Important note: Don’t try to copy my routine if it doesn’t work for you.
I go to bed early. 8 p.m. would be late for me to stay up during the week.
I put my phone on airplane mode before I go to bed. If the university burns down in the middle of the night I won’t know about it until morning. That’s what emergency services are for.
I read a book right before falling asleep–I love reading and it helps make me sleepy. No screens are allowed in bed unless a new season of Game of Thrones, Ozark, or Stranger Things has just been released.
I meditate right before I fall asleep, watching my breath go in and out. It’s the only sustainable meditation practice I’ve found so far.
I do not set an alarm. I sleep until I wake up feeling rested.
If you came of age in the mid-to-late twentieth century you were told that the only effect of sleep deprivation was daytime sleepiness. We now know that’s nonsense–that sleep affects every aspect of performance in a significant way, including athletic performance.
Researchers are now in the midst of studying the link between sleepiness and Alzheimer’s Disease.