How to improve your sleep for more energy, better focus and world-class productivity.
But…but…I’m pretty good at sleeping already!?!
When it comes to living a healthier life, being more productive, having a better diet, being stronger/faster etc., addressing sleep is not the first thing that comes to mind. In fact, most people think of sleep as this binary thing — you either get enough sleep or not. However, even if you are regularly getting 8+ hours of sleep, chances are the quality of your sleep could be significantly improved. Especially in our age of ubiquitous technology and food abundance.
Apart from, obviously, energy levels, sleep plays an important role in regulating hormones, fat loss and most vital human processes. But before dwelling further on how sleep quality can be improved, it’s important to understand how sleep really works.
Sleep is a cyclical process, with each cycle lasting between 90–120 minutes. The sleep cycle can be divided into a Non-REM and REM sleep, where REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement. The Non-REM sleep consists of 4 stages, followed by a stage of REM sleep. The first two Non-REM stages are considered “light sleep” and we can be easily awaken at any time. However, stages 3 and 4 (often referred just as stage 3) is when your body starts to enter “deep sleep”. This is the “restorative time” for your body — when muscles and other tissues repair and grow, immune system recovers, and overall energy is restored, to get you ready for the next day. After approximately 90 minutes of Non-REM seep, the body enters the REM stage where most of the dreams occur. During that time, your body is completely paralyzed, while brain activity is at its peak, thus sometimes referred to as “paradoxical sleep”. This last stage of the sleep cycle is essential for learning, processing information and overall memory function.
In a nutshell, most of the recovering functions happen during the “deep sleep” stage, which includes REM sleep and the latter stages of Non-REM. The amount of deep sleep we get is heavily responsive to our daily habits. The big question here is what can we do to get more deep sleep? We all want more energy, good memory, focus and productivity, right?
1. Ditch the devices before bed
Guilty of scrolling down every night before going to bed? You’re not alone. Most of us are hooked to our phones, laptops, TVs, tablets, you name it. And all those devides produce blue light which affects melatonin leves (sleep-inducing hormone) and messes up our circadian rhythm (our biological clock). Being exposed to blue light, the body is still under the impression that there is still light around, and bedtime is not upon us, making it harder to fall asleep. Try to avoid late night device binges altogether, or use a blue-light filter. Reading a book at night is another good way to escape the device loop.
2. Time your meal or Fast
Eating late at night has several implications. Firstly, it’s misaligned with our circadian rhythm. While our body is trying to produce melatonin (and go to sleep), we are stacking it up with energy. That heavy dinner you’re having will take hours to digest, reducing your sleep quality and potentially leading to acid reflux. Secondly, our metabolism and insulin sensitivity are the slowest in the evening, increasing the chances of weight gain and potential blood-pressure issues. So for better sleep, opt for a light, early dinner, and concentrate most of your calories in the earier stages of the day. For even better “sleep gains” try intermittent fasting. Dr. Satchin Panda has some brilliant work on the topic and the benefits of intermittent fasting on the human body.
3. Breathe through your nose
So for most of us, breathing would be the last thing on the list, when it comes down to improving sleep. Many people are naturally breathing through the mouth throughout the day, and also while they sleep. Turns out that our oxygen intake is limited this way, reducing the quality of our deep sleep. This idea was brough to the spotlight by Dr. Mark Burhenne in “The 8-Hour Sleep Paradox”. To help this, we can be more aware about breathing through our nose during the day, and even try mouth taping before bed. It’s a bizzare-sounding concept that I came across via Mike Mutzel, but it really improves deep sleep to an extent where you wake up and feel more rested. A little bonus (or not so little, if you ask your partner) is that you won’t be snoring any more.
A good way of implementing all or some of the above is establishing an evening routine, which sets you up for a better night of sleep. Technology has also developed to a level where we can easily track sleep (See Oura or other wearable devices). One can also experiment with zero technology — have 8 hours of sleep after a heavy dinner, and the same 8 hours next day with a light one or no dinner at all. You’ll be pretty suprised how noticeable the increased energy level is in the morning.
Curious to hear about more sleeping “hacks” that improve the quality of our sleep.
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