Revolutionize Your Rest: Expert Secrets for Better Sleep

It blew my mind when I learned we spend about one third of our lives in bed.

That’s 26 years of sleep.

That’s 9,490 days.

That’s 222,760 hours.

🤯 

This also startles me because we spend that much time in bed…not all of it asleep.

Some chunk of that time, we’re just laying there awake.

Not getting the rest we need, not recharging our batteries.

Yuck to that - I hate wasting time.

But because I can’t cut back the amount of sleep my body and lifestyle requires (been there, tried that,) I’ll do everything I can to get the most sleep available to me.

Here’s how.

Ways to Improve Your Sleep RIGHT NOW

A little bit of conscious effort goes a long way when it comes to correcting your sleep.

There are 3 steps you can take, right now, that will dramatically improve your sleep score.

The type of sleep that kicks hella ass.

Some of these may seem obvious, but it’s quite often we need the simplest information the most.

Step 1: Stop Screen Time 1 Hour Before Bedtime

This is crucial. And a very hard habit to break if you’ve never done it.

BUT.

I’m telling you, it’s incredible how this one change vastly improved my sleep quality.

Our phones, TV screens, and laptops emit blue light.

Blue light stops the production of melatonin, a hormone our brain naturally produces to aid the sleep/wake cycle.

In other words, blue light is BAD for sleep.

When you’re being radiated by this blue light before bedtime, theres a severe delay in the time it takes to fall asleep and achieve REM sleep.

REM sleep is the main character in:

• Memory consolidation

• Helping us learn

• Processing emotions / Mood regulation

• Brain development

• Dreaming (where more emotions are processed)

You KNOW what good sleep feels like, I don’t need to sell you on it.

You just need to sell yourself on making good sleep a top priority.

Try For One Week

Say your bedtime is at 9pm: set a reminder in your phone for 8pm.

When your reminder chimes, plug your phone into it’s charger for the night.

Steer clear of it until your morning alarm goes off.

If you’ve never done this before, you’ll be urged to go check your phone and have it back in your hand.

Try to resist.

Try for a week.

I’m telling you, you’ll notice why after just one week.

Step 2: Set Up Night Shift on Your Phone

I recommend doing this no matter what, but especially if you struggle with Step 1.

Setting up Night Shift is easy; here’s step-by-step instructions for both iPhone and Android.

Later in the evening when the Night Shift begins, you’ll notice the color of your phone’s display switch to a “warmer” color spectrum. It’s weird to get used to at first, but you will over time.

This warm mode reduces the blue light emitting from your cell phone. Thus, your melatonin production can go on as nature intended!

Step 3: Set Up Sleep Focus on Your Phone

Sleep Focus mutes any incoming notifications you may receive while sleeping.

I love this feature; no more text chiming in the middle of the night, no more email notifications, no more incoming calls.

Just deep, uninterrupted sleep.

Here’s instructions on how to set up Sleep Focus for both iPhone and Android.

For reference, my Sleep Focus schedule is 9:00pm-6:00pm. So any incoming notifications I receive after 9:00pm and before 6:00am are silenced. 🤌

That doesn’t mean I can’t view them if I break the rules of Step 1 and look at my phone right before bedtime.

It’s just the notifications won’t sound.

If you follow all 3 steps but are the type who watches TV until lights out, you can consider blue light blocking glasses. That way, your TV, fridge light, laptop, etc. don’t F up all your blue light-blocking efforts.

Ways to Improve Your Sleep IN SHORT ORDER

I think you’ll be surprised how much your sleep improves taking the 3 steps I’ve laid out above.

But as we all know, sleep is a finicky thing.

Sometimes, those steps don’t cut it and efforts have to be taken up a notch.

At least that’s the case for me.

So if:

• A week has gone by

• You followed all 3 steps above and

• Your sleep quality hasn’t improved

Try implementing these changes next.

Adjust Your Room Temperature and Darkness

Studies show that sleeping hot and exposed to light disrupts your bodies circadian rhythm.

If your room is warm and you have night lights or sleep with the TV on, your body interprets both the temperature and light as daytime indicators.

Put another way, your body operates like it’s time to be awake when it’s not.

Ideally, your bedroom’s temperature should fall somewhere between 63°-65°F.

Also, make that bedroom as pitch black as possible.

Close those curtains, put those nightlights in other areas of your house, and be like a bat in a deep, dark, cool cave.

Purchase Red Lightbulbs

I’m literally obsessed with red lightbulbs. In fact, I intend to make all the lightbulbs in my house red light-capable at some point.

Simply put, red is the opposite of blue on the color wheel.

Similarly, red light is the opposite of blue light. And if you recall, blue light suppresses the bodies melatonin-producing capabilities.

There’s trunk loads of science on the benefits of red light, but I can’t help but love the added effect red light has on the “mood” of an evening.

It puts me at ease…it literally gives that feeling that follows a big yawn.

It’s THE BEST. I have these smart bulbs; they connect to my phone via bluetooth so I can turn them on, off, or change them to whatever color I want through an app.

Don’t flinch at the price tag; they last forever.

Take Magnesium

I JUST started taking magnesium before bed and I give it a lot of my sleep score’s credit as of late.

I’m truly a terrible sleeper; everything wakes me up.

My cats can’t breathe in the other room without waking me.

I added this part of my sleep protocol when my hubbie heard about taking magnesium for sleep while listening to this Andrew Huberman podcast. Thus, we tested out a few different brands to find which, if any, worked.

