By Richard Steel

We all have ups and downs when it comes to good habits, and for many of us, New Year can be an opportunity to think about our goals and think about changes. But behaviour change can be a tricky business. In this new article, Richard Steel – a sport, health, and exercise psychologist here at NTU Psychology – shares some insights into New Year resolutions, as well as one resolution that might strengthen our ability to be more effective at keeping them…

The seasonal holidays provide a good opportunity to recharge our physical and mental health, and I’m sure many of us took the chance to relax and socialise with friends and family. For me this year, a combination of terrible weather and a seemingly endless cycle of coughs and colds meant I indulged myself a little more than usual. As we entered 2024, I could see and feel the effects of my holiday indulgence.

I’m sure this resonates, and for many of us this will mean making a New Years resolution. As psychologists, perhaps the first question we might ponder is whether New Years Resolutions are effective? Quite surprisingly, there isn’t a great deal of research in this area. However, what research there is suggests that New Year’s resolutions might be an effective way of promoting behavioural change.  For example, a study examining the effectiveness of New Year’s resolutions followed 1066 participants for 12 months after making a New Year’s resolution. At the conclusion of their study, they found just over half of the participants considered themselves successful in maintaining their commitment (Oscarsson, Carlbring, Anderson & Rozental, 2020). So, there does appear to be some value in committing to a New Year’s resolution.

Picture shows a blank list with the heading: New Year Resolutions

Oscarsson and colleagues also found that by far the most popular resolution involved some combination of diet and/or exercise. There is mountains of research extolling the physical and mental health benefits of eating healthily and exercising regularly. It’s therefore no surprise that many participants chose this type of goal, and I suspect many people reading this will have a similar goal in mind. However, there is a third modifiable health behaviour that you might want to resolve to improve this year that is equally important for our physical and mental health – sleep.

I’m sure for many people, sleep is just something they do when they get tired. However, sleep is a modifiable determinant of health that if we do well, is something that can impact our health and well-being to a similar extend as diet and exercise. A full review of the benefits of high-quality regular sleep are beyond the scope of this blog but Kyle and Henry (2017) wrote an excellent short review of the importance of sleep for good health. In summary, it is important for regulating a wide-range of health related markers including immunity, metabolism and cardiovascular health. Moreover, If we sleep well, we are more likely to find the energy to exercise, and less likely to snack on poor quality food choices. Therefore, sleep can be an excellent method for leveraging other health-related goals.

Hopefully you are somewhat convinced enough at this point that you want to know how to improve your sleep. I could probably list dozens of individual behaviours that can all help you get a good night’s sleep. However, something I consciously adhere to each day is the 3-2-1-0 method. I like this because it’s easy to remember, and each recommendation is well supported scientifically. 3-2-1-0 refers to the number of hours before bed you adhere to the following behaviours:

  • 3 = No food in the 3 hours before bedtime. Although food can make us sleepy, digesting food can disrupt sleep.
  • 2 = No liquid in the two hours before bedtime. This is so our sleep isn’t disrupted by the need to use the bathroom. Caffeine is also a big no-no (ideally for 8 hours before bed), and although alcohol can make us sleepy, it is a sedative and disrupts REM sleep, which is important for our mental recovery.
  • 1 = No screens in the last hour before bedtime. If you must, use it in night mode and read or listen to a podcast rather than doomscrolling social media or watching videos.  
  • 0 =  Go to bed at the same time every night. This is arguably the most important. Our circadian rhythm regulates the time when we are most sleepy and most awake, so hacking this biological clock by having regular sleep patterns gives us the very best chance of a good night’s sleep.

Hopefully, these tips will help you to improve your sleep health and whatever your goals for 2024 , incorporating healthy sleep behaviours can help you to achieve them.

For further hints and tips, I’d recommend Matt Walker’ book. Michael Mosely is also currently doing an excellent short Podcast series for the BBC. Both are linked below.

About the author

Dr Richard Steel is a psychophysiologist at NTU whose main interests are sport, exercise, health, and well-being. His research has investigated motivational and self-regulatory processes that underpin healthy behaviors; our ability to cope with stress; and the associations between smartwatch use and healthy behaviour.

References

  • Kyle, S., & Henry, A. (2017). Sleep is a modifiable determinant of health: Implications and opportunities for health psychology. British journal of health psychology, 22(4). 1-5
  • Oscarsson, M., Carlbring, P., Andersson, G., & Rozental, A. (2020). A large-scale experiment on New Year’s resolutions: Approach-oriented goals are more successful than avoidance-oriented goals. PLoS One, 15(12), e0234097.

Further reading and listening

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