SLEEP HYGIENE
Purpose:
This set of seven practices increases my ability to fall asleep, stay asleep, and get up on time. Which, in turn, makes me feel way better and be way more effective during the day.
It's a thorough set of practices and took several years to develop. I implemented these one or two at a time. The synergistic effects are WAY stronger than any individual practice.
Practice:
1) Consistent wake-up time
There are two chronotypes: morning larks and night owls. Yes, this is a real biological phenomenon. I am a night owl. I know this because I feel most alert in the late afternoon and evening. Regardless of my wake-up time, I am never at peak alertness in the morning or early afternoon.
My wake up time is 08:00 in the summer, and 07: 00 in the winter (When Daylight Savings moves, I move my wake-up time by the same amount).
I get up at the same time every day, including weekends!
This was allowed for by getting a job where I can set my own schedule. An alternative arrangement would be a job that starts no earlier than 10am.
I assist myself in waking up by having lights in my room that turn on automatically at a scheduled time. I have a Phillips HF-3500 light by my bed that fades in, and a GE light in my ceiling that sometimes fades in and sometimes doesn't.
2) Light color temperature
I installed 'C by GE' smart lights in my bedroom and living room. These lights have an adjustable color temperature. I use the C by GE app to schedule these lights so that they match what is happening outside.
I have to adjust the schedules as the seasons change.
Having the lights get redder and dimmer after the sun goes down really is a big help. I have noticed that in public places or other people's houses where there is bright blue lighting, my alertness and ability to wind down for sleep are strongly affected.
3) Time of first meal
I practice what is called 'time-restricted eating' and 'intermittent fasting'. It really helped me to re-establish my circadian rhythm!
My eating window is 8-10 hours. At 8 hours, you get maximum benefit, at 12 hours you get minimum benefit.
Since my last meal needs to be at least 2 hours before bed, my eating window ends at 21:00.
This makes the time of my first meal 11:00-13:00.
Before that, I only drink water. Nothing with any flavor hits my mouth before then. This maximizes benefit from the fasting.
As it turns out, the feeling I always thought was hunger in the morning is actually thirst! It happens in my stomach area, so I assumed it was hunger. I discovered that it was not by drinking water instead of eating. Then, sometime around noon, a different feeling happens that is actually hunger. And if this feeling happens but I don't eat, I get very irritable very quickly. This isn't true of the feeling that happens in the morning.
4) Blue light exposure
The body's melatonin production begins 2 hours after the last exposure to blue light.
Blue light is EM radiation with a frequency of 400nm - 490nm.
Exposure to this frequency of light delays melatonin production by two hours.
There are photoreceptors in the skin as well as the eyes, so blue-blocking glasses are not sufficient by themselves.
As mentioned earlier, I have lights that change to a redder color and lower brightness after the sun goes down.
I also have 'night mode' enabled on all my phones and computers.
I wear blue-blocking glasses at night to account for the various electronics with blue or green LED lights around the house.
5) Hydration
I seem to have an abnormally large bladder capacity, so I often drink water before bed with no issue. If my bladder were smaller, I might have to be careful about how much water I was drinking and when I drank it.
Additionally, I started having an issue a couple years ago where my eyes and mouth get so incredibly dry at night that the severe discomfort wakes me up. Drinking water before bed is necessary but not sufficient to deal with this problem.
6) Room temperature and light level at night
I keep my room 100% dark.
I had to get some light-blocking curtains because there are security lights directly outside my window.
When I first moved to my current location, I had to allow the cats to come in and out of my room for a while until they got comfortable in the home. This would let light in from the other rooms. I made sure to always kick them out of my bed at night so they would find their own home base and let me have my darkness.
I am not comfortable at all below 74 degrees Fahrenheit. However, if I keep my room above 70 degrees while sleeping, I will always wake up during the night dehydrated AF.
7) Bed firmness, sleeping posture, and mouth breathing
My last bed (which was actually someone's guest bed) was sunken all through the middle and it really jacked up my back. So I sought a firm bed for my new home. I also didn't want to spend $1000 on a mattress. So I bought a japanese tatami mat and shikibuton for a grand total of $300.
This required a total relearning of my sleeping posture, and was pretty uncomfortable for a couple weeks. Google 'instinctive sleeping and resting postures'.
Now however, my back feels way better and I actually sleep all through the night in combination with these other practices.
With the new sleeping posture, gravity keeps my mouth closed. However, my nose is always stuffed up at night. So I use name-brand extra-strength clear nose strips. These stay on all night but are easy to remove.
I also have to use OraCoat xylimelts to keep my mouth from drying out at night. I actually was suffering from chronic tonsil infections because my throat kept drying out at night.
Bonus: Writing out any persistent thoughts
Late at night is one of my most creative periods. Sometimes I'll start writing an essay in my head. In fact, this list of sleep practices was one of such essay. Actually getting up, grabbing a notebook, and writing it out allows me to shut the brain down.