A Brief Update

As you can probably tell (assuming you've seen this blog before I posted this) I've changed the general layout and design of the blog. I am not sure if this design is what I will stick with forever but it will work for now.

I have also created a twitter account. I will generally be using it to share articles or posts from other blogs I find interesting.

I have three more blog posts planned right now and I will try to get at least two of them out before the end of December.

Optimizing Sleep for Self Improvement Part 2: Reacting to the Data

This post is part 2 of what is now a Optimizing Sleep for Self Improvement series.

Review:

Goal:

As discussed in part 1, sleep is a fundamental part of a person’s life. Despite its importance, many people still have a difficult time getting adequate sleep. Sleep can be characterized by sleep and wake time as well as efficiency (time asleep divided by total time in bed). In improving sleep the most important thing is to increase sleep efficiency. This will will mean falling asleep sooner after going to bed and getting out of bed to start the day sooner after waking up. The next most important aspect of sleep is the total amount of time asleep. The amount of sleep necessary for optimal well being can vary a lot between individuals. However aiming to get within the recommended range of 7-9 hours is a good rule of thumb.

Method:

In order to improve sleep you have to be aware of the factors that are most negatively affecting you. In order to do this you should be keeping a sleep log which at minimum records the time you go to bed, how long you take to fall asleep, when you wake up, and how long it takes you to fall asleep. You can also record how many times you wake up during the night/how long it takes you to fall back asleep if that is common occurrence for you. After doing this for a few weeks you should have a good idea of what factor is most preventing you from having the best sleep.

Response:

Now that you have a record of your sleeping habits you should have a good idea of where you can employ your effort towards improving your sleep the most. This section gives some advice for dealing with these different factors.

Not Falling Asleep Quickly at Night:

Being unable able to fall asleep at night while lying in bed is insanely frustrating. Inability to fall asleep easily is very difficult to relieve because as you lie in bed awake your mind associates being in bed with being awake and thus feels more and more awake while in bed at night. Thus  significant part of being able to relieve inability to sleep easily is to disassociate lying in bed with being awake. This means if you find yourself not falling asleep within half an hour you should get out of bed until you feel you can fall asleep quickly after returning. This will be frustrating but ultimately necessary to being able to sleep easily. When employing this strategy you should have a low alertness activity to do if you get out of bed that you enjoy such as reading, writing, or drawing. The purpose of this is to allow you to be comfortable getting out of bed even though you might be anxious to get to sleep as quickly as possible.

Before going to bed you should minimize the amount of factors that can interfere with your sleep. For example mind altering substances like alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine can interfere with your ability to sleep. Thus consumption of these substances should be prohibited in an amount of time before bed proportional to how long it takes for them to be metabolized. For reference one drink of alcohol takes about 2 hours, 8 hours for caffeine, and 4 hours for nicotine (these values represent 2 half lives for blood concentration of the substance after consumption). Another factor that can interfere with sleep is poor nutrition. Lack of magnesium, calcium, b vitamins, or copper can interfere with sleep. If you find your diet deficient in one these you should consider getting a supplement for it. Artificial light also interferes with sleep. So be sure to turn off all electronics and bright lights at least 30 minutes before going to bed.Stress and anxiety can also be very effective at interfering with sleep. One strategy for dealing with stress is to set out a certain amount of time before bed as a “worry period”. During this time you should write down things that are causing negative feelings that you fear will interfere with sleep alongside a written plan for how you will deal with it. For example if you are stressed about a project you are working on you can write down a list of things you need to research in the morning to make sure your project works out as well as possible. This way you can go to bed content that you have made at least a little progress on dealing with the issues you are having.

Not Getting out of Bed Quickly in the Morning:

Not being able to quickly get out of bed in the morning is another frustrating quality. Feeling stuck in bed in the morning feels bad since time that should be spent preparing for the rest of the day. However getting out of bed seems really difficult since the state of mind you are in right after waking up is completely different to the state of mind you are normally in during the day. So in order to get out of bed effectively you need to be stimulated enough so that you get into the mindset of wanting to be out of bed. However a conventional alarm clock usually isn’t stimulating enough to do this since you can just hit snooze and get back to bed quickly. One way to make your alarm clock work more effectively is to put it far out of reach of your bed so you actually have to get up to get to it. Another thing to do with an alarm clock is set it to something you will be able to enjoy like a favorite song. This will allow you to feel comfortable waking up and thus more likely to not go back into bed. Lastly when getting up you should have something scheduled to do in the morning so you can be motivated to do something other than go back to bed.

If you still find yourself not being able to get up immediately in the morning there are some more extreme methods you can use. For example for phone alarm clocks there are apps that force you to solve a puzzle. Personally I have had some success with “Alarmy from Delight Room” for android which allows you to set a variety of puzzles to turn it off. Another extreme method is chain multiple scheduled alarms together one after the other to make it difficult to get back in bed since doing so will only grant a sliver of time before the next one goes off. Ideally these strategies will not need to be permanent and you will eventually be able to naturally wake up a few seconds before the alarm even goes off.

Waking Up Often During the Night:

Waking up during the night is another factor which creates an inefficient sleeping pattern. Usually waking up during the night is due to an external factor which is interfering with your sleep. One thing that could be waking you up at night is the need to use the bathroom. This can be remedied easily by limiting food and drink before bed and spending some time before bed on the toilet even if you don’t immediately feel like you need to. Another factor that could be leading to you waking up in the middle of the night is the environment in your room. Too much heat, cold, light can also interfere with sleep so being aware of and dealing with these environmental factors can allow you to decrease your wakefulness during the night.

If dealing with all of these factors doesn’t relieve sleep interference, one possible factor may be sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a disorder wherein a person pauses or softens their breathing during sleep due to obstruction. This pausing of breath can cause you to wake up during the night feeling short of breath. If you have this symptom you should see a doctor to get a proper diagnosis and treatment.