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Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

368 points by maroun 13y ago

brd 13y ago
For anyone interested, heres a list of additional things that may help you sleep: http://www.favemaven.com/themaven/tips-and-tricks-better-sleep http://www.favemaven.com/themaven/tips-and-tricks-better-sle... I'm also a big fan of flux which lowers the amount of blue light emitted by your monitor: http://stereopsis.com/flux/ http://stereopsis.com/flux/ Its one page from my first django project which has been abandoned for a while. Its basically a curated affiliate link site (similar to what refer.ly has become)
ffn 13y ago
Really interesting read... but out of curiosity, how does exercise play into the sleep schedule? In order to maintain a good sleep rhythm, when is latest one should exercise? Also I'd like to know where you get your supposedly free stopwatches.
- sakbhatn 13y ago
  Physical activity that makes you feel tired and/or relaxes your mind is very good before going to bed as your thoughts will not wander and you will doze off within minutes. I used to have this problem of going to sleep after switching off lights and going to bed. I started doing simple exercises like cleaning/arranging my room or relaxation yoga which would take my mind off thinking a lot before falling asleep. Also I started reading books (not e-books, which make you insomniac) for 15-20 minutes everyday before going to sleep. You can exercise just before going to bed. For a free stopwatch you can use your smartphone or alarm clock.
treeface 13y ago
This post seems like one big, long unsubstantiated bunch of app spam for "zeo". I don't think scientists understand the "fact retention" mechanism as well as OP claims, for instance. It's fairly clear that sleep is important, but there's a lot of unsourced information here that's presented as fact.
- maroun 13y ago
  Thanks for your feedback! I worked for Zeo a year ago, however they've since shut down so I have no affiliation to them. I'll be sure to go in add the relevant sources.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - monkeynotes 13y ago
    The Zeo website seems to be alive and well, and all their apps are still available.
    - hdctambien 13y ago
      Apparently they shut down last month: http://mobihealthnews.com/20772/exclusive-sleep-coach-company-zeo-is-shutting-down/ http://mobihealthnews.com/20772/exclusive-sleep-coach-compan...
      - glu 13y ago
        the wakemate went through a similar cycle.
        skore 13y ago
        I don't really think wakemate ever had any actual business. They had an overhyped alpha phase that never really got to a beta. Then they sold that alpha and everything, from the almost laughable unit itself to the broken website interface to the constantly failing android app, was desperately undertested and destined to fail. Sorry about the rant. Still kinda bummed out over the $70 bucks I lost on this.
  - treeface 13y ago
    Sure thing. I don't mean to imply that you are intentionally misguiding. Your general advice (i.e. sleep enough and do it consistently) is good and the post was fairly well-written. Cheers, good sir.
ashwinaj 13y ago
Great article! I changed my sleep habits about a couple of years ago, almost given up coffee, eat healthy and exercise regularly. I rarely ever feel grumpy or tired in the morning and a lot of that is attributed to 7+ hrs of peaceful sleep. You don't necessarily need an app for this, you just need a lot of will power.
andys627 13y ago
What about waking up between sleep cycles?
- maroun 13y ago
  You never want to wake up in the middle of a Deep Sleep or REM sleep cycle. The best time to wake up is when you're in between cycles. Which is what the "Smart Alarms" are supposed to do, they wait until you come out of a sleep cycle to wake you up. The Zeo is the most accurate (since it picks up brainwaves), however it's also slightly uncomfortable and buggy. I personally use the Jawbone UP which works good enough. All of the apps that say they do that aren't the most accurate since they rely on the movement of your mattress. However I know some people who swear by them.
jonathanjaeger 13y ago
I can't go without 10-15 minute power naps in the afternoon or evening. Whether it's physically effective or just placebo, it feels essential. That being said I drink coffee before the gym at around 7-8pm, which probably isn't the optimal time (though I have no problem falling asleep at 12:30-1:30am which is when I want to go to sleep).
- maroun 13y ago
  Power naps can be very effective when used right (i.e if you're consistent with them). In the last month of my semesters I switch my sleep over to Polyphastic sleep schedule. 6 Hours of sleep at night and one 20minute nap in the afternoon. It gives me more time to study for finals/finish up class projects. Check out this post for more information: http://dustincurtis.com/sleep.html http://dustincurtis.com/sleep.html
  - Dewie 13y ago
    Do you mean polyphasic sleep? If you sleep two times in a 24 hour cycle, that's biphasic sleep.
antidaily 13y ago
Who lifts daily? Don't do that, bud.
- dualogy 13y ago
  5-6 days a week should be fine with the right kind of "split". But indeed at least one full rest day a week is going to do more good than harm. And indeed just lifting 3-4 days per week is certainly fully sufficient for most-any kind of lifting goal..
- peterwwillis 13y ago
  Who tells other people how to live their lives? Don't do that, bud.
  - lukeqsee 13y ago
    Doctors and we pay them well to do it.
    - peterwwillis 13y ago
      antidaily is not a doctor, as far as I know. Just some bro being judgmental.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- chollida1 13y ago
  > Who lifts daily? I lift 5 times a week, with another day of cardio and I'm in my mid 30's. My life is pretty good. > Don't do that, bud. Based on what information? Many popular lifting schedules call for 5 days on and 2 off per week. I think your projecting your own personal experiences here.
  - treeface 13y ago
    I was initially thinking about responding to antidaily (huh...didn't realize how relevant that username was until just now) in the same way, but I couldn't decide whether he was against lifting on successive days or against lifting 7-a-week. I disagreed on the former, but agreed on the latter, so I let it lie.
obviouslygreen 13y ago
I really wonder how much sleep people lose worrying about their sleep habits. Trying to micromanage everything from your sleep schedule to your work schedule to your calorie intake to your fat intake to your social media intake to your exposure to cell phone radiation results in being even more stressed out than you would be if you weren't attempting to keep track of eighty different pseudoscientific lifestyle prescriptions. Go to sleep. Wake up. Eat food. Do those things, and try to enjoy life while you have it... burning it trying to "optimize" everything is a painful waste of time.
