5 ms·

Simple Ways That I Optimize My Sleep

56 points by brianmartinek 13y ago

jlebron2 13y ago
Sunrise alarm clock = epic. Definitely need to look into getting one. Seems like a better alternative than using my phone as an alarm, which I feel like throwing across the room in the morning when it wakes me up :)
- brianmartinek 13y ago
  It makes such a difference in my mornings since I have been using a sunrise alarm clock. I still use my phone alarm but only as a backup (I am almost always awake by the time it goes off)
- joonix 13y ago
  It sounds great but 200 dollars is a rip off. Someone should hack together a cheap one and sell it. Perhaps linked to a smartphone
kirpekar 13y ago
Three Simple Ways That I Optimize My Sleep, not backed by science: 1. Work hard and find time to exercise during the day 2. Relax my mind towards the end of the day, have a beer, watch some TV, etc. 3. Read a little before dozing off
- cgag 13y ago
  There has to be some science behind exercising during the day and reading / reading at night.
mcintyre1994 13y ago
An alternative to #2 seems to be to set your alarm in line with sleep cycles. Work out how long it takes you to go to sleep (I'm actually not sure how you do this, 14 minutes is average and works great for me), add 6 hours or 7:30 (or some interval of 90 minutes), wake up at the resulting time. I do it using DoubleTwist (which defaults to the 14 minute to get to sleep thing), but it's easy enough to work out and works really well.
- brianmartinek 13y ago
  That's interesting. Something I've never thought about before.
  - glitchdout 13y ago
    You should try using http://sleepyti.me/ http://sleepyti.me/
- kvcrawford 13y ago
  I think the point is that the light signals your body to stop production of melatonin, waking you up naturally.
AceJohnny2 13y ago
A white (pink/purple...) noise generator has greatly helped me sleep. I was regularly woken up by intermittent traffic noise until I started using one. I keep recommending it to everyone. *there are many selections on the App Store and Play store. FWIW, I use the one by TMSOFT which provides different kinds of noise. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tmsoft.whitenoise.full https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tmsoft.whi...
- deletes 13y ago
  I'm very keen to try this. Did you notice any side effects?
  - AceJohnny2 13y ago
    In the beginning, it took me a few minutes to be comfortable with the extra noise. Now it's reassuring.
  - rfnslyr 13y ago
    Just put in ear plugs. I use generic dollar store orange ones and I sleep like a king now.
    - AceJohnny2 13y ago
      I've used ear plugs as well, to lesser success. Many people are uncomfortable with the pressure it puts on their ears. I've long been used to earplugs for a while (a couple years in a boarding school dorm necessitates them), but my ears just adapt to the lower noise level. I suppose the noise generator raises the noise floor, so external disturbing sounds have a lower SNR and thus you're less likely to react to them.
    - fphhotchips 13y ago
      I find that my Sleep Phones (www.sleepphones.com) work pretty well without putting the pressure on my ears. The only problem is that the speakers in the headband can move, so you have to fiddle a little bit to get them over your ears.
mistercow 13y ago
I'm trying to branch into MC programming by building a sunrise alarm clock. All I can say so far is don't accidentally turn on an 800 lumen LED while you're staring directly at it.
gegtik 13y ago
yeesh, Mercola
navait 13y ago
Is this a repost? I feel like I've seen this specific article on HN before. Or maybe all of these sleep articles give similar advice and seem the same.
- brianmartinek 13y ago
  This is not a repost, just what I find works for me. I have seen similar articles about sleep on HN before but I'm not sure they make the same observations I have.
enoch_r 13y ago
There's no need to spend hundreds of dollars on a sunrise alarm clock. Just buy some super-bright, flat white bulbs[1] and a timer[2]. (And a lamp if you need one, of course.) Sure, it doesn't get gradually light, but the main thing is that it's very bright when you get out of bed, which is really pleasant! [0] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00198U6U6 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00198U6U6 [1] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040718V4 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040718V4
- shabble 13y ago
  If you have some crappy early-generation CFLs that have been used a lot, they can take 10-15 mins to come up to maximum intensity (although that max is still pretty puny, output wise).
- enraged_camel 13y ago
