Sleeping is one of my favorite activities. I love sleeping, reading about sleep, optimizing my sleep, talking about sleep, and helping people sleep better. I like to call myself a sleep geek.
To this day, I’ve never pulled an all-nighter. I hope this statement remains true on my deathbed.
Sleep is the foundation of a healthy life. It helps with pretty much every aspect of health, including memory, muscle recovery, metabolism balance, and emotional coping. If you’re curious about the benefits of great sleep and the downsides of poor sleep, check out Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker or Calm’s Better Sleep masterclass.
Sleep Hygiene
I’m often teased for spending the whole day just preparing to sleep well. Actually, I hardly notice it; I enjoy the optimization process. Here are some of the things I do throughout the day to help me sleep at night.Light
Throughout the day, I try to take in as much sunlight as possible. I start preparing to sleep as soon as I wake up, immediately opening the blinds to let in the sunlight (only in the living room; my bedroom is completely blacked out). Seeing light also helps with waking up and starting the day faster. At 5:30 p.m., if I need to be outside, I put on my sunglasses. This supports my circadian rhythm and melatonin production.Food and drink intake
At 6:30 p.m. I stop eating. On nights when I eat closer to my bedtime, I notice a detrimental effect on my heart rate variability (HRV), body temperature, and overall sleep score. I don’t drink any alcohol or caffeine, two sleep-destroying substances. I’ve never liked drinking either of them. The more I’ve learned about sleep, the happier I am that I don’t. Alcohol inhibits our REM sleep. Caffeine prevents adenosine, the chemical that makes us tired, from being absorbed by cells. I even restrict my caffeine intake from dark chocolate, which I’ll only eat before noon.Activity
We all know from experience that a day full of physical activity often leads to great sleep. I try to be active throughout the day. One of my goals is to never get an alert to stand up from my Oura Ring. So far, so good!Preparing for Bed
It’s important to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. Our household bedtime is 10 p.m. To make sure I’m in bed and ready to sleep at 10, I follow a sleep routine. I’ve developed this routine over the past year through trial and error, initially based on how rested I felt and more recently on sleep data from my Oura Ring. Around 7:30 p.m. I drink my last cup of water. Waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom disrupts my sleep. I rarely wake up to go to the bathroom if I do this. At 8 p.m. I start cooling the apartment to 70°F (21°C). I get ready to go to bed by brushing my teeth and washing my face. I wear blue light blocking glasses. I turn off most of the lights, keeping two dimmed lights on. At 9 p.m. I further cool the apartment to 68°F. I stop using screens, including my computer and phone. I turn off all the lights, except for a book light if I’m reading. I switch to pre-bedtime activities: reading, talking, stretching, listening to a podcast, or cleaning up the house. There’s one thing I always do before bed: meditate. I like to do a 10- to 15- minute unguided meditation.
My sleep latency over the past month. This is measured by my Oura Ring.
At 9:50 p.m. I put my sleep socks on, turn on my white noise maker, and jump into bed. As shown above, I take an average of 12 minutes (σ = 7.8 minutes) to fall asleep. Some nights I can’t follow this routine. Whether I decided to go out for a cheat meal or hang out with friends, I try to be flexible once in a while. On these nights I follow an abbreviated sleep routine, which I can share in a future post.