- criley 13y ago
  I reject the idea that optimization leads to burnout. If you're consciously thinking about ALL of those variables at once, yes, you will achieve burnout. But the entire point of life optimization isn't to sit around thinking about all of this, it's to build healthy habits that allow our "autopilot" to pilot us down previously consciously decided paths. You should be unconsciously a better person after reinforcing new healthy habits, quite identical to your final phrase of "wake up, eat," etc. If you're burning out with optimization, you are literally doing it wrong.
  - obviouslygreen 13y ago
    I've done this myself to a point, but the point I'm making is that there's so much of this flying around and so much debate about so many often-unsubstantiated 'optimizations' that there's often not any real reason to believe they are optimizations. And if they're not, people are going to waste a lot of time trying to learn new habits, then find out that they are no better off or perhaps worse, except now they're stuck with new, bad habits to unlearn. My argument is less with optimization than with spending too much time and effort attempting it without actually gaining anything, or having a reasonable expectation of the same.
    - umsm 13y ago
      > they're stuck with new, bad habits to unlearn. I think the point of this is not to optimize for the sake of optimization but to solve a problem. People have problems and they look for solutions. They try anything that can help once all else fails.
DigitalJack 13y ago
I thought it was a good article, but a lot of it seemed like opinion stated as fact. I wear ear plugs at night, but no mask. I suffer from "night terrors" however, and when they strike I am very disoriented. The earplugs make that worse, and I imagine a mask would be a bad idea too. I use these earplugs because we go through a lot. http://www.amazon.com/SparkPlugs-Disposable-Earplugs-Nascar-Uncorded/dp/B0015TD50C/ http://www.amazon.com/SparkPlugs-Disposable-Earplugs-Nascar-... They are large, but still comfortable.
- showerst 13y ago
  Totally anecdotal, but I suffer from occasional night terrors too, and have found that an eye mask actually helps quite a bit. Something about the consistent deeper darkness seems to stop me from 'waking up' and having a spell. Mine were also much worse when I slept in new places, and having the eye mask seems to eliminate that distinction as far as my body is concerned. Between the eye mask, limiting eating large meals later at night, and cutting back on caffeine, I've reduced my night terrors by about 90% in the past 2 years. YMMV.
  - johnchristopher 13y ago
    If you haven't done so yet you both should rule out sleep apnæ with your doctor.
- vlasev 13y ago
  Your experience is just one data point (it seems that the prevalence among adults is <1%) so if the advice seems like it doesn't work for you, perhaps consider that you may be an outlier. Your experience is important but it doesn't invalidate the advice in the article.
drostie 13y ago
One tip which I didn't see: set an alarm for going to bed, not waking up. You should be able to wake naturally, but artificial lighting changes your perception of when you should go to sleep, shifting you from a naturally 23-hour circadian rhythm to a 25-hour one. So just set an alarm for 11pm, and when you hear it, immediately stop what you're doing, save any open documents, turn the TV or computer off. The next 30 minutes are for brushing teeth, settling into bed, and preparing for the following morning only. By then you should be settling into a good night's sleep.
- maroun 13y ago
  I couldn't agree more. This has worked wonders for a lot of people I know. I'm going to update the post so that it mentions this. Thanks! :)
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
- dkersten 13y ago
  I agree with this. I have a wake up alarm, but I'm usually awake before it goes off. I've also never been a morning person, but when I keep to a strict go-to-bed time, I feel refreshed and awake in the morning even if its early. I guess part of this is that when I'm careful when I go to bed, I also time that I 1) get a plenty of sleep and 2) get up on a 90-minute boundary. Unfortunately I have a habit of ignoring my go-to-bed alarm :-(
  - hndl 13y ago
    I thought I could wake up before my alarm went off too, but after a little retrospection I considered that perhaps I "trained" myself to get up at the time. That is, I used to use the alarm, then stopped using it, but continued to get up at the same time.
- tptacek 13y ago
  A plug here for F.lux, which attempts to correct for the unnatural color balance of computer screens and seems to have more or less eliminated my insomnia problems; the only times I have trouble sleeping anymore are traceable either to caffeine after noon, or forgetting that I've disabled F.lux.
mlwarren 13y ago
OP mentions that earbuds (plugs) are one of the best things he's done to improve sleep. Has anyone out there reviewed a few different brands of earplugs? I've used Hearos Ultimate Softness but I'm reading that there are better plugs out there. It looks like the best consumer grade plugs have a NRR of 33. Anyone have suggestions or insight into this?
- dpeck 13y ago
  Completely anecdotal, but when we had our child I did night shifts, and wife decided to use plugs to make sure she'd get enough sleep to be ready to go for the morning. She settled in on the soft silicone variety, like these http://www.amazon.com/Macks-Pillow-Silicone-Earplugs-Value/dp/B000067NMJ/ref=pd_sim_misc_4 http://www.amazon.com/Macks-Pillow-Silicone-Earplugs-Value/d... but she gets the pharmacy or grocery store brand. They let in enough noise that you're not completely isolated, but dampen enough that you're able to sleep through usual noise like spouse snoring, dogs waking up to stretch/scratch/re-position, baby gurgling over the monitor, etc. Edit: And they're much much more comfortable than the foam varieties tried.
- rwmj 13y ago
  I've tried (generic) wax and foam earplugs, and have settled on cheap foam ones. They don't cost more than about $2 for a whole load of them (6 pairs or something like that), and are both reusable and washable.
codewright 13y ago
"Turbo shots" or "red eyes" in your coffee are a placebo btw. Espresso has a lower concentration of caffeine than standard drip. So by putting a "turbo shot" in your cup, you're actually lowering the caffeine concentration. Wants to be hyper-rational and metric-aware about his sleep but didn't know anything about caffeine? Okay.
- pranjalv123 13y ago
  I don't think that's true. A 16 oz Starbucks coffee has 330mg, while a 2oz Starbucks espresso has 150mg. So the espresso has 4x as much caffeine per ounce. (http://www.cspinet.org/new/cafchart.htm http://www.cspinet.org/new/cafchart.htm)
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- yor 13y ago
