Who Wants Better Sleep? You Do (I Bet!)
Four simple tips to boost your slumber.
According to a 2019 survey, 62% of adults worldwide say they don’t sleep as well as they’d like.
I was part of that 62%. While I have never had problems falling asleep, I felt I could wake up more refreshed in the mornings. And guess what, I was right.
After a few experiments, I found four simple practices that helped me improve my sleep quality — and they might help you too.
Here they are:
- No coffee after 1 p.m.
- Early dinners
- Get a blue light filter
- No “work mode” at night
“But how do you know these strategies work?”, you may ask.
Well, I collected data. I bought a smartband and started measuring my sleep. I didn’t give a damn about steps or calorie counting. Sleep data was all I wanted.
Luckily for you and me, there is no need to get the latest Apple Watch. Decent smartwatches and smartbands are pretty affordable these days. Just make sure you buy one that measures deep, light, and REM sleep.
Yes, there’s more to know than just the sacred “sleep 8 hours every night” mantra. Bear with me.
Sleep 101
So, deep, light, and REM, right? Let’s explain each one briefly.
- Light sleep is when the body begins to relax, the heart rate slows down, and the body temperature drops.
- Deep sleep is critical for physical restoration, growth, and immune function. Not getting enough of it means lacking energy the next day.
- REM sleep gets its name from Rapid Eye Movement and is essential for cognitive functions such as memory consolidation, learning, and mood regulation. This is also when you dream.
Definitions covered, a brief word on sleep cycles.
During a good night’s sleep, you cycle between light, deep, and REM, in that order, with each cycle lasting around one hour. Their relative proportion also changes as you approach the morning, with deep sleep decreasing and light and REM sleep increasing.
Graphically, here’s what a perfect night’s sleep looks like:
See? It’s not only about how many hours you sleep, but also how these hours are distributed between light, deep, and REM phases. In terms of total time spent at each phase, the ideal proportion is 50% light, 25% deep, and 25% REM.
And now that you know more about sleep than 90% of the population and understand what to aim for, it’s time to wear your watch or wristband and get to work — or better yet, get to sleep!
If your data shows you’re sleeping like a newborn baby, congratulations. Not the case? Then, I believe you may benefit from my experience.
My experience
Before implementing these practices, my sleep was lacking sufficient deep and REM phases. The proportion was something like 80% light, 10% deep, and 10% REM. Not exactly something to be proud of.
I used to drink coffee at 3 p.m. every day in the office, some days even later. Once I learned that caffeine remains active in the body for up to 10 hours, I stopped drinking coffee late in the day. I adopted the “no coffee after 1 p.m.” rule and saw my deep and REM sleep increase. Nice.
As for dinner, I already had the habit of eating by 6 or 7 p.m. Here, what I noticed was that, whenever I went out with friends and finished dinner around 9 or 10 p.m., the decrease in deep and REM phases was clear. I also noticed a higher heart rate, especially at the beginning of the night. So, for me, early dinner = better sleep.
Now, about the blue light emitted by our beloved screens. This mischievous radiation suppresses the production of melatonin, which is nothing less than THE sleep hormone. So, I simply installed a blue light filter on my phone and started falling asleep faster than ever.
Finally, I rarely work at night, but when I do, oh boy… So, if you can, refrain from “work mode” after dinner. The reason is simple: your brain needs time to unwind. You can’t work until 10 p.m. and expect to be dreaming a few minutes later. Instead, read a book or play with your kids. But please, for the sake of your dreams, don’t work on that PowerPoint presentation.
How’s my sleep now? Much better, thanks for asking. I consistently achieve 20–25% of REM and deep sleep. I feel more reinvigorated in the mornings. Heck, I even wake up spontaneously most days now.
As a parting hint, don’t become obsessed. I still go out with friends even knowing that my sleep won’t be as good after all those beers and finger food. But it’s just one night, so no worries. In our lives, it’s what we do regularly that counts, not the occasional slip-up.
