Your space matters… but only so much

Now armed with data about my sleep, I decided to start at the very beginning. If you spend any time at all researching ways to improve sleep quality, you will come across something called ‘sleep hygiene’, which involves cultivating your space and lifestyle to optimise sleep quality. I start with my bed: replacing my old Ikea mattress with a Simba Hybrid mattress, which has technology that regulates temperature (too hot at night is no good, you see, with 16–18°C being the ideal temperature for sleep). I also tried the Lumie white noise machine, an orb-shaped radio and light that pumps out soothing, fuzzy noises that are supposed to reduce the brain’s response to unexpected sounds; a 100% blackout eye mask from Ostrichpillow, which is similarly calming; and a lavender pillow mist from fragrance brand Neom. My room feels calm and relaxing, but I’m also overcome by a sense of pressure to sleep in it. A pressure that I’m sure will keep me awake.

All of this is big business, of course; we are, undoubtedly, more obsessed with sleep than ever before. At Max Richter’s Alexandra Palace concert earlier this year, 850 guests paid £250 each to lie in a bed and listen to the composer’s eight-hour lullaby and the global sleep economy (which my posh eyemask and noise machine sit happily within) is currently valued at $600 billion (£459bn). Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle brand Goop and Westin Hotels this year launched a Sleep Training for Grown-Ups programme, and the sleep tourism economy (travelling to sleep-based retreats, for example) was valued at $75 billion (£57bn) in 2024 and is expected to reach $83.14 billion (£63.5bn) this year.

In practice, though, how much does any of it help someone truly struggling? “For people struggling with sleep, relaxation techniques and broader sleep hygiene can be helpful, but less so for those with actual insomnia,” says Dr Hare. This seems unsurprising: on the first night with my new kit, I twitch restlessly for a few hours before giving up and reaching for a melatonin capsule (a natural sleep aid, which I pick up in the US). Sleep comes eventually, an hour or so later.

The next day, I start taking 500mg of magnesium (I try the Nature’s Selection brand) before bed, while reading that studies have shown it can help improve sleep quality and mood. But as ever, I’m sceptical.

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