10 Sleep Practices Actually Making a Difference to my Sleep (as a 40+ woman!)

I know from working on vision exercises with my high-achieving clients, that waking up feeling rested is something many people aspire to but don't currently experience. It changes as we evolve and age - poor sleep with young kids is very different from female sleep in our forties.

Sleep can feel harder to come by in your forties. I've found myself having nights where I simply couldn't stay asleep. While it’s partly hormonal, there are reliable practices that can help with improving sleep. 

I'm not somebody that rigidly sticks to things, and I'm very aware of things that are nice-to-haves versus things that actually make a difference. These 10 sleep strategies are the ones that, when I'm diligent about them, consistently improve sleep quality.

Improving Sleep: The 10 Habits Which Make the Biggest Difference

1. Mouth Taping

This first habit probably offers the biggest bang for your buck, though I know it has a bit of controversy around it. Mouth taping involves using some micropore tape to gently close your lips at night, encouraging nasal breathing throughout your sleep.

I am not kidding you - when I wake up after using this tape, I feel completely different. No dry mouth, fewer dry eyes, and I'm more refreshed. My Garmin watch suddenly logs much better sleep quality. I've gone from "fair" and even "poor" ratings to consistently landing between "good" and "excellent."

This is how I use my tape (prefer it to just cover my lips so it doesn’t need to be peeled off the skin in the morning:

It's remarkable how something so minor can make such a difference (Caveat: seek medical advice before trying this, especially if you have nasal obstruction or sleep apnea, as it can be dangerous in those cases.)

1. Room Temperature 

Room temperature is SO important. I really need to make sure the room is cool, sometimes leaving the window open to allow the room to cool down before bed. My feet get super hot at certain times in the month so I’ve even brought an ice pack up to put my feet on and take the heat out, for those nights! 

2. FUN Journaling!

This year I’ve been using the Clever Fox Self-Care Journal (I have it in Yellow!), which I love - every day they ask different reflection questions alongside the standard ones. This keeps it fresh and interesting while giving me a chance to get all those things off my brain that might otherwise be whirring around at night.

I give journaling a really nice chunky amount of time. I've always been a journaler, but having found this perfect journal makes it so much easier.

My ONLY bugbear is that it is not dated! This is a personal pet peeve of mine but as this is a 90 day journal I’m going to repurchase it and fill it all in from the start as I really like having days and dates set out in advance so I know where I am!

3. Fiction Reading

If I've noticed I'm a bit more stressed or something's come up, I almost force myself to read 10 pages of fiction before sleep. It's like a ritual or prescription.

There was a stressful event recently when I was away, and while others impacted by it couldn't sleep that night, I did the journaling, did the reading, and had a great night’s sleep. These practices make a tangible difference! I’m not a voracious reader but of course love a good book.

Here are my recent favourites:

Happiness Falls - instantly gripping

Wellness - this one took me a bit of time to get into and I haven’t finished it yet but it is such a compelling story of our time, weaving together ideas that I’m inherently interested in around wellbeing, and of course, a love/marriage story. Highly recommend

The Elephant Whisperer - this felt different to my usual people-based fiction, interest was piqued on Safari and it is the most relaxing book, whilst also containing animal drama and helping me understand elephants and their incredible intelligence

Empire of Pain - a long one and took me a while to get through - better if you’ve watched the cool Films / series on this in my view

The Let Them Theory - ok this is not fiction, but I had to chuck it in there. Didn’t love it all but found some really useful bits on relationships

4. Heated Eye Mask

This is recommended regularly for Dry Eyes, but it's also SO relaxing. Heat the mask in the microwave for 28 seconds (making sure it's not hot to touch - just on the higher side of warm), and it's brilliant for dry eyes while feeling incredibly relaxing.

It's also part of saying, "this hour before bed, I'm not on a screen." Screen-free time plus my heated eye mask really improves my sleep.

5. Meditation or Audio Content

Sometimes while using the heated eye mask, I'll have a lovely meditation on. I'm a big Insight Timer fan and like to find meditations about switching off and entering more of a surrender state. These genuinely move me from execution thinking into more of a letting go, healing state.

If I'm in a more active mood, I might listen to an audiobook or really good podcast while tidying up the bedroom. It's quite a soothing activity but gives me a bit more time on my feet if I'm not ready to collapse.

6. Epsom Salt Baths

I rely on this heavily - at least two or three times a week. Either when I've had really long desk days and can feel tension in my shoulders that no amount of stretching seems to loosen, or after strength workout days to help with muscle recovery.

