Sleep

Why: Reduce your risk of stuff like depression and death

. Also, lose less muscle

Setup

Temperature: 60 to 68˙F

Why: Cold temperatures are associated with better sleep . So crank up the AC and fan!

Blackout curtains

Why: Light suppresses melatonin, the hormone you need to sleep . This makes a set of

$25 blackout curtains

an excellent way to improve your sleep quality.

Tip: Your bedroom should be so dark that you cannot see your hands!

Melatonin

Why: Melatonin is a foolproof way of making yourself sleepy

. This is really useful if you have been going to bed at 3:00am and would like to switch to a more normal sleep schedule, like 10:00pm. You can buy a set of

90 pills for $4

Heads up: Melatonin is safe and non-addictive, and thus can be taken indefinitely

. However, the dosages of melatonin sold in stores is way too high: usually 3 to 5 mg. This is about 10 times as much as the brain normally releases . That is why we recommend a melatonin with a dosage of 300 mcg .

Tip: Most people take melatonin way too late. It takes roughly 2 hours after taking melatonin before it starts to make you drowsy . Thus, taking melatonin right before bedtime will not help you fall asleep. In fact, it will actually make you sleepier during the day!

Blue light filter

Why: Blue light is especially good at suppressing melatonin , the hormone you need to sleep.

Tip: Decrease the amount of blue light coming from your devices. If you have an iPhone, this is handled by Night Shift. If you have an Android Phone, this is handled by Night Light. If you have a Mac or PC, this is handled by the free program f.lux, which you can download here.

Heads up: As a rule, you want to configure these programs to use the warmest setting possible, as this will eliminate the most blue light!

Light therapy lamp

Why: Humans don't get enough sunlight, especially during the winter. Thus, there is evidence that light therapy lamps, which emit a bright light, can help with depression, especially the seasonal variety

. Light therapy can also help you stay awake longer or wake up earlier. Thus, it's worth spending

$21 on a small lamp

to see if it helps.

Tip: If you are interested in light therapy, buy a lamp with 10,000 lux. Lumen is the total amount of light emitted by a lamp, while lux is how much light you actually "get".

Program

Set your target: 9 hours

Why: 7 hours of continuous sleep is minimum amount of sleep required for an adult

. However, 9 hours is likely the correct amount for optimal functioning, especially if you exercise

Set a consistent schedule

Why: In some studies, the regularity of your sleep, both in terms of timing and duration, matters more for conditions like diabetes and depression than the total duration of your sleep

. Thus, a consistent sleep wake-up time and bedtime (including on weekends), enforced by an alarm, is a really good thing.

Tip: To make it easier to set a consistent sleep schedule, you can use melatonin and/or a light therapy lamp, both covered below.

Caffeine: Stop after lunch

Why: Caffeine lasts a surprisingly long time in the body, ~ 10 - 12 hours and will mess up your sleep if still present in the body in significant quantities. It does this by preventing adenosine, a molecule that accumulates throughout the day and makes you drowsy, from binding to its receptor .

Heads up: The body will make more adenosine receptors to compensate for chronic caffeine use, leading to tolerance . If you want to eliminate that tolerance, reducing your intake by half every three days until you are caffeine free .

Melatonin: Optional

Why: Some people go to bed late, like 3:00 am, and wake up equally late, like 11:00am, and are fine with it. Others would rather shift their sleep cycle earlier. The best way to do that is to take melatonin two hours before your ideal bedtime and to set an alarm for your ideal wake up time.

Tip: If you have access to a light therapy lamp (next section), you should expose yourself to it for 30 minutes after you first wake up. This will synergize with the melatonin you take, making it even easier to shift your sleep schedule to your ideal wake up time .

Heads up: During the first couple days of your transition, you're going to be tired, especially if the transition is particularly brutal, like going from 11:00 am to 7:00 am. But this sleepiness is good. It ensures you will be sleepy enough to fall asleep at 10:00 pm, rather than say, 2:00 pm. Thus, it is vital you do not nap, as that will diminish this sleepiness!

Light therapy: Optional

Why: Some people go to bed early, like 8:00 pm, and wake up equally early, like 3:00am, and are fine with it. Others would rather shift their sleep cycle later. The best way to do that is to expose yourself to 30 minutes of bright light three hours before you go to sleep .

Get in bed when sleepy

Why: One of the biggest mistakes people make is getting into bed before they are sleepy, as they just end up lying in bed, unable to sleep. Eventually, the brain learns to associate the bed with not sleeping and that is how you get insomnia .

Tip: You know you're sleepy, rather than just tired or fatigued, when you find yourself struggling to stay awake . You have a hard time concentrating on your book or phone, your eyes keep drifting shut, and you're yawning... a lot!

Heads up: You should actively avoid the bedroom unless you are trying to sleep or having sex. The last thing you want to do is hang out in bed all day, destroying the brain's association between sleep and the bedroom.

Wind down

Why: To fall asleep, you need to be relaxed, not stimulated . So, once you feel sleepy (above) and have transitioned to the bed, do something relaxing, like reading a book . Do this until you feel so sleepy that you can barely keep your eyes open. Then, stop and go to sleep!

Heads up: Your phone or tablet can be used for the sleep ritual, but it really depends on what you use it for. For example, I would not recommend reading the news, playing games, or scrolling through Facebook or Twitter, as the feelings of self-comparison, anger, and anxiety created by these apps are too stimulating. In contrast, a TikTok, Reddit, or Instagram stream focused on things like cute animals, relaxing imagery, funny memes/videos, etc. could be an excellent option!

Leave the bedroom

Why: If you cannot fall asleep within 20 minutes, you should leave the bedroom and do something else until you feel sleepy . This is so you can preserve the association between the bedroom and sleep, while also minimizing the frustration that comes with tossing and turning!