  I don't think you have understood the point of a sunrise alarm clock. The reason they turn on gradually is to simulate sunrise, which makes it the most comfortable way for your body to wake up. I don't know about you, but when I'm sleeping in a dark room and someone suddenly turns on a bright light, I hate it.
  - enoch_r 13y ago
    Different things work for different people, I guess. I think the clocks have two points, both aimed at simulating the conditions we evolved in--one, they turn on gradually, and two, they wake you up with light rather than noise. I personally don't care about the first point--my timed light flips on while I'm still asleep, I wake up gradually, and at the point when, in a dark room, I'd probably come up from a doze, roll over, and go back to sleep, I notice it looks like daylight in my room and get up. In fact, I prefer this, because the sunrise alarm clocks I've used haven't been bright enough to feel like dawn instead of a lamp. Yeah, you don't get all the benefits of a sunrise alarm clocks, and it might not work for everyone. It's a hack to get some of the benefits at a lower cost, that's all.
- bluena 13y ago
  I would LOVE to use the bedside lamp I already have to progressively turn on every morning at a specific time. I'm sure there's a timer out there combined with a dimer that will replace expensive sunrise alarm clocks. Concerning the nature sounds adapted to your sleepcycle, there's already many apps doing that for free. Anyone knows of a dimer/timer like this?
rickdale 13y ago
The number one way I have optimized my sleep lately is with The Original Bed Band. It keeps my sheet on my mattress, which is awesome because I am a toss n turner plus 2 dogs to boot. Try them out if you have a problem with sheets coming off the bed. http://www.amazon.com/The-ORIGINAL-Bed-Band-Adjustable/dp/B004I3VDWY/ref=pd_sim_hg_2 http://www.amazon.com/The-ORIGINAL-Bed-Band-Adjustable/dp/B0...
AndrewKemendo 13y ago
I have fought the encroaching light battle for almost 25 years. It's not as easy as the author makes it sound while still having a normal human looking room. Here is the pack-rat/shut in version: If you have any windows in your room the only real solution is some combination of a lightproof sheeting (light proof fabric, aluminum foil etc...) and light proof adhesive (black gaffers tape is the best or aluminum foil tape). Since there are very few window frames that give good clearance around them for affixing things, and don't have wild trim or corners the latter material really makes or breaks your situation. Congratulations, now you have to work on your door. Door sweeps usually do a good enough job but those pesky door cracks can be a nightmare. The easiest solution to this is a blackout drape hung over your door as though it was another door. Reasonable people can disagree about whether to put this inside the room or outside the room - as long as you have a good "seal" on the sides and top it should be fine. This causes problems for egress if needed however. The last and simplest thing is to just move all devices that cause light completely out of the room or disable their persistent light sources completely. The good citizen version: Using your standard draping you will need to sew blackout fabric to the back of your draping with basically no gaps. Stitch Witchery does not work. Hot glue peels away. Sewing is the only reliable option. You will then need to choose your affixing method. I personally like using neodymium magnets, but in the quantity that you need them, they get pricey. They are also more complicated to line up. The easier version, which is still pricey is to use industrial strength velcro. You will have to measure and line up near perfectly where you affix the velcro on the drape to where your hooks/loops on the window/wall go. This is way more complicated that it sounds in practice - again because windows rarely are simple flat squares with no trim. Affixing to the wall/window is always a tradeoff. Anything that "sticks" will peel off eventually and take any paint with it. If you nail/staple it on, now you have holes in your wall. So pick your poison. Even after all this work, you will still likely have some leakage. That is where the extra fabric comes in handy to drape over the velcro sides. In general it will cover you night or day, but this one is really hard to get perfectly. Treat the door the same - generally you can have the drape roll up during the day without issue. This option lets you open the windows and drapes with minimal amount of tell to your mole-like behavior. It ends up being cumulatively a lot more work however. I have tried to think up simple consumer solutions (I see lots of aluminum foil in windows -- watch you'll see it too now)to this, but windows are so damn variable that it is near impossible and the only major consumer solutions right now are not worth the price.
hdivider 13y ago
