6 Ways to get Better Deep Sleep

I've come to realize that we, as a society, are suffering from a lack of darkness. We actually need darkness to release melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate our sleep and keeps our circadian rhythm balanced. When the sun sets and the sky turns those beautiful shades of red and orange, it's our body's natural signal that it's time to wind down and get ready for sleep.

But nowadays, when the sun goes down, we just turn on streetlights, car headlights, reading lamps, and all sorts of electronic devices that emit bright white and blue light. This tricks our bodies into thinking the sun is still up. The invention of electric light was a groundbreaking scientific achievement, but it also had an unintended downside: it's negatively altered our ability to sleep and to regenerate.

Being consistent with your bedtime is important, but what's even more crucial is being consistent with your actual "going to sleep" time. For example, if you head to bed at 10 p.m. but spend an hour reading under a bright light, you're not really going to sleep until 11 p.m., and you're making it harder for your body to prepare for sleep.

The same goes for waking up, if you’ve nailed your sleep routine, you shouldn't need an alarm to wake up. If you still rely on one, it probably means you’re going to bed too late.

To figure out your ideal sleep schedule, try this: over the course of a week, go to bed and see what time you naturally wake up without an alarm. If you find that you sleep for 8 hours and need to be up by 7 a.m. to start your day, aim to be asleep by 11 p.m. And this routine shouldn’t change on the weekends, sleeping in on weekends can make Monday mornings feel even worse.

Another thing I learned is that your body and brain need to drop their core temperature by about 1°C (2 to 3°F) to fall asleep. This is why it’s easier to sleep in a cooler room rather than a warmer one. A cooler room actually helps your body cool down in sync with the setting sun, which is what our bodies are naturally programmed to do.

We used to think that darkness alone triggered sleepiness, but now we know it's a combination of both light and temperature. With all the white light around us these days, our bodies think it’s still daytime. Plus, with modern heating systems, our homes often stay warm at night, which isn’t ideal for sleep. Many people don’t realize that setting their bedroom temperature lower than the rest of the house can actually help them sleep better.

It took me about two months to find a bedroom temperature that I liked. Now, I keep the air conditioning in my bedroom set 2 degrees Celsius lower than in the living room, and I even use two digital thermometers to keep track of the temperatures.

Another tip I found helpful is taking a warm shower or bath before bed. When you step out of the warm water, your body cools down rapidly as the heat dissipates, which signals to your body that it’s time to sleep. This drop in core temperature can help you fall asleep faster.

Alcohol sensitivity, like caffeine, varies from person to person. I know I can have two glasses of wine between 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and still get a solid 8 hours of sleep without it affecting my deep sleep. However, using alcohol as a sleep aid is a mistake. Unlike using an eye mask, alcohol isn't really helping you sleep, it's actually a sedative. And sedation isn't the same as natural sleep. If I have more than three glasses of wine at night, my deep sleep definitely suffers.

Research shows that alcohol-induced sleep is often fragmented. So even if you think you’ve slept for a solid 6 hours without interruption, your body might have woken up multiple times for just a few seconds, breaking the sleep cycle we need to truly rejuvenate our bodies.

On a more positive note, listening to sleep music or relaxing sounds can really help with falling asleep. I’ve found that having some calming background sounds, like thunder or rain, helps me drift off faster. There are plenty of studies that support this, so it’s worth giving it a try.