  I think you're thinking of the difference between robusta and arabica beans. Arabica has less caffeine than robusta, and -- at least in America -- more espresso roasts are arabica.
- guizzy 13y ago
  Espresso has a lower volume of caffeine, but it definitely has a higher concentration. http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/caffeine/AN01211/METHOD=print http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/caffeine/AN01211/METHOD=prin... Espresso, restaurant-style 1 oz. (30 mL) 40-75 mg Generic brewed 8 oz. (240 mL) 95-200 mg The brewed coffee thus has between 11.9 mg and 25 mg of caffeine per oz. If you added a shot of espresso (let's assume the weakest one at 40 mg of caffeine) to an 8 oz of very strong coffee (at 200 mg of caffeine), you'd still be increasing the concentration to ~26.7 mg/oz. And that's stretching the limits of these calculations; a 200 mg 8 oz coffee is crazy strong, amounting to two and a half cans of Red Bull.
- wonnage 13y ago
  Espresso has a higher concentration of caffeine. Most espresso drinks are mixed with a ton of milk, so lattes, etc. do end up being less concentrated than drip. But dropping a shot of espresso in your coffee will up the caffeine concentration slightly.
repdetec 13y ago
*than
dllthomas 13y ago
Consistency is key, I've heard time and again and my own experience seems to support (FWIW). However, perfect consistency is hard to maintain. Even if one avoids the late parties and whatnot, eventually emergencies get in the way or illness comes along and increases the amount of sleep required. My question is, when consistency must falter, what piece is most important? Going to bed at the same time, getting up at the same time, getting the same amount of sleep, or getting at least some particular amount of sleep? The article here claims it is not the last.
- 0x09 13y ago
  This is the part I wish he hadn't glossed over, especially since at least a small handful of studies suggest that we naturally adopt > 24h cycles when left away from light cues and set time responsibilities.
Abundnce10 13y ago
How am I supposed to hear my alarm in the morning if I'm wearing earbuds/earplugs?
- maroun 13y ago
  If you're consistent you should reach the point to where you don't need an alarm and your body is capable of waking up at the same time everyday. However even if you're wearing earplugs you'll be able to hear an alarm, they don't block off noise that much.
- zalzane 13y ago
  Earplugs don't actually block out a whole lot of noise. For example, if I wear my earplugs in the library, it'll completely muffle the sound of people whispering around me, but I'll still be able to hear the oblivious jock talking at full volume to his buddy at the table across from me.
- benblack86 13y ago
  Earplugs don't block out all noise. You will still be able to hear a loud unwanted noise near to your bed.
rwmj 13y ago
Does the headband really work? Detecting "brainwaves" and eye movements sounds fairly dubious to me. Does it cover your eyes?
- lurkinggrue 13y ago
  It is a bluetooth EEG headband. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EEG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EEG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_consumer_brain–computer_interfaces http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_consumer_brain–co...
  - stinos 13y ago
    ... waiting for research of the influense of bluetooth on sleep, especially when in close proximity to a brain :]
ultimoo 13y ago
I am surprised the article doesn't mention anything about alcohol and its effect on sleep. Does anyone want to chime in on this?
- diminoten 13y ago
  Ruins your restful sleep because your body does this thing where it tries to overcompensate for the depressing effect of the alcohol by overstimulating things. You may fall asleep more easily, but then your actual sleep will suck, compared to a non-alcoholic induced sleep. Source: I read a book on it once about a year or so ago. The name of the book was [Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine](http://www.amazon.com/Buzz-Science-Lore-Alcohol-Caffeine/dp/0140268456 http://www.amazon.com/Buzz-Science-Lore-Alcohol-Caffeine/dp/...).
- gardarh 13y ago
  From what I understand being drunk when going to sleep relaxes the muscles around your throat increasing your chance of apnea. The relaxed muscles around the throat means that the airway closes yielding a similar effect to choking (which is essentially what apnea is). The end result is that you choke periodically throughout the night meaning that the quality of your sleep is much inferior to what it could be; this is probably a large contributing factor to hangovers. Edit: My source is a knowledgeable person on the subject, feel free to contradict or doubt the truthfulness of the answer - makes sense to me at least.
- topherjaynes 13y ago
  I was shocked by this omission too, just for the shear fact it's a depressant that's usually taken in high doses right before the sleep cycle. I'd be willing to bet, especially in college Alcohol has more effect than caffeine on you sleep schedule.
mrbill 13y ago
Loved my Wakemate, but have since moved to all-Android. Are there any decent equivalents to the Zeo/Wakemate that work with Android phones and are still in business?
binderbizingdos 13y ago
no no no, i don't even need to read any of that. 6 hours sleep. perfect for me. not tired, almost always in a good mood. very simple and effective. i don't need no recipes, to know about deep sleep and all that. you should not forget that people are very different. so don't try to impose all these rules on everyone just because it works for you.
- maroun 13y ago
  Thanks for your comment! At the end of the day you have to find what works best for you. For some (lucky) people they can kick ass on just 6 hours of sleep. For others, they need to be consistent and sleep for 7-8hrs. I didn't mean to impose anything on anyone, just trying to share some of the things I've learnt :).
  - binderbizingdos 13y ago
    ok, but your shouldn't make it look like rocket science. it's pretty simple for me and maybe I'm lucky, but I guess the most important thing is to tell people to experiment with their sleep. i would say most of these sleep issues have a rather simple cure and you don't need sleep apps, wrist devices, zeos etc.
gingerlime 13y ago
Interesting post, but I'm not sure if some of this advice can work for me. I've tried earplugs, but to be honest, it makes me paranoid that I won't hear the fire alarm or burglar coming in, which makes me much less relaxed. This isolated feeling is also weird for me. Covering my eyes just feels uncomfortable and also isolating. It's probably just me. Also, I'm not entirely sure where I heard/read it, but I thought it's actually good to wake up with (natural) light, which brings you into a more natural cycle or something. I think I also heard it could help with jet lag, releasing melatonin or something of that sort.
