leading to deep and restorative sleep. But a lack of physical activity means we don’t have enough adenosine to create that sleep pressure. We need to make sure we’re getting enough exercise.”

The second ‘E’ stands for electronics. In the Ikea survey, 75% of people in Ireland said they used phones in their bedrooms. Crinion cautions against sacrificing sleep to scrolling.

“Social media is designed to grab and hold our attention and it’s easy for it to eat in to the time available for sleep,” he says. “If you want to scroll before sleep, set a timer, so you don’t find yourself still on your phone hours later.”

‘P’ is the final letter and Coleman says it refers to patience and practice. “There’s no quick fix for sleep. Just as you won’t get immediate results from going to the gym, you will have to patiently practise your new sleep habits. Real change can take up to three months.”

Crinion stresses one of the secrets to getting enough sleep is to prioritise it, which means giving yourself time to wind down at the end of each day.

Her suggestion is to “work backwards: Ask yourself what time you have to be up at in the morning and, from that, figure out what time you need to be asleep. What needs to happen so that you’re asleep by that time? From tidying the kitchen and chatting with your partner to brushing your teeth, factor it all in. It helps set you up for sleep success.”

It may seem counterintuitive, but Coogan’s final tip is to try not to worry about sleep. 

Good sleepers don’t think about sleep a lot, while bad sleepers think about it too much. Fixating on sleep, which is more common than ever thanks to sleep-tracking devices, can drive anxiety, which prevents us from sleeping.

In fact, he would like us to eliminate all worry from our mind when we’re trying to sleep. Ruminating over our problems will only keep us awake. He says it’s far better to “write those problems on a piece of paper and then fold it in half as you tell yourself you’ll devote time to thinking about them in the morning. Sleeping on things has been known to promote insight. So, who knows? You may wake up to find you have a solution.”

We only have a month of summer left. Make the most of any opportunity it offers you to improve your sleep.

Your homework for our final summer challenge:

• If it’s possible in your personal circumstances, figure out how much sleep you need by going to bed when tired and allowing your body to wake you up when it’s ready;
• Ask yourself if stress, light, exercise, or electronics are impacting your sleep. If they are, consider what you can do about it. If stress is an issue, for example, what relaxation techniques could you try?;
• Prioritise your sleep. Give yourself enough time to wind down at the end of the day, so that you fall asleep with enough hours left to ensure you wake up feeling rested.