I recommend Sleepfaring by Prof Jim Horne. http://www.amazon.com/Sleepfaring-Journey-through-Science-Sleep/dp/019922837X/ http://www.amazon.com/Sleepfaring-Journey-through-Science-Sl... Reading it can put you to sleep, but there's interesting stuff there. Some highlights, off the top of my head: 1) 'Coffee naps' are effective - i.e. if you're really tired and have to stay awake, drink a coffee quickly and nap for 15 minutes or so. 2) If you are sleep deprived, you only have to make up a fraction (I think it was something like 1/4) of the lost sleep - not the entire amount. It's easy to sleep too much. 3) If you can't sleep, instead of tossing and turning it might be better to simply get up and do a boring routine activity (e.g. puzzles), until you get tired again. YMMV etc. - sleep is still not that well understood.
gte910h 13y ago
And if your BMI is over 23, or you ever have been teased about snoring, have a sleep study done to check for apnea
fphhotchips 13y ago
I hate these articles. Not because they aren't useful, but because I wake up a couple hours before my partner, and she sleeps on a schedule that's so precise I'm not sure she's human. I'm jealous, and in order to not get killed in a domestic dispute, changes like temperature control ("It's too cold!"), sunrise alarm clocks ("Turn that goddamned light off!") and light control ("Those black out shades are ugly!") are not practical. Tl;dr: if you want to use these techniques to get a good night's sleep, get used to sleeping alone.
- Kequc 13y ago
  Your SO is oscar the grouch?? Realistically though just alter your schedule or ask her to alter hers. Switch to a bucket of water being dumped on you to wake you up. After she has a nervous breakdown that the bed is soaking wet suggest that you tried temperature changes, sunrise alarm clocks and darker shades. But she was against all of them.
  - fphhotchips 13y ago
    She's not if I let her keep her sleep schedule! A couple of days off of it and I'm afraid she's going to move in to a tin garbage can though... I am trying/have tried other methods of sleep optimisation though. I tried Gnaural (brain entrainment software - placebo or not I found it worked reasonably well) combined with Sleep Phones (http://www.sleepphones.com/ http://www.sleepphones.com/). The sleep phones also help with an alarm that I can hear and she can't.
azakai 13y ago
> Why: Before the light bulb the only lights at night were the stars and the moon Seem to be forgetting fire. Campfires were surely used by our ancestors, for hundreds of thousands of years, and it is plausible that we evolved to adapt to them. > Humans have evolved to wake up with the sunrise and fall asleep with the sunset Evidence? Are we sure that ancient hunter-gatherers did not hunt/gather by the light of the moon? And after the discovery of fire, there would be even more flexibility. Using fire to hunt animals during the night, when they are most vulnerable, sounds pretty useful.
- barbs 13y ago
  > Seem to be forgetting fire. Campfires were surely used by our ancestors, for hundreds of thousands of years, and it is plausible that we evolved to adapt to them. He does lightly touch on the subject of fire: > The blue wavelengths of light suppress melatonin production so daylight triggers the body to stop producing it (interestingly red, orange, and yellow wavelengths don’t suppress melatonin production and are the same wavelengths produced by fire)
polemic 13y ago
As the parent of two young children who are terrible sleepers I LOLed, then cried a little bit, then what was I talking about again?
- wiredfool 13y ago
  One simple way to optimize your sleep: make your spouse deal with kids in the middle of the night. (note, this may work for one night, after which you'll be optimizing on the couch)
PencilAndPaper 13y ago
My partner and I sleep alone. We are both light sleepers.
ramblerman 13y ago
Supplementing melatonin, even in people without insomnia is worth pursuing. I'll allow you to do your own research on the claims for longetivity but this is a good aggregator of studies for the other benefits: http://examine.com/supplements/Melatonin/ http://examine.com/supplements/Melatonin/ It's important to get the dose right, specially if you're still <50 don't jump in at 3mg.
thret 13y ago
"1. Sleep In A Pitch Black Room Why: Before the light bulb the only lights at night were the stars and the moon." "2. Simulate The Sunrise/Sunset With An Alarm Clock Why: Humans have evolved to wake up with the sunrise and fall asleep with the sunset. It’s only been the last 100 years or so, basically once the light bulb started becoming common in households, that the natural balance of the sleep/wake cycle became decoupled from the sun." Humans haven't been without fire, candles, lamps, and artificial light for perhaps 400,000 years. We have evolved with artificial light, not without it.