- maroun 13y ago
  When you first see sunlight in the mornings it helps regulate your circadian rhythm and it tells your body "The sun is out this is when I should wake up". Which is why if you're traveling you want to make sure you wake up at the right time locally and open the windows right away, it'll help reduce the # of days in which you're jetlagged. However if you're sleeping at home you want your body to sleep for as long as it needs to, uninterrupted. That means no sunlight, no noise and no alarms. If you get into a consistent schedule you're body will wake up at around the same time everyday. However if you have sleep debt that you need to make up, you also want to give your body the chance to sleep a little extra.
- thisisnotatest 13y ago
  I think you vastly overestimate the effectiveness of earplugs. You might not hear a cat's scampering on the floor, but you are not going to miss anything like someone speaking at a normal volume in the room, much less a fire alarm. As one data point, I have never missed my smartphone alarm clock in five years of sleeping with earplugs.
sneak 13y ago
I don't trust advice from anyone who uses apostrophes with plurals. If you can't figure out basic English, why should I be convinced you've figured out things more complicated?
- Hytosys 13y ago
  That's like dismissing Einstein's work because he pleasantly married his cousin. Some people place less importance or stress on certain things than other people do. Get over it, this article is truly helpful.
- maroun 13y ago
  Hey thanks for the feedback! Grammar is definitely something I need to be better about for future posts. The beauty of Medium is that I can have people help me proofread my posts before I publish them :).
nazka 13y ago
If someone see my comment, there are many information here: http://www.supermemo.com/articles/sleep.htm http://www.supermemo.com/articles/sleep.htm It is really big so the best solution is to see it fast and read the summary. And it's worth it.
okonomiyaki3000 13y ago
I usually sleep on my side but, when I do, I never dream. If I force myself to sleep flat on my back, I almost always dream. What's up with that?
- oyvindeh 13y ago
  There's a difference between not dreaming and not remembering your dreams. Everybody dream every night. This is just speculation, but perhaps you sleep better on your side, so that you don't remember your dreams as easily? E.g. if you wake up several times a night, you will remember more dreams than if you don't wake up during the night.
13b9f227ecf0 13y ago
You don't need to time sleep and you don't need to weigh calories. You just need to make sure nothing is fucking up your true sleepiness and that nothing is messing up your appetite. You have sophisticated systems in you to govern consumption of sleep and food. Just don't screw things up with drugs, digital stimulation, social isolation, or junk food. It's all the same issue.
setrofim_ 13y ago
A very interesting post. However, it is making some strong claims without really backing them up. It would be nice to see some citations.
ctdonath 13y ago
What of being woken several times each night? I have two kids and two dogs and a wife; between them all I'm woken at least twice.
- NuZZ 13y ago
  According to an article I saw on HN a week ago, apparently, evidence shows we evolved to naturally wake up once each night about half way through, for around an hour. Of course, we went to sleep when it became dark and woke with the sun. Something that isn't conducive with todays lifestyle. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5542453 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5542453
  - ctdonath 13y ago
    I've seen the "first sleep" references too. That's not what I'm talking about. Waking up naturally for a half hour in a pleasant relaxed state is one thing. Having the dog bark "let me out or I'm peeing on the carpet" and having to run downstairs, having the other dog jump on me at random intervals, having two kids separately get me up for a half hour each fussing about whatever, and having m'lady decide she must check her email at oh-dark-thirty, well, that's quite something else.
- gavinpc 13y ago
  Ha, I also have two kids and two dogs and a wife. Take a moment to thank your parents, everyone, if only because you ruined about a year of their sleep (at least).
Derbasti 13y ago
As an audiologist, I would not recommend wearing earbuds all night. Ventilation is important for your ears. Also, your ears are very adaptable: plugging your ears with earbuds will decrease the sound pressure by about 10 dB, which isn't really all that much. As a hearing loss, it would not require treatment. Your ears will adapt and you will still hear most startling sounds. In fact, your ears will have to "concentrate" more, which is known to lead to fatigue.
DocG 13y ago
I think drinking cold water before bed is not as good as you make it to be. Cold water is like shock to your system. It wakes your body up. Your body needs to work on warming the water first. Although water itself should be good, warm/hand temperature water should be best.
sakbhatn 13y ago
I agree with short naps concept but i think rather than following "the earlier in the day, the better", another concept of mid-day napping can be followed. You just need to take a short nap of 30 minutes ,15-20 minutes post-lunch. That is the time we can easily fall asleep, also you feel very refreshed and productive once you wake up!
throw7 13y ago
One of things that helps me is a sleeping cap. Mine is just a thin lightweight hat. I surmise this helps in the same way the article suggests to wear socks to keep your extremities warm. The only thing is, I hate wearing socks to bed, instead I wear the cap! :) I also like to think the act of putting on my sleeping cap is also a nice subconscious cue that it's sleep time.
ChikkaChiChi 13y ago
If you want to use a screen at night and you don't want to mess with your sleep cycle, make sure you have a device with an AMOLED screen that has the ability to run a profile that uses red pixels only. Samsung Android devices like the Note and the Galaxy S3 have AMOLED. On the Play Store, there is a free app called Galactic Night that will let you run the device in red only. Add on another free app called Screen Filter, and suddenly you have a device with perfect lighting that allows you to keep your night vision and let your eyes rest while you drift off to sleep. CyanogenMod used to have this feature; not sure if it still does. Backlit LCD screens (even ones that use Flux or Red profiles) won't work because even the black pixels are backlit. I've tried using a jailbroken iPad with Color Profiles and it's just not the same. Finally, you can use an e-reader but I recommend a light source you can add a red gel to. This will have the same effect. Source: I've been reading on a screen before bed since the days of the Palm III. Also, I used to develop film in a real darkroom.

