Bill Gates, Arianna Huffington and others share tips for getting a better night's sleep

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If you're physically exhausted after a full day of work, your evening routine might be to blame.

The way you unwind and prepare for bed could contribute to your quality of sleep, which in turn affects your energy levels throughout the day. For instance, staring at brightly lit screens, eating, drinking caffeine or exercising can all hinder sleep.

Some of the world's most successful businesspeople, scientists and physicians shared tips with Uncubed for a better night's sleep.

1. Read. Bill Gates reads for an hour almost every night, he told The Seattle Times. However, one can achieve the relaxing benefits of reading after just six minutes, a study at the University of Sussex in Brighton, U.K., found.

"It really doesn't matter what book you read, by losing yourself in a thoroughly engrossing book, you can escape from the worries and stresses of the everyday world and spend a while exploring the domain of the author's imagination," David Lewis, PhD, a neuropsychologist, founder and director of independent research firm Mindlab International as the Sussex Innovation Centre, told Telegraph, according to the report.

2. Stick to a timeline. In her book Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time, Arianna Huffington says an evening routine that includes a timeline on when to stop eating, drinking, and stressing is key to a good sleep. For instance, she says one should stop drinking caffeine six hours before bed, stop drinking alcohol three hours before bed, finish exercising two hours before and turn off electronics one hour before, according to the report.

3. Have gratitude. One way to ward of stress? Reflect on the things in life for which you are grateful. A study from Manchester University backs this claim. "When falling asleep, grateful people are less likely to think negative and worrying thoughts, and more likely to think positive thoughts," the study's authors wrote, according to the report. "It appears that negative pre-sleep cognitions impair sleep, and gratitude reduces the likelihood of such thoughts, protecting sleep quality."

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