The kids love a bath too, and there’s been a resurgence now that they are into sports.  There are often candles or music involved, and definitely no bright bathroom lighting!

I like my bath HOT! I find it relieves mental and physical tension before sleep, and I like knowing I'm adding some magnesium through the skin (but I’ll be honest I don’t know if that part makes any difference!). 

It’s probably one of the quickest state change tools I have (I compare all state change tools in the evening to a glass of wine, which I’ve cut down/out) - I don’t stay in too long btw, I’m not a long bath, read in there person!

My Garmin loves this one as well, often commenting in the morning that "because of your relaxation activities pre-bed you've had a particularly good sleep." Thanks, Garmin!!

7. Gentle Stretching

After a bath, some gentle stretching in the room works wonders. No energising or active yoga thank you very much!

There's a really simple legs-up-the-wall yoga posture that I find incredibly calming while getting a good stretch.

8. Supplements that make a Difference

I've been more mindful of supplements over the last year. I take a good magnesium glycinate that does make a difference - perhaps marginal, but it's part of the toolkit. By the way it took me ages to research the right one for me - I am very cautious about good supplements!

Something new I've added is the Ancient & Brave cacao and collagen hot chocolates. I do need to sweeten them as they're quite bitter, so I add a bit of Oatly Barista and some brown sugar (look, its better than the chocolate and other sweet stuff I am often searching for after dinner!). 

It's whizzed up in the Nespresso frother to make it silky. They have such a good smell and taste, really rich and chocolatey - even the kids ask me what it is and want some!

This gives me a proper hot chocolate before bed with sleep-supporting ingredients like ashwagandha and cacao. As a hot drink person, having something with more body than a thin herbal tea, but that isn't caffeine, is really exciting! I don’t have this every night - I do forget or feel too full, but its a good one to have around.

9. Phone Distance

This one's simple but hard in practice: charge your phone somewhere far from your bed, and give yourself an hour (or even just 30 mins) before sleep where you're not touching it at all. I find that at least the 30 mins is possible as I can be journaling, eye masking or reading and all other matters have been put aside for the day. 

It's like an experiment - on nights when I don't fully abide by this or find myself needing to quickly reply to something, it's very apparent how it impacts my sleep. Garmin seems to prefer my sleep patterns when I've done this too, even noting that I'm in a more relaxed state!

I am also aware of the derailers now - a busy WhatsApp conversation is one that can throw this practice off - and awareness is the first step to change. Of course there’s Instagram too but I can just delete that off my phone. 

I’ve also just purchased the £4 Forest App, which grows trees when you don’t use your phone. I’ll keep you posted on how that one goes!

Bonus Items!

10. Noise Cancelling Ear Defenders

I know I said 10 but I do rely on a couple more things. These noise cancelling defenders come everywhere I go - nothing worse than finding your sleep to be woken up by early morning noises (or people!!). I’ve gifted them to new mum friends too - they were a saviour when I needed to sleep in the baby era! They are bulky but do the job - if you know any less bulky let me know. Even the kids have kid versions for travel - they loved picking out their own colours / designs and they are never worried about being in noisy dorms etc because they know they can block it all out.

11. Eye Covers

Where would we be without eye covers? Mine is Dore and Rose. This is the most similar I could find (and cheaper). I learned the hard way - do not chuck these in the wash though, mine hasn’t been quite as silky since I did, but it still does the job. Kids are also very into theirs - my son chose this one and wont use any other!

Put it all in a Box!

I've created a little basket of sleep items: an eye cover, noise-cancelling headphones, the heated eye mask, a fiction book, pens for journaling, and now the mouth tape. It's nice having a little sleep kit ready to go, especially when traveling.

When Sleep Doesn't Happen

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, sleep just doesn't come. Kid-related issues, hormones, or other disruptions can intervene. I've started to be okay with having a couple of bad nights monthly - it happens.

On those mornings, I:

• Start with a massive jug of water, sometimes with electrolytes (I like the LMNT ones - note, I don’t always use the whole sachet in one day. The first time I had it I put too much in and felt weird). 

• Have my delicious coffee with collagen (I use this one for the morning, and love how it bulks out my black coffee, I even took it away with me on a trip and others loved it too) and nuts

• Try to get something productive done at my desk early

• Get outside for some natural light to regulate my circadian rhythm

• Look for a window for a power nap later (using the heated eye mask as a signal to relax)

I'm a natural morning person, so I try to get on with my morning, knowing I can recharge in the second half of the day. But not gonna lie, I feel broken without good sleep!

The beauty is having some elements of control that can genuinely make a difference. I hope you've found something helpful here for your own sleep routine.

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