368 points by maroun 13y ago

brd 13y ago

For anyone interested, heres a list of additional things that may help you sleep: http://www.favemaven.com/themaven/tips-and-tricks-better-sleep http://www.favemaven.com/themaven/tips-and-tricks-better-sle... I'm also a big fan of flux which lowers the amount of blue light emitted by your monitor: http://stereopsis.com/flux/ http://stereopsis.com/flux/ Its one page from my first django project which has been abandoned for a while. Its basically a curated affiliate link site (similar to what refer.ly has become)

ffn 13y ago

Really interesting read... but out of curiosity, how does exercise play into the sleep schedule? In order to maintain a good sleep rhythm, when is latest one should exercise? Also I'd like to know where you get your supposedly free stopwatches.

sakbhatn 13y ago
Physical activity that makes you feel tired and/or relaxes your mind is very good before going to bed as your thoughts will not wander and you will doze off within minutes. I used to have this problem of going to sleep after switching off lights and going to bed. I started doing simple exercises like cleaning/arranging my room or relaxation yoga which would take my mind off thinking a lot before falling asleep. Also I started reading books (not e-books, which make you insomniac) for 15-20 minutes everyday before going to sleep. You can exercise just before going to bed. For a free stopwatch you can use your smartphone or alarm clock.

treeface 13y ago

This post seems like one big, long unsubstantiated bunch of app spam for "zeo". I don't think scientists understand the "fact retention" mechanism as well as OP claims, for instance. It's fairly clear that sleep is important, but there's a lot of unsourced information here that's presented as fact.

maroun 13y ago
Thanks for your feedback! I worked for Zeo a year ago, however they've since shut down so I have no affiliation to them. I'll be sure to go in add the relevant sources.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- monkeynotes 13y ago
  The Zeo website seems to be alive and well, and all their apps are still available.
  - hdctambien 13y ago
    Apparently they shut down last month: http://mobihealthnews.com/20772/exclusive-sleep-coach-company-zeo-is-shutting-down/ http://mobihealthnews.com/20772/exclusive-sleep-coach-compan...
    - glu 13y ago
      the wakemate went through a similar cycle.
      - skore 13y ago
        I don't really think wakemate ever had any actual business. They had an overhyped alpha phase that never really got to a beta. Then they sold that alpha and everything, from the almost laughable unit itself to the broken website interface to the constantly failing android app, was desperately undertested and destined to fail. Sorry about the rant. Still kinda bummed out over the $70 bucks I lost on this.
- treeface 13y ago
  Sure thing. I don't mean to imply that you are intentionally misguiding. Your general advice (i.e. sleep enough and do it consistently) is good and the post was fairly well-written. Cheers, good sir.

ashwinaj 13y ago

Great article! I changed my sleep habits about a couple of years ago, almost given up coffee, eat healthy and exercise regularly. I rarely ever feel grumpy or tired in the morning and a lot of that is attributed to 7+ hrs of peaceful sleep. You don't necessarily need an app for this, you just need a lot of will power.

andys627 13y ago

What about waking up between sleep cycles?

maroun 13y ago
You never want to wake up in the middle of a Deep Sleep or REM sleep cycle. The best time to wake up is when you're in between cycles. Which is what the "Smart Alarms" are supposed to do, they wait until you come out of a sleep cycle to wake you up. The Zeo is the most accurate (since it picks up brainwaves), however it's also slightly uncomfortable and buggy. I personally use the Jawbone UP which works good enough. All of the apps that say they do that aren't the most accurate since they rely on the movement of your mattress. However I know some people who swear by them.

jonathanjaeger 13y ago

I can't go without 10-15 minute power naps in the afternoon or evening. Whether it's physically effective or just placebo, it feels essential. That being said I drink coffee before the gym at around 7-8pm, which probably isn't the optimal time (though I have no problem falling asleep at 12:30-1:30am which is when I want to go to sleep).

maroun 13y ago
Power naps can be very effective when used right (i.e if you're consistent with them). In the last month of my semesters I switch my sleep over to Polyphastic sleep schedule. 6 Hours of sleep at night and one 20minute nap in the afternoon. It gives me more time to study for finals/finish up class projects. Check out this post for more information: http://dustincurtis.com/sleep.html http://dustincurtis.com/sleep.html
- Dewie 13y ago
  Do you mean polyphasic sleep? If you sleep two times in a 24 hour cycle, that's biphasic sleep.

antidaily 13y ago

Who lifts daily? Don't do that, bud.

dualogy 13y ago
5-6 days a week should be fine with the right kind of "split". But indeed at least one full rest day a week is going to do more good than harm. And indeed just lifting 3-4 days per week is certainly fully sufficient for most-any kind of lifting goal..
peterwwillis 13y ago
Who tells other people how to live their lives? Don't do that, bud.
- lukeqsee 13y ago
  Doctors and we pay them well to do it.
  - peterwwillis 13y ago
    antidaily is not a doctor, as far as I know. Just some bro being judgmental.
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chollida1 13y ago
> Who lifts daily? I lift 5 times a week, with another day of cardio and I'm in my mid 30's. My life is pretty good. > Don't do that, bud. Based on what information? Many popular lifting schedules call for 5 days on and 2 off per week. I think your projecting your own personal experiences here.
- treeface 13y ago
  I was initially thinking about responding to antidaily (huh...didn't realize how relevant that username was until just now) in the same way, but I couldn't decide whether he was against lifting on successive days or against lifting 7-a-week. I disagreed on the former, but agreed on the latter, so I let it lie.

obviouslygreen 13y ago

I really wonder how much sleep people lose worrying about their sleep habits. Trying to micromanage everything from your sleep schedule to your work schedule to your calorie intake to your fat intake to your social media intake to your exposure to cell phone radiation results in being even more stressed out than you would be if you weren't attempting to keep track of eighty different pseudoscientific lifestyle prescriptions. Go to sleep. Wake up. Eat food. Do those things, and try to enjoy life while you have it... burning it trying to "optimize" everything is a painful waste of time.