56 points by brianmartinek 13y ago

Sunrise alarm clock = epic. Definitely need to look into getting one. Seems like a better alternative than using my phone as an alarm, which I feel like throwing across the room in the morning when it wakes me up :)

brianmartinek 13y ago
It makes such a difference in my mornings since I have been using a sunrise alarm clock. I still use my phone alarm but only as a backup (I am almost always awake by the time it goes off)
joonix 13y ago
It sounds great but 200 dollars is a rip off. Someone should hack together a cheap one and sell it. Perhaps linked to a smartphone

kirpekar 13y ago

Three Simple Ways That I Optimize My Sleep, not backed by science: 1. Work hard and find time to exercise during the day 2. Relax my mind towards the end of the day, have a beer, watch some TV, etc. 3. Read a little before dozing off

cgag 13y ago
There has to be some science behind exercising during the day and reading / reading at night.

mcintyre1994 13y ago

An alternative to #2 seems to be to set your alarm in line with sleep cycles. Work out how long it takes you to go to sleep (I'm actually not sure how you do this, 14 minutes is average and works great for me), add 6 hours or 7:30 (or some interval of 90 minutes), wake up at the resulting time. I do it using DoubleTwist (which defaults to the 14 minute to get to sleep thing), but it's easy enough to work out and works really well.

brianmartinek 13y ago
That's interesting. Something I've never thought about before.
- glitchdout 13y ago
  You should try using http://sleepyti.me/ http://sleepyti.me/
kvcrawford 13y ago
I think the point is that the light signals your body to stop production of melatonin, waking you up naturally.

AceJohnny2 13y ago

A white (pink/purple...) noise generator has greatly helped me sleep. I was regularly woken up by intermittent traffic noise until I started using one. I keep recommending it to everyone. *there are many selections on the App Store and Play store. FWIW, I use the one by TMSOFT which provides different kinds of noise. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tmsoft.whitenoise.full https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tmsoft.whi...

deletes 13y ago
I'm very keen to try this. Did you notice any side effects?
- AceJohnny2 13y ago
  In the beginning, it took me a few minutes to be comfortable with the extra noise. Now it's reassuring.
- rfnslyr 13y ago
  Just put in ear plugs. I use generic dollar store orange ones and I sleep like a king now.
  - AceJohnny2 13y ago
    I've used ear plugs as well, to lesser success. Many people are uncomfortable with the pressure it puts on their ears. I've long been used to earplugs for a while (a couple years in a boarding school dorm necessitates them), but my ears just adapt to the lower noise level. I suppose the noise generator raises the noise floor, so external disturbing sounds have a lower SNR and thus you're less likely to react to them.
  - fphhotchips 13y ago
    I find that my Sleep Phones (www.sleepphones.com) work pretty well without putting the pressure on my ears. The only problem is that the speakers in the headband can move, so you have to fiddle a little bit to get them over your ears.

mistercow 13y ago

I'm trying to branch into MC programming by building a sunrise alarm clock. All I can say so far is don't accidentally turn on an 800 lumen LED while you're staring directly at it.

gegtik 13y ago

yeesh, Mercola

navait 13y ago

Is this a repost? I feel like I've seen this specific article on HN before. Or maybe all of these sleep articles give similar advice and seem the same.

brianmartinek 13y ago
This is not a repost, just what I find works for me. I have seen similar articles about sleep on HN before but I'm not sure they make the same observations I have.

enoch_r 13y ago

There's no need to spend hundreds of dollars on a sunrise alarm clock. Just buy some super-bright, flat white bulbs[1] and a timer[2]. (And a lamp if you need one, of course.) Sure, it doesn't get gradually light, but the main thing is that it's very bright when you get out of bed, which is really pleasant! [0] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00198U6U6 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00198U6U6 [1] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040718V4 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040718V4

