Sleep Better In September

Sleeping is needed for our mind and body to function, with the NHS recommending between 7-9 hours of sleep per night. Sadly, almost 1 in 5 people in the UK aren’t getting enough sleep. With how fast paced our world is, coupled with various worries about world affairs, finances, work, relationships and everything in between, it’s not uncommon for many of us to develop poor sleeping habits as a result. This means that as a nation, a lot of us aren’t getting the restorative sleep we need.

With Sleeptember just around the corner, we’ll discover why we tend to get sleepier around the autumn months, how it affects our mental health, and ideas to help you get better sleep during this time.

What is Sleeptember

Sleeptember is an awareness month ran by The Sleep Charity that takes place every September (hence the name).

With September being associated with the start of the autumn months, it’s a time where awareness is raised on getting better sleep – particularly as sleep trouble can be observed in the autumn and lead-up to winter.

What is the theme for Sleeptember 2025?

The Sleep Charity announced the Sleeptember 2025’s campaign is “Better Sleep Starts Here…”. It’s sponsored by Bed Advice UK – an organisation dedicated to helping people find the right beds for better sleep quality.

What is fall fatigue and autumn sleepiness? 

“Fall fatigue” is a US term coined to define how we often feel sleepier and experience low energy as we transition into autumn. You may also know it as autumn fatigue or SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), which is often used in the UK when describing fall fatigue. SAD or fall fatigue can be experienced by some individuals as they are gradually exposed to less sunlight, and may exhibit the following symptoms:

• Lack of energy

• Depression

• Increased stress and/or anxiety

• Brain fog

• Sleeping longer than usual or not enough

Why do we sleep more in autumn? 

Exposure to less sunlight can affect our internal body clock (also known as our circadian rhythm). Exposure to lots of sunlight helps our body ‘stay awake’ and increases our vitamin D production – which is essential for our mood and much more. So, with less sunlight exposure in the autumn and winter months, coupled with drops in temperature, we may find ourselves feeling the need to sleep more than we would do in the summer.

How to sleep well in autumn and combat autumn sleepiness 

1. Find a work-life balance

Sleep plays a role in work performance. If you’re feeling the effects of fatigue or SAD, this may impact your workplace engagement as well as other obligations. Be sure to schedule regular breaks from work (and even get away from your workstation), delegate any tasks you might be able to, and ensure you don’t bring work home with you.

2. Try active pacing

Active pacing involves thinking ahead about starting a particular task to see how you can conserve your energy. If you’re struggling more than usual, it might be beneficial to plan out how to address a task one day and leave the ‘doing’ part for later or even the next day. You could even try splitting the task or delegating it entirely to a colleague if they have the capacity to support.

3. Practice self-care

Self-care is incredibly important when you’re having sleep troubles in autumn and in general too. It might be worth taking stock of what you have on in the day and moving some things over such as a social event (or leaving early in order to get extra sleep). You’ll also want to ensure you’re hydrated and make some time for relaxing activities to help you unwind after a long day.

4. Make improvements at home

Are your pillow or mattress a little worse for wear? Now could be a good time to invest in some small home improvements to make your sleeping environment a bit more comfortable. You could consider:

• Blackout curtains

• A sunrise alarm clock

• New pillows

• New duvet

• New mattress

• Extra blankets or cushions

• A fan or air conditioning unit

• Tidying your sleep space to make it more comfortable

5. Slowly adjust your sleep schedule

Saying you’ll start going to bed super early when you’re already a night owl can be quite the transition. Plus, it adds pressure to get to sleep, which in turn can make falling asleep harder.

Slowly increment how early you get to bed or begin to unwind before hopping in by around 30-60 minutes. You may need to experiment with a different incremental amount of time to find what works best for you.

6. Create a bedtime routine

If you count a midnight scroll on your phone as part of your bedtime routine, then you may be affecting your sleep before you’ve even drifted off. Ensure your activities before bedtime are relaxing. Don’t use your devices, ensure you’ve not had any caffeine too late in the day and ensure you don’t eat too close to bedtime (which can cause indigestion and make falling asleep difficult).

7. Minimise blue light exposure close to bedtime

In the same breath as the last point, you’ll want to minimise exposure to blue light before bedtime. This means using devices like your phone, tablet, laptop and even your TV. Blue light has been proven to affect sleep quality by disturbing our circadian rhythm and heart rate. Essentially, what is meant to be a time for unwinding can be affected by the opposite effect because of blue light.

8. Have short naps if necessary

Napping in the day can make it difficult to get a full night’s rest at night. But if you absolutely must have a short snooze, we recommend no more than 10-20 minutes of napping time.

9. Stay active

The last thing you may want to do is get some movement in when you’re tired and lethargic due to sleep troubles. However, sleep can boost the hormone serotonin, a feel-good hormone to put you in better spirits. It can also give you a bit of a boost when you’re feeling that mid-day slump.

Start slow by doing a short work or easy-to-follow yoga video or class, and if you want to, you can ramp this up into a run, gym session or sports activity you enjoy.

How can an Employee Assistance Programme help you with sleep in autumn?

If you’re experiencing the effects of SAD, low mood or other concerns that you feel are attributed to your sleep schedule, an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) may be able to help. At HA | Wisdom Wellbeing, we offer 24/7, 365 days a year of counselling support to individuals who need support with a wide range of mental wellbeing concerns. Our solution-focused counsellors can work with you to discover the root cause of sleep disturbances, autumnal fatigue and how to practice self-care techniques to improve your sleep quality. They can also support with existing mental health concerns that may be worsened due to poor sleep.

Plus, our Wisdom app helps you track your wellbeing. Log your sleep and spot trends overtime to see how you can support yourself in improving your sleep quality. We can aid you with our bank of guided meditations and 4-week plans to get you on track to a healthy night’s sleep and beyond.

Conclusion

This sleeptember have a think about how your sleep may be affected as we experience less sunlight. With our tips, you can get a head start on building a healthy sleep routine to mitigate most of the effects that come with changes to your circadian rhythm.