Caffeine Can Linger 6 to 8 Hours: 7 NIH Habits for Better Sleep

Better sleep may not require anything you have to buy. NIH News in Health, the National Institutes of Health’s consumer newsletter, offers a checklist of habits in its guide “Good Sleep for Good Health.” The guide first ran in April 2021 and was last modified in June 2024. Nearly everything on the list costs nothing.¹

The stakes are real. The article calls sleep as important to health as diet and exercise. It says regularly missing out on quality sleep raises the risk of problems ranging from heart disease and stroke to obesity and dementia.¹ Sleep also seems to be when the brain does its housekeeping, at least in mice. A team led by Dr. Maiken Nedergaard found that a drainage system in mouse brains clears waste, including proteins linked to Alzheimer’s, twice as fast during sleep.¹

“Healthy sleep encompasses three major things,” NIH sleep expert Dr. Marishka Brown said in the article. Those are how much you sleep, how good that sleep is (uninterrupted and refreshing) and keeping a consistent schedule.¹ NIH says school-age children need at least nine hours a night, teens eight to 10, and most adults at least seven. Older adults need the same amount as other adults, though sleep quality can slip with age.¹

Here are seven habits from the guide, with backup from other health agencies.

1. Keep the same bedtime and wake time, weekends included. This is the first item on NIH’s list, and the CDC names it too.¹⁴ NIH cites a 2019 study in which weekend catch-up sleep did not prevent weight gain or worsening blood-sugar control in people who were short on sleep during the week.¹ Harvard Health adds some nuance: a 2023 National Sleep Foundation consensus statement suggests catching up on weekends may help after a short-sleep week, though a steady schedule is still the healthier plan.³

2. Get outside and get moving. NIH recommends at least 30 minutes of natural sunlight every day, plus daily exercise, as long as the workout isn’t close to bedtime.¹

3. Avoid caffeine and nicotine. Caffeine can take six to eight hours to wear off, according to NIH, so an afternoon coffee may still be on the job when you’re trying to clock out.¹

4. Skip alcohol and big meals before bed. NIH advises avoiding both near bedtime.¹ CDC guidance gets more specific, suggesting you avoid heavy or spicy meals for about three hours before bed.²

5. Nap early and keep it short. NIH’s list says no naps after mid-afternoon, and to keep naps short.¹

6. Make the bedroom cool, dark and quiet. NIH also recommends silencing your phone and limiting electronics before bed.¹ The CDC’s version: a very dark, quiet, cool, comfortable room, with screens put away for the hour or so before bed.²

7. If you can’t sleep after 20 minutes, get up. NIH suggests doing something relaxing until you feel sleepy, rather than lying there negotiating with the ceiling.¹

When habits aren’t enough

This is general health information, not individual medical advice. NIH and the CDC both say to talk with a health care provider if sleep problems persist.¹⁴ Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder, and NIH says cognitive behavioral therapy (a structured form of talk therapy that targets thoughts and habits) helps many people with it. CPAP machines, which deliver steady air pressure through a mask, help many people with sleep apnea.¹ NIH also notes that sleeping more than nine hours and still waking up unrefreshed may point to an underlying medical issue.¹

Nobody nails all seven on the first night. Brown’s advice is modest and realistic: “as best you can, try to make sleep a priority.”¹