Maintain a regular bedtime and wake-up time, as consistency in sleep onset is predictive of better cognitive outcomes, especially for older individuals. This helps regulate your body’s homeostatic need for sleep and circadian clock.
Upon waking, expose yourself to bright light, particularly in the blue frequency, as it is the strongest signal to reset your daily circadian clock. This helps you be ready to sleep at the right time at night.
In the evening, avoid exposure to bright light, especially from electronic devices with blue light, as it can signal your brain to wake up and disrupt your circadian rhythm, making it harder to fall asleep.
Develop a consistent bedtime routine that helps your body clue into the fact that it’s time to wind down and prepare for sleep. This habit can help both your conscious and subconscious mind transition to rest.
Do not engage in activities that activate your sympathetic ‘fight or flight’ nervous system right before bedtime, as the parasympathetic ‘rest and digest’ system should dominate during sleep. A warm bath, for example, can help promote this state.
If you wake up during the night, avoid anxiety or beating yourself up, as stress inhibits the ability to fall back asleep. Trust your body’s needs; if there’s a task, do it, or try writing a list, meditating, or playing a mindless, blue-light-off game to relax.
Do not assume short periods of sleep (e.g., 8 minutes) are sufficient, as deep cleaning and refined emotional/memory work of REM sleep require longer durations. Ensure you get a full night’s sleep to benefit from all sleep stages.
Parents should allow teenagers to sleep in, as they require significant sleep for ongoing brain development and emotional processing. Encouraging earlier bedtimes by making the evening ‘boring’ and removing electronics from bedrooms can help.
For teenagers, ensure all electronic devices are kept outside the bedroom, ideally charging in a common area like the kitchen. Studies show this leads to much better social and emotional performance.
Be aware of your individual sensitivity to caffeine, as its half-life varies significantly between people. Adjust your caffeine intake times to ensure it doesn’t interfere with your ability to fall asleep.
Do not use alcohol as a sleep aid, as it disturbs sleep quality, inhibits REM sleep, and its metabolism can send an arousing signal that wakes you up in the early hours of the morning.
Refrain from having large, complex meals just before going to sleep, as your gut’s activity and neurotransmitter generation might make sleep less efficient and potentially lead to disturbing dreams.
Ensure you get adequate, quality sleep after receiving a vaccine, as insufficient or disrupted sleep can significantly reduce the effectiveness of the immunization. There is a critical window for this immune response.
Hospitals should take patient sleep seriously by minimizing interruptions, as deep slow-wave sleep is crucial for the immune system and faster recovery from illness. Disruptions can hinder healing.
If facing a critical medical situation in an emergency room, consider asking the physician about their recent sleep duration and quality. Well-rested medical staff make fewer errors, so a second opinion might be warranted if they are sleep-deprived.
If you miss a night’s sleep or go to bed late, try to go to sleep earlier the following night. Your brain will become sleepier earlier and work to catch up on the missed deep slow-wave sleep.
If you are forced to choose between going to bed late or waking up early (e.g., for a flight), it is generally better to wake up early. This is because you still get important REM sleep in the first half of the night, which is crucial for learning and memory.
To successfully shift your bedtime to an earlier hour, start by waking up earlier, even if tired. This builds homeostatic sleep need and helps reset your circadian clock to an earlier wakefulness and sleep time.
If it takes you longer than 45 minutes to fall asleep, avoid stressing about it, as anxiety is counterproductive. Instead, get out of bed, do something relaxing and non-exciting, and return to bed when you feel genuinely sleepy.
Do not worry if you don’t remember your dreams, as it often indicates that your entire brain was efficiently asleep, processing old memories rather than recording new ones. This is a sign of healthy, efficient sleep.
Approach scientific inquiry with the understanding that hypotheses are often too simplistic for complex systems like the brain. Be open to data revealing more nuanced realities rather than simple ’either/or’ answers.
When pursuing scientific understanding, set aside your ego and be open to being wrong. This allows for adaptation to new data and embracing the inherent complexity of the subject matter.
Define success as being useful and contributing to making the world a better place, regardless of your specific profession or role. Find happiness in your work and its positive impact.