criley 13y ago
I reject the idea that optimization leads to burnout. If you're consciously thinking about ALL of those variables at once, yes, you will achieve burnout. But the entire point of life optimization isn't to sit around thinking about all of this, it's to build healthy habits that allow our "autopilot" to pilot us down previously consciously decided paths. You should be unconsciously a better person after reinforcing new healthy habits, quite identical to your final phrase of "wake up, eat," etc. If you're burning out with optimization, you are literally doing it wrong.
- obviouslygreen 13y ago
  I've done this myself to a point, but the point I'm making is that there's so much of this flying around and so much debate about so many often-unsubstantiated 'optimizations' that there's often not any real reason to believe they are optimizations. And if they're not, people are going to waste a lot of time trying to learn new habits, then find out that they are no better off or perhaps worse, except now they're stuck with new, bad habits to unlearn. My argument is less with optimization than with spending too much time and effort attempting it without actually gaining anything, or having a reasonable expectation of the same.
  - umsm 13y ago
    > they're stuck with new, bad habits to unlearn. I think the point of this is not to optimize for the sake of optimization but to solve a problem. People have problems and they look for solutions. They try anything that can help once all else fails.

DigitalJack 13y ago

I thought it was a good article, but a lot of it seemed like opinion stated as fact. I wear ear plugs at night, but no mask. I suffer from "night terrors" however, and when they strike I am very disoriented. The earplugs make that worse, and I imagine a mask would be a bad idea too. I use these earplugs because we go through a lot. http://www.amazon.com/SparkPlugs-Disposable-Earplugs-Nascar-Uncorded/dp/B0015TD50C/ http://www.amazon.com/SparkPlugs-Disposable-Earplugs-Nascar-... They are large, but still comfortable.

showerst 13y ago
Totally anecdotal, but I suffer from occasional night terrors too, and have found that an eye mask actually helps quite a bit. Something about the consistent deeper darkness seems to stop me from 'waking up' and having a spell. Mine were also much worse when I slept in new places, and having the eye mask seems to eliminate that distinction as far as my body is concerned. Between the eye mask, limiting eating large meals later at night, and cutting back on caffeine, I've reduced my night terrors by about 90% in the past 2 years. YMMV.
- johnchristopher 13y ago
  If you haven't done so yet you both should rule out sleep apnæ with your doctor.
vlasev 13y ago
Your experience is just one data point (it seems that the prevalence among adults is <1%) so if the advice seems like it doesn't work for you, perhaps consider that you may be an outlier. Your experience is important but it doesn't invalidate the advice in the article.

drostie 13y ago

One tip which I didn't see: set an alarm for going to bed, not waking up. You should be able to wake naturally, but artificial lighting changes your perception of when you should go to sleep, shifting you from a naturally 23-hour circadian rhythm to a 25-hour one. So just set an alarm for 11pm, and when you hear it, immediately stop what you're doing, save any open documents, turn the TV or computer off. The next 30 minutes are for brushing teeth, settling into bed, and preparing for the following morning only. By then you should be settling into a good night's sleep.

maroun 13y ago
I couldn't agree more. This has worked wonders for a lot of people I know. I'm going to update the post so that it mentions this. Thanks! :)
- deleted 13y ago
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dkersten 13y ago
I agree with this. I have a wake up alarm, but I'm usually awake before it goes off. I've also never been a morning person, but when I keep to a strict go-to-bed time, I feel refreshed and awake in the morning even if its early. I guess part of this is that when I'm careful when I go to bed, I also time that I 1) get a plenty of sleep and 2) get up on a 90-minute boundary. Unfortunately I have a habit of ignoring my go-to-bed alarm :-(
- hndl 13y ago
  I thought I could wake up before my alarm went off too, but after a little retrospection I considered that perhaps I "trained" myself to get up at the time. That is, I used to use the alarm, then stopped using it, but continued to get up at the same time.
tptacek 13y ago
A plug here for F.lux, which attempts to correct for the unnatural color balance of computer screens and seems to have more or less eliminated my insomnia problems; the only times I have trouble sleeping anymore are traceable either to caffeine after noon, or forgetting that I've disabled F.lux.

mlwarren 13y ago

OP mentions that earbuds (plugs) are one of the best things he's done to improve sleep. Has anyone out there reviewed a few different brands of earplugs? I've used Hearos Ultimate Softness but I'm reading that there are better plugs out there. It looks like the best consumer grade plugs have a NRR of 33. Anyone have suggestions or insight into this?

dpeck 13y ago
Completely anecdotal, but when we had our child I did night shifts, and wife decided to use plugs to make sure she'd get enough sleep to be ready to go for the morning. She settled in on the soft silicone variety, like these http://www.amazon.com/Macks-Pillow-Silicone-Earplugs-Value/dp/B000067NMJ/ref=pd_sim_misc_4 http://www.amazon.com/Macks-Pillow-Silicone-Earplugs-Value/d... but she gets the pharmacy or grocery store brand. They let in enough noise that you're not completely isolated, but dampen enough that you're able to sleep through usual noise like spouse snoring, dogs waking up to stretch/scratch/re-position, baby gurgling over the monitor, etc. Edit: And they're much much more comfortable than the foam varieties tried.
rwmj 13y ago
I've tried (generic) wax and foam earplugs, and have settled on cheap foam ones. They don't cost more than about $2 for a whole load of them (6 pairs or something like that), and are both reusable and washable.

codewright 13y ago

"Turbo shots" or "red eyes" in your coffee are a placebo btw. Espresso has a lower concentration of caffeine than standard drip. So by putting a "turbo shot" in your cup, you're actually lowering the caffeine concentration. Wants to be hyper-rational and metric-aware about his sleep but didn't know anything about caffeine? Okay.

