biohack

Sleep Optimization (1/N)

Consistent Sleep Schedule: Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. I usually go to bed at 11-12 at night and wake up at 7-8am. Consistency reinforces your body's sleep-wake cycle and virtually every other aspect of the body's health/recovery.

Sleep Env: set your bedroom up for quality sleep - cool temp (I like 67F/19.4C), dark (blackout curtains), quiet, clean air (I crack a window to avoid high CO2 and get fresh air), no distractions and minimal electronics (especially the type that emit high amounts of EMF for example phones, computers, bluetooth, wifi).

Diet: unprocessed whole food, good meal timing and avoid drugs that effect sleep & alcohol. Generally avoid large meals late in the day and snacks especially close to bed time as this will reduce sleep quality. I eat 3 meals a day generally and my last meal of the day is around 6-7pm.

Regular exercise: Exercising properly will help you fall asleep faster and increase sleep quality. The thing to keep in mind is that overtraining, which very few people actually do, can reduce sleep quality so beware; for the vast majority of us this is not a concern, just workout hard :)

Stress Management: Stress can come from all kinds of things, family, relationships, career, the list goes on. I have had great success with meditation and breath work (nasal breathing). Lower amounts of stress generally means better quality sleep.

If you adhere to these practices consistently it is very likely your sleep quality, your mood, mindset and general health will all improve drastically.

Controlled Light Exposure: Expose yourself to natural sunlight during the morning/noon/evening as best you can. You want to generally mitigate artificial light exposure throughout the day, but especially at night with regard to screens/house lighting as they will greatly disrupt sleep quality.