#16: 9 Simple Tips You Can Start Today That Will Upgrade Your Sleep.

Hi,

I'm happy you want to invest in your brain. That's a smart choice. As always, I've got 4 Brain Nutrients for you:

• One Short Article: 9 Tips To Upgrade Your Sleep.

• Two Quotes.

• One Neuroscience Fact: How Caffeine Impacts Adenosine.

Enjoy!

One Short Article: 9 Tips To Upgrade Your Sleep.

Sleep is The Foundation of your mental and physical health. Sleep is crucial for:

• health

• creativity

• stress relief

• brain resilience

• immune system

• emotional stability

• brain performance.

Yet, most people are sleep deprived.

So today, I want to give you tips on how to improve the quality of your sleep. You can add most of them to your daily routine.

They will help you take advantage of your circadian rhythm. It is your natural body clock that dictates your asleep/awake states.

1. Sleep on Schedule

Go to bed and wake up roughly at the same time every day. It will help regulate your circadian cycle. After a while, you'll know your alertness peaks and sleep times.

2. Go outside within 60 minutes of waking to get sunlight

Early in the morning, you want to "wake up" your circadian clock. A 10-minute walk will be enough. If it's cloudy, extend it to 20.

3. Understand the "Caffeine Window"

You should delay your first caffeine intake at least 90-120 minutes after you wake up (see Neuroscience Fact below).

Later, avoid caffeine 8-10 hours before bedtime. Some researchers suggest 12 hours. Caffeine disrupts your sleep. Even if you fall asleep, your sleep quality drops. So if you go to bed at 10 PM, never drink coffee after 2 PM.

4. Avoid bright lights before going to bed

Bright light in the evening wakes up your circadian rhythm again. Avoid all types, but blue light is the worst. Blue light blockers help only a bit.

5. Keep your bedroom cool and dark at bedtime

Your body temperature needs to drop to fall and stay asleep effectively. Also, remove blankets you don't need.

6. Avoid big meals close to bedtime

Heavy meals put you in the "rest and digest" state. So you become sleepy. But this state also increases your body temperature. As you learned in the previous point, that's the opposite of what you want.

7. Don't drink alcohol

Sleeping like a baby doesn't necessarily mean the sleep depth is correct. Even a small drink in the evening will disrupt your sleep quality.

8. Relax before bedtime

Read a book. Practice calming down through relaxation or deep breathing.

9. Avoid sleeping pills

Just like alcohol, pills mess up your sleep. Again, even if they help you fall asleep, the quality drops. It causes more drowsiness during the day, which leads to more caffeine and longer naps, which leads to more sleeping pills. Break that chain.

Conclusion.

Sleep is vital. When you prioritize it, you'll improve your health and performance in all endeavors! I hope my short guide will help you.

For shift workers, getting the sleep right is complicated. Luckily, Andrew Huberman explains it in detail in this podcast episode.

Two Quotes

• "Earn with your mind, not your time." Naval Ravikant, The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant

• "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." Albert Einstein

One Neuroscience Fact: How Caffeine Impacts Adenosine.

Adenosine is a chemical in your brain that impacts your drowsiness. It rises throughout the day. It's low right after you wake up and high when you fall asleep.

Early caffeine intake (within 90-120 minutes of waking) messes up adenosine's natural growth. It prevents the rising and disrupts your circadian rhythm. Delay your first caffeine intake.

Thanks for reading. See you next week.

Keep your brain in mind.

Kris

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