Optimizing dental health depends on regular brushing and flossing, or dental hygiene. In the same way, optimizing sleep depends on regular habits that are conducive to eight hours of restful snoozing — what experts call "sleep hygiene."

Let's look at how to construct a day that will optimize your night.

8:00 am: Exercise early. Too much exercise late in the day can stimulate the body, making it hard to sleep. A morning walk or workout is best.

4:00 pm: Stop ingesting caffeine. Better yet, stop at noon.

7:00 pm: Don't drink alcohol after dinner. A maximum of one drink a day for women and two for men is what studies show optimizes health. But if you drink too late in the day you can spike blood sugar, leading to a drop in the middle of the night — and an early awakening.

8:00 pm: Prop up your feet. Fluid that normally pools in your legs will "flow upwards" and be urinated out before you go to sleep.

9:00 pm: Keep late-night beverages to a minimum. If you avoid drinking fluids an hour or two before bedtime, you'll be less likely to wake up with a need to visit the bathroom.

10:30 pm: Snack at bedtime. A light, high-protein snack at bedtime keeps blood sugar stable throughout the night, and that's important for a good night's sleep. My favorites are a slice of turkey, a handful of nuts, a hard-boiled egg, a chunk or cheese or soy cheese.

11:00 pm: Take a hot bath. You'll soothe your mind, relax your muscles, and slip into a deep sleep once you hit the sheets.

11:05 pm: Optimize your sleeping environment. The best bedroom for sleeping is cool (around the mid-sixties), dark, quiet (wear earplugs for near-total silence) and a sanctuary where you don't work, watch TV, pay your bills or try to solve problems.

11:10 pm: Shift your mind to a lower gear. If your mind is racing when your head hits the pillow, focus your thoughts on things that feel good and don't require concentration or problem solving. Think a happy moment … time spent with your children or grandchildren … your dog romping joyfully in a field … a double rainbow.

3:30 am: If you're tossing and turning, make a list of your problems. Then forget about them. Many folks wake up in the middle of the night, start worrying, and can't get back to sleep. Instead, get out of bed and write down all your problems on a piece of paper, until you can't think of any more. Then go back to bed. Do this as often during the night as you need to.

7:30 am: Get up and get going. If you have problems sleeping, you probably think that increasing the amount of time in bed will increase the amount of time you sleep. But staying in bed longer creates a classic pattern of poor sleeping: deep sleep in the beginning of the night; shallow sleep in the middle with lots of wakefulness; and eventually sound sleep — but only when it's time to wake up. To counter that pattern, limit the amount of time in bed to no more than 8 or 9 hours.