Sleep mastery checklist for high performers [#12]

Good morning from Kingston, Jamaica! 🇯🇲☀️

Yesterday's visit to Strawberry Hill left me feeling like I was in a dream.

Speaking of dreams, you'll experience more vivid ones when you start getting better sleep by applying the strategies I share in this issue of The Productivist!

A good night’s sleep is your #1 productivity lever.

Some successful individuals attribute their results to hard work at the expense of their sleep.

But this is not what true high performance is all about.

Sleep is crucial for you both short-term and long-term.

SHORT-TERM

• Improves your focus and productivity.

• Boost your creativity by making it easier for you
  to organize and connect dots in your knowledge.

• Makes you much more pleasant to be around as it elevates your mood.

LONG-TERM

• Strengthens your immune system.

• Adds healthy and sharp years to your life.

• Decreases the likelihood of depression and anxiety.

For the past 4 years, I’ve been focusing on improving the quality of my sleep as it is truly the most impactful lever on your performance, productivity, and health.

Since then I’ve researched so much scientific literature on the subject through books, podcasts, courses, and expert articles.

Here’s my summary of the most important and valuable tips:

There are 6 levels to improve the quality of your sleep.

Let’s go through them today!

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Before we begin: Here’s what you may have missed last week

• In issue #11 of The Productivist, I shared 10 ideas that will save you 10+ hours every week.

• You learned how to close your open loops - a powerful technique to free up space on your mental dashboard.

• I shared my game-changing productivity rules “Create before consume”, “Priorities done by 1 PM”, “No deadline, not happening” and more!

To access the full issue, click here.

Level 1: Developing a sleeping habit

How to approach improving your sleep when you are starting from scratch?

Focus on REGULARITY.

Your body's natural clock, known as the circadian rhythm, plays a vital role in sleep quality.

Which makes your number one focus:

To wake up at the same time every day.

Whether it's a weekend or a workday, waking up at the same time will regulate your circadian rhythm and help improve the quality of your sleep.

What time should you wake up?

“Val, please don’t make me wake up at 6 AM, PLEASE!”

Great question! And luckily for you, the person who hates the idea of 6 AM start, that time is not one-size-fits-all, but rather it depends on your chronotype.

There are 4 of them: lion, bear, wolf, and dolphin.

Discover yours in this quiz.

Yes, I am an early riser lion indeed. 🙈

Level 2: Optimize your morning routine

One of the most surprising things I learned is that the quality of your sleep is largely shaped by how you spend the first couple hours of your day.

Here’s how you can optimize your morning routine by focusing on 4 major sleep levers:

Light

• Get morning sunlight on your face ideally in the first 30-60 minutes upon waking up.

• 10 minutes is sufficient on a clear sunny day.

• Aim for 20-30 minutes if it is cloudy.

• Typical artificial light in your home cannot fulfill this need.

• Ultra bright LED lights could be your last resort.

Temperature

• An increase in your core body temperature makes you feel more alert.

• 1-3 minutes of a cold shower or cold plunge will raise your core body’s temperature.

• So will some exercise (stretching, walking, running, etc)

Food

• Food is your source of energy, thus eating early in the morning can help you feel more alert.

• Make sure to not overeat because the process of digesting too much food will hijack your energy and make you feel even more tired.

Caffeine

• You already know that coffee helps you feel more alert.

• However, the recommendation is to have your first cup of coffee (or any other caffeinated beverage) at least 90 minutes after waking not to interrupt your natural morning rhythm.

Level 3: Optimize your evening routine

The next logical step is to optimize your evening routine.

A great power-down routine will signal your brain that sleep time is soon and to start producing melatonin.

Here’s how you can do that using the same levers + 3-2-1 rule.

Light

• Darkness is a natural signal for your brain to start producing melatonin.

• So is getting outdoors during the time leading to sunset.

• While bright artificial light is not sufficient to keep you alert during the morning hours, even a small amount of it in the evening time will disrupt your sleep.

• As the sun goes down, dim your artificial lights. Do it on as many nights as you can.

• Opt for using lights that are located below your head level rather than overhead lights, if possible.

• One more suggestion: candles!

Temperature

• A decrease in your core body temperature is needed to fall asleep and stay asleep.

• A hot shower, hot bath, or sauna before bed does the trick.

• Keep your environment cool (more on that below in level 5).

Food

• Food and digesting food takes up a lot of energy and keeps you awake, so try to have your last meal at least 3 hours before bed. Do not overeat.

