How to Sleep: Better Quality and the Right Quantity
WHY should you care: I am assuming that if you are reading this, and since it is my second post that only I and my beautiful girlfriend are, that you are driven to succeed and seek the highest quality of life. We humans spend roughly one third of our lives sleeping, thus one third of the quality of your life is the quality of your sleep. Having better sleep in the right amount can drastically improve your mood, productivity, and overall health the following day. Stacking great days with great sleep together leads to a greater life!
WHO did I learn this from: This is really from two fantastic human beings 1) Jim Collins (Author of Built to Last and Good To Great ) and 2) Tim Ferriss (host of The Tim Ferriss show and author of Tribe of Mentors, Tools of Titans, and “Four Hour” anything). Tim was interviewing Jim on his show (https://tim.blog/2019/02/18/jim-collins/) where Jim explained the facts of how much sleep we need over a given period, at what time intervals (explained later) to best sleep, his sleep habits, and how he tracks his sleep. This guy researches this stuff for a living so I’m very sure he knows what he’s talking about. The other tip, on the natural sleep aid, is directly from Tim’s book Tools of Titans, where he interviewed the world’s top performers on the subject. I will also include his sleep routine that I heard on one of his episodes that I can’t remember.
WHAT the lesson is: The first thing Jim explains is that everyone tracks and talks about sleep wrong. Everyone always says “Oh, I only got 6 hours last night,” or “10 hours per night is too much.” He says that “hours per night” is the wrong metric to look at; instead we should look at “hours per week.” He explains that what we should shoot for is 50 hours of sleep per week. This means that you can get 4 hours one night, just not every night. He also discusses the importance of getting sleep in intervals of REM cycles. One REM cycle (full sleep cycle) is roughly 1.5 hours so try to sleep in hours that are multiples of 1.5, for example I’m shooting for six tonight and tomorrow seven an a half. He says that he sleeps roughly 4.5 hours, gets up for two at around 3 am and works, then goes back to sleep for another 3 hours. He uses a massive spreadsheet to track his weekly sleep as well as his average weekly hours slept for the entire year.
Tim Ferriss does something similar with the REM cycles. He sleeps for 6 hours, goes about his day, then right around when that mid-afternoon lull sets in, he takes a 1.5 hour nap and works into the night. One of the biggest self-help gurus is actually encouraging taking a long nap in the middle of the day! He also suggests this natural sleep aid, which, though it has no scientific evidence to prove so, knocks anyone out. It’s very simple, two tablespoons of organic apple cider vinegar with one tablespoon of raw honey mixed with hot water. I don’t know why it works, but multiple people recommended it to him and it is a killer!
I want to end with a quick note. I have implemented everything (besides the crazy yearly average spreadsheet) into my personal life and have seen great results. Getting sleep in 1.5 hour multiples helps me wake up rejuvenated and 50 hours a week is enough for me. For some unknown reason, the honey and vinegar concoction helps me sleep like a baby. Everything that I post on this blog I have either tried or am currently trying myself and experiencing some sort of success with. Give them a try and see if they work for you!
-Matt Tracy
(P.S. try to avoid blue light, computer/phone screens and LED lights, before bed as well for even better sleep)