Sleepmaxxing: Serious Science or Simply Stupid?

The basic idea is great. But the actual tactics range from partly right to notably wrong. What you need instead is an individualized sleep strategy based on real science.

Image: Krakenimages/Shutterstock. Used under the writer’s license.

It’s an alluring idea and a sexy-sounding, totally made-up term. Sleepmaxxing has become a viral phenomenon on — where else — TikTok, where all the best health information originates. Just kidding. It went viral as a Google search term, too.

The idea is simple: Adopt some supposedly helpful sleep tactics (and purchase a supposedly helpful product!) in order to sleep better.

There’s just one little problem.

The individual sleepmaxxing recommendations — which vary depending on what non-expert is pitching them — range from helpful to stupid, even potentially dangerous, while often omitting several of the best sleep tactics offered by real sleep experts and proven by real research to be effective.

The good and the so-so tips

Let’s first look at some of the helpful sleepmaxxing suggestions, and what bona-fide sleep experts say about them:

Keep your bedroom dark and cool. Great tip, the experts agree. Sleeping in a cool…