How I sleep well for 6 hours
2022-10-27
Table of Contents
How to Sleep Well
I sleep for mostly 6 hours, sometimes 7-8. These are the tips, tricks & cool "lyfe hax" I've used that work for me. Most of these tricks I've learnt from the YouTube channel What I've Learned The video The Night Routine that Transformed my Sleep should be a good condensed version of his findings.
No caffeine 6 hours before bedtime
Caffeine doesn't give you energy. It just makes it harder to sleep, which gives the illusion of sleep. Any Drink with caffeine should be avoided, ie Coffee, Tea, Soft Drinks, Energy Drinks etc
Use a blue light filter after sunset
Blue light from screens, simulate the sky (since its blue). This tricks your brain into thinking its still day, so its harder to fall asleep. A bluelight filter helps remove this light, which will make your screen look like its stained buy some yellowish fluid. More yellow/red, the better. Good filters are f.lux or Redshift
Another way to avoid bluelight is just not use your device 1 hour before bed. Though I personally don't like to do this.
Drink chamomile tea before you sleep
Chamomile tea is a herbal tea, which means it doesn't contain caffeine. It's also a relaxing drink, which will have the effect of making you sleepy.
Cool Down your body before you sleep
The body cools down as you sleep. The colder your body, the easier it is to fall asleep. This is why it's harder to sleep when its hot or humid. A good way to cool down your body is by taking a hot shower. After a hot shower your body will be trying to cool itself down, making it easier to fall asleep.
Stretch your spine
When you sleep, brain fluid is flushed through the spine. Its easier for this fluid to flush if your spine isn't compacted. So do some basic spine stretch exercises.
Tape your mouth
This might sound weird, but yes it works. When you sleep you don't have control if your mouth is open or not. By taping it shut you ensure you only breathe through your nose. This should improve the quality of sleep. It also prevents snoring, which can also contributes poor quality of sleep. Just make sure you use Micropore Tape
Set your alarm based on your sleep cycle
When you sleep, its based on sleep cycles. If you wake up during the cycle, you'll feel quite groggy. If you wake up between cycles you'll feel great. You can use sleepopolis sleep calculator (formerly sleepyti.me) to calcualte it and set your alarm.
Sleep on your side
Sleep posture is important to get good, comfortable sleep. Sleeping on your side, prevents snoring and will. A small pillow and the fetus position works best for me.