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Visit fifa.com01.09.2025
When we’re playing games, whether it's competitive play or casual gaming, it’s easy to underestimate the power of sleep. It’s also easy to get carried away by playing long into the night on your favorite game. But the truth is: without quality rest, your performance and health suffers. Reaction time slows, decision-making falters and burnout creeps in – often unnoticed.
Late nights, back-to-back matches or endless screen time can disrupt your body’s natural circadian rhythm, making it harder to recover and improve in both your gaming endeavors and daily life tasks. If you’re seeking peak performance, sleep optimization is part of your training and a must to unlock your full performance potential [1].
The Good Game Promise commits to nurture healthy players, and a key element of staying healthy is choosing to rest and recover. Now, FIFAe and FITGMR join forces to further promote the 5 Pillars of Health: physical maintenance, mental conditioning, sleep, nutrition, and lifestyle. This time we focus on sleep.
Following through FIFA’s mission is to improve players’ health globally [2], sleep is considered a part of recovery and recovery is a critical component for excelling in sports and esports, as it helps with maintaining optimal performance and preventing burnout [3].
In past seasons, FIFAe has underscored that rest and recovery of the body and mind are not just part of life off-the-screen, but they’re essential training tools for anyone striving to compete at the highest level. With FITGMR, we have been able to create a guide that can tell you everything you need to know about how sleep can level up your performance on stage.
Sleep is not wasted time – it’s an active way for your body and brain to reset, recover and grow. While you sleep, your brain organizes everything you have learned, helping you retain information, strategies, combos and cognitive processing. Your body also uses the downtime to repair itself: physically and mentally.
Good sleep matters for gamers because:
It amplifies focus, memory and decision-making
Improves reaction speed and in-game awareness
It supports the regulation of stress and emotions
It supports physical recovery and long-term stamina
There’s no one-size-fits-all rule – but most people need between 7-9 hours per night. Some competitive players could thrive with 7, but others need closer 10 hours per night to feel fully recharged. Some people also use short power naps, which could improve cognitive performance in high stakes scenarios [4]
Listen to your body: notice how you feel after different sleep durations. Are you sharper, calmer, more locked in after 8 hours?
Maintain a regular sleep schedule.
Adopt consistent sleep patterns.
It’s not only about how you sleep, but it’s about when. It’s important to remember that your body operates on a circadian rhythm, which is essentially a natural clock that syncs with light and dark. If you stick to a regular sleep and wake time, your circadian rhythm will work for your benefit and not against you. Being well rested is vital for a good gaming performance – whether you’re doing everyday activities, strategizing with your team or are focused on matches. [5]
Achieving an optimal sleep quality every day requires work and consistency. Try the following to improve the quality of your sleep.
Going to bed and waking up at the same time each day
Avoid sleeping in too late on the weekends or days off.
Tracking your energy and focus with a simple sleep log.
Bedtime routine: for memory retention and awareness
A bedtime routine is not just for kids! Everyone can benefit from it – but this is easier said than done. Just like warming up before a match or a tournament, a consistent wind-down routine will help your brain shift into rest and recovery mode. Building a sleep and recovery routine to optimize sleep begins with habits. [6]
Before jumping into new habits, a coach might first ask the athlete what’s already working well and what could be improved. A simple questionnaire can help identify these areas and tailor advice accordingly.
Based on that, some helpful tips to consider include:
Limit your screen time. Avoid using your phone and other devices at least 1 hour before bed.
Try reading. Replace electronic devices before bed time and try reading a book, journaling or meditating.
Take a warm shower. Nothing like a warm shower to wind down! A good herbal tea can also do wonders.
Listen to calming music. Music and ambient sounds can make falling sleep way faster.
Dim the lights. Signal your brain to go into “rest mode”
Just like in gaming: the better the setup, the better chances you have for an immersive experience, and if conducted consistently over time, overall better results the each day. Sleep hygiene is all about creating a nice space for some quality rest, which is essential for any person – especially young people that are often in stressful environments [6][7]. It’s all about giving your brain the right signals.
It’s also important to reassess your sleeping habits and identify if you’re able to sleep properly or if you’re not getting good quality sleep. A few strategies can improve your sleep hygiene:
Keep your room dark and quiet. Ensure your mind can go into rest mode by keeping your lights off and keeping the noise out as much as possible. Some people also use white noise to set off the noise from outside and blackout curtains to block the sun (especially useful in summer!)
Set the temperature between 18°-20°C (64°-68° F). If you have the chance, make your room as cold as 18-20°C every night.
Declutter your space. Clutter means mess and disorder. A clean, decluttered space can promote calm and comfort, allowing you to sleep better.