3-2-1 rule

• 3 hours before bed: no food

• 2 hours before bed: no work

• 1 hour before bed: no screens

Level 4: Beware of sleep disturbances

I’ve got 7 of them for you:

• Avoid caffeine (coffee, matcha, tea, energy drinks, maté, etc) 8-12 hours before going to bed due to its half-life being around 4-6 hours.
  

• Limit alcohol to a maximum of 2 drinks and no later than 3 hours before bed. Have a glass of water in between. (Alcohol negatively impacts both - your REM sleep and deep sleep in the first part of the night.)
  

• Avoid theobromine and theophylline (found in cacao, chocolate, kola nut, etc) 6-10 hours before bed.
  

• Bright artificial lights of any colour. Repeating myself here.
  

• Watching movies and reading books in your bed disrupts your sleep. Your brain is habitual and quickly makes connections between the environment and what is expected of it in that environment.
  Thus, if you associate your bedroom with entertainment and staying awake, no wonder it’s difficult for you to fall asleep.
  

• Exercising close to bedtime keeps your heart rate and body temperature elevated, thus making it harder for you to fall asleep and reducing the quality of your sleep in the early part of the night.
  

• Partners and pets become a problem when they are a reason it is hard for you to fall asleep or stay asleep.
  

Level 5: Improving your sleeping environment

In a nutshell, keep your room dark and cool like a cave.

Light

• Aim to keep your bedroom pitch-black during sleep.

• Blackout curtains are a game-changer.

• Cover all the small lights emanating from chargers, outlets, etc.

• Sleep mask helps only if it fits properly (not too tight) and the room remains cool.

Temperature

• Keep the bedroom cool.

• Ideal temperature is 18°C (64°F).

• A heavy blanket is a great investment to improve the quality of your sleep.

Sound

• Only if noise keeps you awake at night, consider the below tips.

• Earplugs work for some people. Give them a try.

• A noise machine is a great remedy to block out outside noise.

• Analog or sunrise alarm clock > aggressive default phone alarm.

EMF

• The best option is to turn off wifi at home during the night.

• The second best is to keep all devices outside your bedroom.

• The next best is to put them on airplane mode.

Level 6: Biohacking sleep & sleep tracking

If you have the budget to invest in your sleep quality, here are my top 5 suggestions:

1. Mouth taping
   Nose breathing is underrated, especially during sleep.
   It can drastically improve the quality of your sleep.
   Heads up, it will be challenging to get used to it, so stick with it at least for a week before seeing the results.
   I’ve been mouth taping for the better half of this year, and I feel more well-rested upon waking up.
   

2. Chilipad
   A cooling system that will ensure you never wake up sweaty again.
   

3. Apollo Neuro 
   It is a bracelet that goes on your wrist or your ankle to help you keep your stress under control throughout the day. Thus, helps you sleep better.
   

4. Red light
   You can use red lights in the evening to help stimulate melatonin production.
   It becomes an absolute must when you regularly need to wake up during the night to feed a baby or care for someone else.
   

5. Sleep-tracking devices
   Oura ring, whoop bracelet, or other smartwatches that have sleep tracking built-in.
   One suggestion when you choose a device: make sure you can put it on airplane mode during sleep, and it will still collect data which you can then later sync with your phone when you take it off airplane mode.

   They serve as an excellent reference point to notice how your behaviour affects your sleep.

Tiny Habit: Non-sleep deep rest (NSDR)

If for some reason, you didn’t get enough sleep during the night and have a hard time focusing on tasks and staying productive, what should you do?

Take a 10-30 minute break to try a guided non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) protocol (similar to yoga nidra).

It has been proven to help refuel your brain and improve cognitive function.

Here’s my go-to option, guided by Dr. Andrew Huberman:

The Productivist Question

You don’t need a sleep-tracking device to see if your sleep is improving.

For the next 30 days, ask yourself these 7 questions upon waking up to assess your sleep quality:

1. On a scale from 1 to 10 how refreshed and rested do I feel?

2. On a scale from 1 to 10 how anxious do I feel?

3. On a scale from 1 to 10 how uninterrupted was my sleep?

4. Did I fall asleep quickly?

5. Did I wake up naturally or did I need my alarm?

6. Did I experience vivid dreams or nightmares?

7. Did I snore? (maybe your partner can help you answer that one)

Sleep well this week!

Valeriya

PS If you have any recommendations for me in Jamaica 🇯🇲,
please reply to this email or DM me on LinkedIn.

Three more ways I can help you:

1. Download your free copy of Success Secrets if you haven’t already.

2. If you want to work 1:1 with me on becoming a high performer in everything that you do, you can book your first session here.