You wouldn’t go sit in your cubicle in a sweaty t-shirt after crushing a workout in the morning.
Bad hygiene is gross.
Having bad sleep hygiene is the same way. It’s distracting, unproductive and detracts from the environment you’re trying to create.
Entering sleep is not like flicking a light switch; it’s not binary.
There’s a cascade of hormones and neurological events that have to take place one after another for you to enter a state of optimal sleep.
Some people proceed through this process faster than others. And some are asleep a higher percentage of their time in bed than the next.
In other words, you can spend the same time in bed but sleep longer, sleep better and wake up feeling more refreshed.
This is IF you take care of your sleep hygiene.
“So what is that again?”
Sleep hygiene is simply “cleaning up” your nighttime routine and sleep environment so you can sleep optimally.
Tier 1 Interventions: Start Here
○ Turn Off Bright Overhead Lights
○ Turn Down Your Phone Brightness within 90 min of Bed
○ No Caffeine or Alcohol before Bed
○ No Viewing a TV or Phone from your Bed
○ Do Not Exercise within 2 Hours of Bedtime
Tier 2 Interventions: Once you’ve Mastered Tier 1
○ No Phone, Computer or TV within 45 min of Bed
○ Clocks Out of Your Vision when Laying in Bed
○ No Caffeine after 3pm
○ No Food within 90 minutes before Bed
○ A Quiet Fan or Some Mild White Noise
Tier 3 Intervention: Sleep Level = Jedi
○ No Electronics 90 min of Bed
○ Only Dim, Soft, Lamps 2 Hours Before Bed
○ No Caffeine after Noon
○ Create Biological Predictability: A “Nighttime Routine”
○ A Quiet, Cool, Dark Room
○ Sleep & Wake Times Within 60 min All Days of the Week