We ended up liking Thorne Magnesium CitraMate and I’ve been taking it religiously ever since.

Not only is magnesium really good for both men and women, it’s particularly good for women (a topic for another day.)

But the magnesium effects have been consistently incredible. Magnesium has taken my sleep game to EXPERT LEVEL.

Sunlight Exposure First Thing in the AM

Since moving to Austin, a recent hack I’ve added to my sleep protocol is exposing myself to direct sunlight first thing in the morning.

I’ll refer you Andrew Huberman’s episode again if you’re wanting to learn more benefits of sunlight exposure.

All you really need to know is you should aim to get direct sun exposure as soon as you possibly can. Yes, even on cloudy days.

Contacts and glasses are fine, but obviously you want to go without sunglasses. You also shouldn’t have a windshield or window pane between you and the sun during exposure.

Direct means…direct.

Go outside, stand in the sun, and aim your face towards it.

Now, don’t stare directly into the sun for an uncomfortable amount of time like Donald Trump did during the solar eclipse in 2017….

But like, at the same time, you do actually want to look at it for a second or two.

It’s a fine line; please, do not burn out your retinas.

Look away when you need to, blink when you need to. Don’t overdue it.

If you’re REALLY skeptical of this (because I was too,) I truly implore you to listen to this episode of Andrew Huberman’s podcast before writing it off.

Dr. Huberman is a Professor of Neurobiology at Stanford and speaks about proper sunlight exposure ad nauseam. My sleep and healthy retinas can attest to his claims.

And Finally…Touch Grass

I know.. you hear the phrase “touch grass” or overhear a hippy talking about “grounding” and your gag/cringe/eye roll reflex automatically kicks in.

Samesies. ✌️

But the hippies are right about this barefoot grass touching thing, guys.

Studies have shown that grounding before bedtime increases the surfaces area of your red bloods cells.

Essentially, the surface of red blood cells build an electrical charge over time.

This causes them to clump together. Standing bare feet on ground eliminates the charge and undoes the clumping, leading to better oxygenation.

Better oxygenation makes your bodies recovery process much more efficient during sleep.

So think of it not so much as a sleep inducer, but a sleep quality enhancer.

I mean, just think about how much of our lives we spend separated from the surface of the Earth.

If we’re not in homes, stores or office buildings, we’re walking on concrete.

To make matters worse, we’re always wearing shoes.

We’re not designed to wear shoes all day… evolution intended for us to be barefoot.

Now obviously, in the modern era it’s uncommon and often inappropriate to walk around barefoot. But that doesn’t mean you should never touch the Earth with your bare feet again.

Touching grass is really simple:

• I ground for 10 minutes in the morning (while getting direct sun exposure)

• I ground for 10 minutes in the evening (and gaze up at stars while I’m at it)

I’ve been grounding everyday for a little over a month and I will never stop. Not only is grounding’s effect on sleep science-backed, but it also just puts me in a good ass mood.

I’ll be writing about grounding in more detail at a later date, but you’re gonna want to get barefoot and head outside as soon as you get over any preconceived notions or judgments that may still be lingering here 😉.

HEY, DO YOU WANT TO SLEEP GOOD OR NOT?

Extra Credit If You Want to Spend The $ Big Bucks $

I’m a big believer that investing money into improving our sleep since, you know, we spend a third of our lives in bed, is money well spent.

But I’m not saying you must run to the nearest Tempur-Pedic outlet and drop $10k on a new mattress today.

That said, when it comes time to replace your current mattress, think about getting something as close to top-notch as you can afford.

My husband and I needed a new bed a few years ago so we got set up with a Tempur-Pedic package. Most high-quality mattress stores have in-house financing and really low interest rates so you bet your ass we took full advantage of that.

Best. Decision. Ever.

Like I underscored earlier; I’m naturally a light sleeper. I also exercise a lot.

So a high-quality mattress has personally been life-changing.

Remember my words when you’re in the market for a new mattress again.

WiFi Kill Switches

WiFi kill switches are not something I’ve invested in yet.

1. I don’t own the house I currently live in. I’m renting.

2. It’s a controversial subject, one I’ve just been introduced to myself.

Regardless, I pass this information along to you because my thinking is

1. It’s better to be safe than sorry

2. There are many practices and strategies I looked over in the past (cough, grounding, cough) that have proven to be worth their scientific salt today.

I have strong reason to believe WiFi kill switches have fallen victim to the same judgmental camp. I’m looking further into it, you can join me in that effort by reading more up on it here if you wish.

Practice Makes Improvements

As I go through life, I like to share information I come across with others and I aim to treat the newsletters I write in a similar respect.

I might have to be explicit here: please don’t hold everything I say as absolute gospel.

That said, what I’ve mentioned and recommended has worked wonders for me.

If it didn’t, I wouldn’t spend any of my time writing about it.

I aim to be an accurate, efficient, helpful human being.

But I hope some of this resonates with you and you take what you’re willing into your approach towards better sleep.

I really believe we’d be better off as a society if we took our sleep as seriously as we take everything else.

If you’ve learned anything here or any of my recommendations help you, I hope you’ll tell me all about it.

Sweet dreams, friend.

Additional Resources For Piqued Sleep Curiosity

The Joe Rogan Experience, Episode #1109 w/ Matthew Walker, Author of the Book Why We Sleep

Huberman Lab Podcast, Episode #84: Sleep Toolkit: Tools for Optimizing Sleep

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker