Let’s get real. Sleep is the most basic of biological functions. Deprive yourself of basics like food, water, exercise — or sleep — for 24 hours and we know which has the greatest effect on our health. Why do we insist on trying to hack this part of our life? Instead let’s understand some principles that will help you do well enough until you can get the rest you need.
Flexible Sleepers Is Our Goal
If you can follow the principles below, you can become a more flexible sleeper (for example, sleep in on the weekends and still be able to fall asleep 13 or 14 hours later on a Sunday night without lying awake), or do better with jet lag.
Insomniacs hear this 👇
Your body is designed for sleep, so think of these principles as fundamentals that remove the obstacles to sleep. Instead of piling on treatments (melatonin, sleepy tea, sleep aids etc), the best behavioral sleep therapy will help you clear away the mindset and the habits that keep you awake.
1. Set — And Obey — Your Alarm (especially important following spring time change)
The fundamental: respect your circadian rhythm. Use an old-fashioned alarm clock!
Our circadian rhythm is what we call the part of our body, regulated by the hypothalamus, which controls our sleep-wake cycle. Setting an alarm for the same time every day (within 30 minutes) is a simple way to strengthen your body’s response to light and dark. When you wake up, your eyes allow light into the brain which stop the production of melatonin and increase cortisone, a hormone correlated with wakefulness. Your body temperature rises.
Ideally you (and your teenagers) should get out of bed immediately following your alarm. You want to avoid associating your bed with the news, or scrolling your phone, or generally being awake. Use an old-fashioned alarm clock.
2. Do Screens Cause Sleep Problems? Not Necessarily
The fundamental: it’s what you’re looking at which can cause wakefulness, both in content and by the continuous intermittent reward system of phone scrolling.
Many parents are looking for reasons to get their teens off screens. Instead of citing blue light, which in my experience is not so problematic as the content and engagement of the teen on their phone, consider how to use screens for good wind-down purposes.
Just like a good book or scary movie can keep you up because it activates your nervous system with interest or fear, screens at night are likely to do their damage by engaging your attention with no clear stopping point. This is true whether it’s social media or a news app or a work project.
Watch a movie or show, but keep the addictive apps and online behavior out of your night at least an hour before bed. Use an alarm to remind yourself — notice how difficult it is to pull your brain away from this habit. Don’t expect yourself to do it without a hard stopping point! Definitely don’t expect teens to do this without your help.
3. Want Better Energy? Be Strategic With Caffeine, Light and Routines
The fundamental: light works like caffeine, blocking adenosine which promotes wakefulness. Use them both strategically.
Since wakefulness is correlated with our circadian rhythm, using caffeine, light, exercise, and wind down routines are very helpful in maximizing our energy. For example, upon waking and for several hours, our body temperature rises and we achieve natural alertness a couple hours after we wake up. You can lengthen this alertness if you wait an hour or so before having that morning cup of coffee.
What about that afternoon slump? It is just as likely to respond to a workout and some outdoor light (or a light box) as an afternoon cup of coffee. Exercise brings neurotransmitters to the brain which help us focus and feel alert. So ironically one of the best things you can do when feeling tired is to walk or work out.
You can read more about using winter light strategically at our instagram post.
Your bedtime routine can help you fall asleep on time, as discussed above. But other routines can help you with energy: staying hydrated, avoiding multi-tasking which drains willpower (decision fatigue) and having a healthy diet where you eat at regular intervals to avoid low blood sugar or a crash from a quick-fix food choice.
Want more sleep info?
Check out our instagram post with tips specific to the spring time change this week — it’s not too late!
Also see our sleep post: finally solve your sleep problems for good.
Read or listen to UC Berkeley professor, Michael Walker, who wrote Why We Sleep.
