Sleep is one of the most critical tools for success. I’ve already talked at length on this. But knowing a tool is great doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to use it. And having a quality night’s rest is not exactly as black and white as the number of hours you sleep.
The most important thing you can do for your sleep is set a natural circadian rhythm. This cycle of sleep basically allows your body to get ready for sleep, ensure it goes through the deepest cycles of recovery, and gets you ready to be focused the next day. 8 hours of sleep unfortunately won’t mean as much if your circadian rhythm isn’t in check because that signals your body to truly get the most benefits out of sleep.
I want to share 3 techniques that I implement to make sure I get a good night’s rest. They’ll certainly help you sleep longer if you need to. But they’ll mostly increase the quality of your sleep by ensuring your circadian rhythm stays consistent. Of course, nothing can be done instantly. I’ll share the tips you can try now but also how you can approach them over the long-term when it really matters. That way you have a system in place to ensure you never lose your quality sleep. Hopefully in just a few days you can already start to feel the benefits on your health and productivity.
Tip #1: Use a Blue Light Filter
The access and opportunity digital devices provide us are amazing. Except for our sleep. For millennia our bodies have been able to rely on light as an indicator of our sleep patterns. The fact that it was dark was all it needed to know. It truly was simpler times. But now with the distinction between natural and artificial light, our body has to play catch up. And it’s unlikely to do that within our lives.
Blue light in particular is what needs to be cautioned. A report by Harvard Medical School showed that blue light during normal sleeping hours can shift our circadian rhythms by up to 3 hours [1]. Blue light has also been shown to suppress melatonin significantly for most people [2]. Melatonin is an important sleeping hormone while your circadian rhythms dictate the sleep cycle for your body. To hear that blue light can have such a huge impact on possibly the two most important properties of our sleep is quite scary.
In order to counterbalance this, blue light must be regulated properly. Most phones have a blue light filter that you can set to automatically change in the evening and mornings. For laptops and computers I’ve been using f.lux (not affiliated) to remove blue light. If you have glasses, blue light filters on the lenses are usually an option as well. All of these would be great ways to make sure blue light doesn’t affect your sleep past sunset. You should be able to immediately feel better more naturally sleepy during the night within a few days.
Long-Term: While blue light is the worst of the bunch, most artificial light isn’t really all that great. If possible, it’s best to not use digital devices before going to bed. I usually put away my laptop and phone an hour before I go to sleep. Putting my phone on Do Not Disturb has also helped to not get distracted. This is a bit tougher for some people depending on work and such but I do think it’s a good ideal to follow if you can schedule your day around it.
Tip #2: Relax Fully Right Before Sleeping
There are multiple frequencies of brain waves but when we are asleep we tend to drop to theta waves while dreaming and delta waves while dreaming. While awake we are often at the highest frequency of beta waves which is associated with high level thinking. But there’s also an intermediary alpha wave that exists, which signifies a more relaxed state [3].
Oftentimes we stay consistently at the highest level frequencies right before going to bed due to work of some sort. But this makes it tougher for our brains to drop down to lower waves for sleeping states. So we end up frustrated trying to quiet our head so we can sleep.
By setting up a nice evening routine, you can relax your mind to get ready for sleep. For example, reading a low-level book or stretching/yoga are great practices. Shawn Stevenson has found meditation to be the best practice as it has specifically been proven to bring our minds down to lower frequencies and is generally calming. Whatever works for you is fine but make sure you’re truly getting into a relaxed state. This basically is the beginning of your nighttime circadian rhythm even if you’re not actually sleeping
Long-term: Shawn Stevenson has also found it even better for someone to meditate after waking up. It seems that our minds would like to gradually get the day starting just as it gradually winds down at the end. The cyclical nature of the circadian rhythm seems to make sense with this as well so there are no jumps in the pattern. If you don’t have time in the morning, try to wake up even 10 minutes earlier for this. If not for your sleep, I’ve found it an amazing way to get situated and focused for the day.
Tip #3: Wake Up at the Same Time Everyday (Including Weekends)
This may be the toughest one but it’s the most important. Waking up at the same time consistently ensures your body recognizes when it’ll wake up. Your body doesn’t know what day of the week it is. If your sleep is different on weekends then you’ll never be able to cement a proper circadian rhythm.
When I first prioritized my sleep schedule, I made sure to set my alarm to 6 every day of the week. It took a little time to adjust, but naturally it’ll feel comfortable. This may mean you can’t stay up later on weekends either at first. But after a few weeks you will probably adjust well enough that you won’t even need an alarm clock to wake up anymore. This was something I employed again this year to start waking up at 5.
What I would recommend while doing this is to only sleep when you’re actually tired. You want to associate your bed only with sleeping so you’re body knows what to do when it gets there. This was a small tip Neuroscientist Matt Walker gave in his presentation [4].
Long-term: The obvious conclusion to this is to eventually sleep at the same time everyday as well. This tends to be more difficult and there will obviously be exceptions on certain nights. But since you’ll be waking up at the same time everyday, your body should also recognize when it should want to go to bed. Once it does that, you’ll truly have your circadian rhythm set.
Make sure to come back and let me know if these tips helped your sleep. I do believe we have to give as much to our body and mind as possible so it can give back to us. And sleep is likely the most undervalued asset we can provide it.
[1] Blue Light Has a Dark Side – Harvard Health https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side
[2] Joshua J. Gooley, Kyle Chamberlain, Kurt A. Smith, Sat Bir S. Khalsa, Shantha M. W. Rajaratnam, Eliza Van Reen, Jamie M. Zeitzer, Charles A. Czeisler, Steven W. Lockley, Exposure to Room Light before Bedtime Suppresses Melatonin Onset and Shortens Melatonin Duration in Humans, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 96, Issue 3, 1 March 2011, Pages E463–E472, https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2010-2098\
[3] Sleep Smarter: 21 Essential Strategies to Sleep Your Way to a Better Body, Better Health, and Bigger Success – Shawn Stevenson
[4] Sleep is Your Superpower | Matt Walker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MuIMqhT8DM
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