Keep your bed linens clean.
Last but not least: assess your sleep. You don’t need a wearable to detect whether you’re sleeping well or not. Ask yourself if you feel alert when waking up, if you crash mid-day or after matches are played, or if you tilt more easily when you’re sleep deprived. If the answer is yes, you can go back to this guide and use the tricks we offer to get started on that good quality sleep.
Sleeping can be used to your advantage. The best players and athletes know when to rest, how to reset and why burnout isn’t worth the non-stop grind [8]. Invest in sleep the same way you are investing in improving your gaming or coaching skills – it will show on the scoreboard.
Wind down with relaxing activities—reading, light stretching, or listening to calm music—30–60 minutes before sleep.
Limit screens before bed. Reduce exposure to blue light from phones and monitors at least an hour before bedtime.
Be aware of other factors that could interfere with your sleep, such as caffeine intake, high-intensity exercise in the evening, and overall stress load.
Track your sleep and energy. Keep a simple log of how long you sleep and how you feel during gaming sessions to find your personal sleep sweet spot.
Prioritize sleep before game days by maintaining consistent sleep habits-regular rest over time matters more than trying to “catch up” the night before. Treat sleep as an essential part of your overall pre-match preparation.
Promote a consistent sleep schedule. Encourage players to have a consistent bedtime routine (sleep and wake up every day at the same time)
Understand your athlete’s natural sleep-wake patterns. Whether they’re a morning person or a night owl—as this influences their optimal practice and gaming times
Normalize downtime and set realistic training hours that prioritize sleep, rest and recovery.
Incorporate sleep check-ins. Check-in with players and see how they feel before scrims or tournaments. Use this to spot patterns and guide recovery strategies.
Avoid late-night practice blocks. Schedule key practice sessions earlier in the day.
Decide next steps based on the outcomes and the athlete's willingness to adjust.
FITGMR app: The FITGMR app helps you to build a healthy routine via mindfulness exercises, wellness tracking, sleep habit tracking and daily tips designed specifically for gamers.
Keep a simple Sleep Log. Try creating a simple log of your sleep and wake times. You’ll be able to track when you’re sleeping, how the quality of your sleep is and how rested you feel each day. You may consequently identify what habits improve or hurt your sleep.
Environment checklist. It can be a physical or a mental checklist. The goal is to create a list of elements to take care of before sleeping: light, noise and temperature.
Explore more tips, exercises, and expert-backed strategies in the FIFAe Healthy Gaming Guide powered by FITGMR – your go-to resource for building resilience, focus, and well-being in competitive play.
Find more helpful guides here!
Ready to level up your habits? Join FIFA.GG and start tracking today to see the difference for yourself.
[1] D. Bonnar et al., "Sleep Characteristics and Mood of Professional Esports Athletes: A Multi-National Study," Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, vol. 18, no. 2, p. 664, Jan. 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/2/664
[2] FIFA, “Health and medical,” FIFA.com. [Online]. Available: https://inside.fifa.com/health-and-medical
[3] H. J. Hong and J. Connelly, "High e-Performance: esports players’ coping skills and strategies," International Journal of Esports, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1–12, Aug. 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.ijesports.org/article/93/html
[4] NASA, “Fatigue Countermeasures Program: Flight Crew Napping,” NASA Ames Research Center, 1994. [Online]. Available: https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/nasa-napping-just-26-minutes-can-improve-job-performance-by-a-third.html
[5] K. Blatter and C. Cajochen, "Circadian rhythms in cognitive performance: Methodological constraints, protocols, theoretical underpinnings," Physiology & Behavior, vol. 90, no. 2-3, pp. 196–208, Jan. 2007.
[6] A. Smith, "The Influence of Sleep on Cognitive Function and Mental Health," Open Access Journal of Neurology, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 45–52, Mar. 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.openaccessjournals.com/articles/the-influence-of-sleep-on-cognitive-function-and-mental-health-17951.html
[7] R. H. Farraj, S. Haddad, C. Cohen, and R. Mualem, "Impact of Sleep Duration on Cognitive Performance and Emotional State Changes in High School Students," J. Neurosci. Neurol. Surg., vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 1–10, Jan. 2025. [Online]. Available: https://auctoresonline.org/article/impact-of-sleep-duration-on-cognitive-performance-and-emotional-state-changes-in-high-school-students
[8] R. H. Flannery, “Mind Over Muscle: Beat Burnout and Stay at the Top of Your Game,” Sports Medicine Weekly, May 2023. [Online]. Available: https://sportsmedicineweekly.com/blog/mind-over-muscle-beat-burnout-and-stay-at-the-top-of-your-game/
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