shabble 13y ago
If you have some crappy early-generation CFLs that have been used a lot, they can take 10-15 mins to come up to maximum intensity (although that max is still pretty puny, output wise).
enraged_camel 13y ago
I don't think you have understood the point of a sunrise alarm clock. The reason they turn on gradually is to simulate sunrise, which makes it the most comfortable way for your body to wake up. I don't know about you, but when I'm sleeping in a dark room and someone suddenly turns on a bright light, I hate it.
- enoch_r 13y ago
  Different things work for different people, I guess. I think the clocks have two points, both aimed at simulating the conditions we evolved in--one, they turn on gradually, and two, they wake you up with light rather than noise. I personally don't care about the first point--my timed light flips on while I'm still asleep, I wake up gradually, and at the point when, in a dark room, I'd probably come up from a doze, roll over, and go back to sleep, I notice it looks like daylight in my room and get up. In fact, I prefer this, because the sunrise alarm clocks I've used haven't been bright enough to feel like dawn instead of a lamp. Yeah, you don't get all the benefits of a sunrise alarm clocks, and it might not work for everyone. It's a hack to get some of the benefits at a lower cost, that's all.
bluena 13y ago
I would LOVE to use the bedside lamp I already have to progressively turn on every morning at a specific time. I'm sure there's a timer out there combined with a dimer that will replace expensive sunrise alarm clocks. Concerning the nature sounds adapted to your sleepcycle, there's already many apps doing that for free. Anyone knows of a dimer/timer like this?

rickdale 13y ago

The number one way I have optimized my sleep lately is with The Original Bed Band. It keeps my sheet on my mattress, which is awesome because I am a toss n turner plus 2 dogs to boot. Try them out if you have a problem with sheets coming off the bed. http://www.amazon.com/The-ORIGINAL-Bed-Band-Adjustable/dp/B004I3VDWY/ref=pd_sim_hg_2 http://www.amazon.com/The-ORIGINAL-Bed-Band-Adjustable/dp/B0...

AndrewKemendo 13y ago

I have fought the encroaching light battle for almost 25 years. It's not as easy as the author makes it sound while still having a normal human looking room. Here is the pack-rat/shut in version: If you have any windows in your room the only real solution is some combination of a lightproof sheeting (light proof fabric, aluminum foil etc...) and light proof adhesive (black gaffers tape is the best or aluminum foil tape). Since there are very few window frames that give good clearance around them for affixing things, and don't have wild trim or corners the latter material really makes or breaks your situation. Congratulations, now you have to work on your door. Door sweeps usually do a good enough job but those pesky door cracks can be a nightmare. The easiest solution to this is a blackout drape hung over your door as though it was another door. Reasonable people can disagree about whether to put this inside the room or outside the room - as long as you have a good "seal" on the sides and top it should be fine. This causes problems for egress if needed however. The last and simplest thing is to just move all devices that cause light completely out of the room or disable their persistent light sources completely. The good citizen version: Using your standard draping you will need to sew blackout fabric to the back of your draping with basically no gaps. Stitch Witchery does not work. Hot glue peels away. Sewing is the only reliable option. You will then need to choose your affixing method. I personally like using neodymium magnets, but in the quantity that you need them, they get pricey. They are also more complicated to line up. The easier version, which is still pricey is to use industrial strength velcro. You will have to measure and line up near perfectly where you affix the velcro on the drape to where your hooks/loops on the window/wall go. This is way more complicated that it sounds in practice - again because windows rarely are simple flat squares with no trim. Affixing to the wall/window is always a tradeoff. Anything that "sticks" will peel off eventually and take any paint with it. If you nail/staple it on, now you have holes in your wall. So pick your poison. Even after all this work, you will still likely have some leakage. That is where the extra fabric comes in handy to drape over the velcro sides. In general it will cover you night or day, but this one is really hard to get perfectly. Treat the door the same - generally you can have the drape roll up during the day without issue. This option lets you open the windows and drapes with minimal amount of tell to your mole-like behavior. It ends up being cumulatively a lot more work however. I have tried to think up simple consumer solutions (I see lots of aluminum foil in windows -- watch you'll see it too now)to this, but windows are so damn variable that it is near impossible and the only major consumer solutions right now are not worth the price.