pranjalv123 13y ago
I don't think that's true. A 16 oz Starbucks coffee has 330mg, while a 2oz Starbucks espresso has 150mg. So the espresso has 4x as much caffeine per ounce. (http://www.cspinet.org/new/cafchart.htm http://www.cspinet.org/new/cafchart.htm)
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yor 13y ago
I think you're thinking of the difference between robusta and arabica beans. Arabica has less caffeine than robusta, and -- at least in America -- more espresso roasts are arabica.
guizzy 13y ago
Espresso has a lower volume of caffeine, but it definitely has a higher concentration. http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/caffeine/AN01211/METHOD=print http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/caffeine/AN01211/METHOD=prin... Espresso, restaurant-style 1 oz. (30 mL) 40-75 mg Generic brewed 8 oz. (240 mL) 95-200 mg The brewed coffee thus has between 11.9 mg and 25 mg of caffeine per oz. If you added a shot of espresso (let's assume the weakest one at 40 mg of caffeine) to an 8 oz of very strong coffee (at 200 mg of caffeine), you'd still be increasing the concentration to ~26.7 mg/oz. And that's stretching the limits of these calculations; a 200 mg 8 oz coffee is crazy strong, amounting to two and a half cans of Red Bull.
wonnage 13y ago
Espresso has a higher concentration of caffeine. Most espresso drinks are mixed with a ton of milk, so lattes, etc. do end up being less concentrated than drip. But dropping a shot of espresso in your coffee will up the caffeine concentration slightly.

repdetec 13y ago

*than

dllthomas 13y ago

Consistency is key, I've heard time and again and my own experience seems to support (FWIW). However, perfect consistency is hard to maintain. Even if one avoids the late parties and whatnot, eventually emergencies get in the way or illness comes along and increases the amount of sleep required. My question is, when consistency must falter, what piece is most important? Going to bed at the same time, getting up at the same time, getting the same amount of sleep, or getting at least some particular amount of sleep? The article here claims it is not the last.

0x09 13y ago
This is the part I wish he hadn't glossed over, especially since at least a small handful of studies suggest that we naturally adopt > 24h cycles when left away from light cues and set time responsibilities.

Abundnce10 13y ago

How am I supposed to hear my alarm in the morning if I'm wearing earbuds/earplugs?

maroun 13y ago
If you're consistent you should reach the point to where you don't need an alarm and your body is capable of waking up at the same time everyday. However even if you're wearing earplugs you'll be able to hear an alarm, they don't block off noise that much.
zalzane 13y ago
Earplugs don't actually block out a whole lot of noise. For example, if I wear my earplugs in the library, it'll completely muffle the sound of people whispering around me, but I'll still be able to hear the oblivious jock talking at full volume to his buddy at the table across from me.
benblack86 13y ago
Earplugs don't block out all noise. You will still be able to hear a loud unwanted noise near to your bed.

rwmj 13y ago

Does the headband really work? Detecting "brainwaves" and eye movements sounds fairly dubious to me. Does it cover your eyes?

lurkinggrue 13y ago
It is a bluetooth EEG headband. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EEG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EEG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_consumer_brain–computer_interfaces http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_consumer_brain–co...
- stinos 13y ago
  ... waiting for research of the influense of bluetooth on sleep, especially when in close proximity to a brain :]

ultimoo 13y ago

I am surprised the article doesn't mention anything about alcohol and its effect on sleep. Does anyone want to chime in on this?

diminoten 13y ago
Ruins your restful sleep because your body does this thing where it tries to overcompensate for the depressing effect of the alcohol by overstimulating things. You may fall asleep more easily, but then your actual sleep will suck, compared to a non-alcoholic induced sleep. Source: I read a book on it once about a year or so ago. The name of the book was [Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine](http://www.amazon.com/Buzz-Science-Lore-Alcohol-Caffeine/dp/0140268456 http://www.amazon.com/Buzz-Science-Lore-Alcohol-Caffeine/dp/...).
gardarh 13y ago
From what I understand being drunk when going to sleep relaxes the muscles around your throat increasing your chance of apnea. The relaxed muscles around the throat means that the airway closes yielding a similar effect to choking (which is essentially what apnea is). The end result is that you choke periodically throughout the night meaning that the quality of your sleep is much inferior to what it could be; this is probably a large contributing factor to hangovers. Edit: My source is a knowledgeable person on the subject, feel free to contradict or doubt the truthfulness of the answer - makes sense to me at least.
topherjaynes 13y ago
I was shocked by this omission too, just for the shear fact it's a depressant that's usually taken in high doses right before the sleep cycle. I'd be willing to bet, especially in college Alcohol has more effect than caffeine on you sleep schedule.

mrbill 13y ago

Loved my Wakemate, but have since moved to all-Android. Are there any decent equivalents to the Zeo/Wakemate that work with Android phones and are still in business?

binderbizingdos 13y ago

no no no, i don't even need to read any of that. 6 hours sleep. perfect for me. not tired, almost always in a good mood. very simple and effective. i don't need no recipes, to know about deep sleep and all that. you should not forget that people are very different. so don't try to impose all these rules on everyone just because it works for you.

maroun 13y ago
Thanks for your comment! At the end of the day you have to find what works best for you. For some (lucky) people they can kick ass on just 6 hours of sleep. For others, they need to be consistent and sleep for 7-8hrs. I didn't mean to impose anything on anyone, just trying to share some of the things I've learnt :).
- binderbizingdos 13y ago
  ok, but your shouldn't make it look like rocket science. it's pretty simple for me and maybe I'm lucky, but I guess the most important thing is to tell people to experiment with their sleep. i would say most of these sleep issues have a rather simple cure and you don't need sleep apps, wrist devices, zeos etc.

gingerlime 13y ago

Interesting post, but I'm not sure if some of this advice can work for me. I've tried earplugs, but to be honest, it makes me paranoid that I won't hear the fire alarm or burglar coming in, which makes me much less relaxed. This isolated feeling is also weird for me. Covering my eyes just feels uncomfortable and also isolating. It's probably just me. Also, I'm not entirely sure where I heard/read it, but I thought it's actually good to wake up with (natural) light, which brings you into a more natural cycle or something. I think I also heard it could help with jet lag, releasing melatonin or something of that sort.