hdivider 13y ago

I recommend Sleepfaring by Prof Jim Horne. http://www.amazon.com/Sleepfaring-Journey-through-Science-Sleep/dp/019922837X/ http://www.amazon.com/Sleepfaring-Journey-through-Science-Sl... Reading it can put you to sleep, but there's interesting stuff there. Some highlights, off the top of my head: 1) 'Coffee naps' are effective - i.e. if you're really tired and have to stay awake, drink a coffee quickly and nap for 15 minutes or so. 2) If you are sleep deprived, you only have to make up a fraction (I think it was something like 1/4) of the lost sleep - not the entire amount. It's easy to sleep too much. 3) If you can't sleep, instead of tossing and turning it might be better to simply get up and do a boring routine activity (e.g. puzzles), until you get tired again. YMMV etc. - sleep is still not that well understood.

gte910h 13y ago

And if your BMI is over 23, or you ever have been teased about snoring, have a sleep study done to check for apnea

fphhotchips 13y ago

I hate these articles. Not because they aren't useful, but because I wake up a couple hours before my partner, and she sleeps on a schedule that's so precise I'm not sure she's human. I'm jealous, and in order to not get killed in a domestic dispute, changes like temperature control ("It's too cold!"), sunrise alarm clocks ("Turn that goddamned light off!") and light control ("Those black out shades are ugly!") are not practical. Tl;dr: if you want to use these techniques to get a good night's sleep, get used to sleeping alone.

Kequc 13y ago
Your SO is oscar the grouch?? Realistically though just alter your schedule or ask her to alter hers. Switch to a bucket of water being dumped on you to wake you up. After she has a nervous breakdown that the bed is soaking wet suggest that you tried temperature changes, sunrise alarm clocks and darker shades. But she was against all of them.
- fphhotchips 13y ago
  She's not if I let her keep her sleep schedule! A couple of days off of it and I'm afraid she's going to move in to a tin garbage can though... I am trying/have tried other methods of sleep optimisation though. I tried Gnaural (brain entrainment software - placebo or not I found it worked reasonably well) combined with Sleep Phones (http://www.sleepphones.com/ http://www.sleepphones.com/). The sleep phones also help with an alarm that I can hear and she can't.

azakai 13y ago

> Why: Before the light bulb the only lights at night were the stars and the moon Seem to be forgetting fire. Campfires were surely used by our ancestors, for hundreds of thousands of years, and it is plausible that we evolved to adapt to them. > Humans have evolved to wake up with the sunrise and fall asleep with the sunset Evidence? Are we sure that ancient hunter-gatherers did not hunt/gather by the light of the moon? And after the discovery of fire, there would be even more flexibility. Using fire to hunt animals during the night, when they are most vulnerable, sounds pretty useful.

barbs 13y ago
> Seem to be forgetting fire. Campfires were surely used by our ancestors, for hundreds of thousands of years, and it is plausible that we evolved to adapt to them. He does lightly touch on the subject of fire: > The blue wavelengths of light suppress melatonin production so daylight triggers the body to stop producing it (interestingly red, orange, and yellow wavelengths don’t suppress melatonin production and are the same wavelengths produced by fire)

polemic 13y ago

As the parent of two young children who are terrible sleepers I LOLed, then cried a little bit, then what was I talking about again?

wiredfool 13y ago
One simple way to optimize your sleep: make your spouse deal with kids in the middle of the night. (note, this may work for one night, after which you'll be optimizing on the couch)

PencilAndPaper 13y ago

My partner and I sleep alone. We are both light sleepers.

ramblerman 13y ago

Supplementing melatonin, even in people without insomnia is worth pursuing. I'll allow you to do your own research on the claims for longetivity but this is a good aggregator of studies for the other benefits: http://examine.com/supplements/Melatonin/ http://examine.com/supplements/Melatonin/ It's important to get the dose right, specially if you're still <50 don't jump in at 3mg.

thret 13y ago

"1. Sleep In A Pitch Black Room Why: Before the light bulb the only lights at night were the stars and the moon." "2. Simulate The Sunrise/Sunset With An Alarm Clock Why: Humans have evolved to wake up with the sunrise and fall asleep with the sunset. It’s only been the last 100 years or so, basically once the light bulb started becoming common in households, that the natural balance of the sleep/wake cycle became decoupled from the sun." Humans haven't been without fire, candles, lamps, and artificial light for perhaps 400,000 years. We have evolved with artificial light, not without it.