maroun 13y ago
When you first see sunlight in the mornings it helps regulate your circadian rhythm and it tells your body "The sun is out this is when I should wake up". Which is why if you're traveling you want to make sure you wake up at the right time locally and open the windows right away, it'll help reduce the # of days in which you're jetlagged. However if you're sleeping at home you want your body to sleep for as long as it needs to, uninterrupted. That means no sunlight, no noise and no alarms. If you get into a consistent schedule you're body will wake up at around the same time everyday. However if you have sleep debt that you need to make up, you also want to give your body the chance to sleep a little extra.
thisisnotatest 13y ago
I think you vastly overestimate the effectiveness of earplugs. You might not hear a cat's scampering on the floor, but you are not going to miss anything like someone speaking at a normal volume in the room, much less a fire alarm. As one data point, I have never missed my smartphone alarm clock in five years of sleeping with earplugs.

sneak 13y ago

I don't trust advice from anyone who uses apostrophes with plurals. If you can't figure out basic English, why should I be convinced you've figured out things more complicated?

Hytosys 13y ago
That's like dismissing Einstein's work because he pleasantly married his cousin. Some people place less importance or stress on certain things than other people do. Get over it, this article is truly helpful.
maroun 13y ago
Hey thanks for the feedback! Grammar is definitely something I need to be better about for future posts. The beauty of Medium is that I can have people help me proofread my posts before I publish them :).

nazka 13y ago

If someone see my comment, there are many information here: http://www.supermemo.com/articles/sleep.htm http://www.supermemo.com/articles/sleep.htm It is really big so the best solution is to see it fast and read the summary. And it's worth it.

okonomiyaki3000 13y ago

I usually sleep on my side but, when I do, I never dream. If I force myself to sleep flat on my back, I almost always dream. What's up with that?

oyvindeh 13y ago
There's a difference between not dreaming and not remembering your dreams. Everybody dream every night. This is just speculation, but perhaps you sleep better on your side, so that you don't remember your dreams as easily? E.g. if you wake up several times a night, you will remember more dreams than if you don't wake up during the night.

13b9f227ecf0 13y ago

You don't need to time sleep and you don't need to weigh calories. You just need to make sure nothing is fucking up your true sleepiness and that nothing is messing up your appetite. You have sophisticated systems in you to govern consumption of sleep and food. Just don't screw things up with drugs, digital stimulation, social isolation, or junk food. It's all the same issue.

setrofim_ 13y ago

A very interesting post. However, it is making some strong claims without really backing them up. It would be nice to see some citations.

ctdonath 13y ago

What of being woken several times each night? I have two kids and two dogs and a wife; between them all I'm woken at least twice.

NuZZ 13y ago
According to an article I saw on HN a week ago, apparently, evidence shows we evolved to naturally wake up once each night about half way through, for around an hour. Of course, we went to sleep when it became dark and woke with the sun. Something that isn't conducive with todays lifestyle. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5542453 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5542453
- ctdonath 13y ago
  I've seen the "first sleep" references too. That's not what I'm talking about. Waking up naturally for a half hour in a pleasant relaxed state is one thing. Having the dog bark "let me out or I'm peeing on the carpet" and having to run downstairs, having the other dog jump on me at random intervals, having two kids separately get me up for a half hour each fussing about whatever, and having m'lady decide she must check her email at oh-dark-thirty, well, that's quite something else.
gavinpc 13y ago
Ha, I also have two kids and two dogs and a wife. Take a moment to thank your parents, everyone, if only because you ruined about a year of their sleep (at least).

Derbasti 13y ago

As an audiologist, I would not recommend wearing earbuds all night. Ventilation is important for your ears. Also, your ears are very adaptable: plugging your ears with earbuds will decrease the sound pressure by about 10 dB, which isn't really all that much. As a hearing loss, it would not require treatment. Your ears will adapt and you will still hear most startling sounds. In fact, your ears will have to "concentrate" more, which is known to lead to fatigue.

DocG 13y ago

I think drinking cold water before bed is not as good as you make it to be. Cold water is like shock to your system. It wakes your body up. Your body needs to work on warming the water first. Although water itself should be good, warm/hand temperature water should be best.

sakbhatn 13y ago

I agree with short naps concept but i think rather than following "the earlier in the day, the better", another concept of mid-day napping can be followed. You just need to take a short nap of 30 minutes ,15-20 minutes post-lunch. That is the time we can easily fall asleep, also you feel very refreshed and productive once you wake up!

throw7 13y ago

One of things that helps me is a sleeping cap. Mine is just a thin lightweight hat. I surmise this helps in the same way the article suggests to wear socks to keep your extremities warm. The only thing is, I hate wearing socks to bed, instead I wear the cap! :) I also like to think the act of putting on my sleeping cap is also a nice subconscious cue that it's sleep time.

ChikkaChiChi 13y ago

If you want to use a screen at night and you don't want to mess with your sleep cycle, make sure you have a device with an AMOLED screen that has the ability to run a profile that uses red pixels only. Samsung Android devices like the Note and the Galaxy S3 have AMOLED. On the Play Store, there is a free app called Galactic Night that will let you run the device in red only. Add on another free app called Screen Filter, and suddenly you have a device with perfect lighting that allows you to keep your night vision and let your eyes rest while you drift off to sleep. CyanogenMod used to have this feature; not sure if it still does. Backlit LCD screens (even ones that use Flux or Red profiles) won't work because even the black pixels are backlit. I've tried using a jailbroken iPad with Color Profiles and it's just not the same. Finally, you can use an e-reader but I recommend a light source you can add a red gel to. This will have the same effect. Source: I've been reading on a screen before bed since the days of the Palm III. Also, I used to develop film in a real darkroom.