Sleep Hacking to Improve Your Sleep

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My experiences with sleep hacking have taught me what goes into getting powerful sleep. There are three principles of sleep hacking:

Get to sleep as fast as possible.
Spend as much time in REM or Deep sleep as possible.
Have raw ingredients available for cellular recovery.

These tasks can be achieved at the same time with the following methods.

Poll Results

OptionVotes
10. Sleep on an earthing mat 5
4. Install F.lux on your computer (it’s free) 2
7. Go to bed before 11:00 PM 2
11. Run a current across your brain with a cerebral-electric stimulator, AKA, “electrosleep” machine 1
9. Cheat with biochemistry (use supplements) 1
6. Avoid bright lights and LCD screens at least 1 hour before bed 1
3. Upgrade your brain 1
2. Hack your nervous system to manage stress 1
5. Don’t exercise for at least 2 hours before bed 0
8. Track coffee, green tea, and chocolate consumption to see if they effect your sleep 0
1. Eat a Bulletproof Diet 0


had (crüt), Monday, 9 April 2018 02:08 (six years ago) link

I have spent a lot of time researching and teaching the neuroscience of sleep. Hot takes:
Worthwhile improvers of sleep regularity, quantity and quality:

4. Install F.lux on your computer (it’s free)
6. Avoid bright lights and LCD screens at least 1 hour before bed
8. Track coffee, green tea, and chocolate consumption to see if they effect your sleep

Sound general health advice:
1. Eat a Bulletproof Diet
2. Hack your nervous system to manage stress

Debatable:
5. Don’t exercise for at least 2 hours before bed
7. Go to bed before 11:00 PM

(re the exercise thing, if you raise your core body temperature then the fall when you stop exercising, or get out of the hot shower, can be a trigger for sleep. And sleep hours vary between individuals, no bedtime is necessarily "better".)
Possibly bullshit:
9. Cheat with biochemistry (use supplements)

(i.e. what supplements? why?)
And finally, bullshit of the first rank:
3. Upgrade your brain
10. Sleep on an earthing mat
11. Run a current across your brain with a cerebral-electric stimulator, AKA, “electrosleep” machine

startled macropod (MatthewK), Monday, 9 April 2018 02:33 (six years ago) link

10. Sleep on an earthing mat is the only thing that can save you

lag∞n, Monday, 9 April 2018 02:41 (six years ago) link

eat kevlar, self-trepanate, go clear, download malware (it's free!), pop benzos, sleep in the mud, electroshock yourself

the yolk sustains us, we eat whites for days (unregistered), Monday, 9 April 2018 02:50 (six years ago) link

you did it!

startled macropod (MatthewK), Monday, 9 April 2018 02:51 (six years ago) link

Oh sorry I didn't know "Bulletproof Diet" was a specific diet. In that case no, just general healthy eating (e.g. Mediterranean diet) is probably a better bet than some fad thing.

startled macropod (MatthewK), Monday, 9 April 2018 02:56 (six years ago) link

brain entrainment apps / light & sound machines do work. like, those fuckers will actually put you to sleep.

i do all of these except 4, 9, 10, and 11, and they ring true to me

one thing i find that works if i *can't* fall asleep is change my body temperature to a relative coldness i can stand for 5-10 minutes or so

then cover up slightly til i feel comfortable, almost snuggling my blanket, and that gets me to start dozing off

F# A# (∞), Monday, 9 April 2018 03:05 (six years ago) link

also unless you're exercising, not eating 2-3 hours before bedtime is important

if i have to eat 2 hours before bedtime i eat something light that won't cause my blood pressure to increase so much or that is easier to digest, otherwise forget about it, i can't sleep for hours and i'll wake up crappy the next morning

F# A# (∞), Monday, 9 April 2018 03:09 (six years ago) link

voted go to bed before 11pm though as the others are debatable

F# A# (∞), Monday, 9 April 2018 03:11 (six years ago) link

sinners cannot sleep for they have not prayed upon the earthing mat

lag∞n, Monday, 9 April 2018 03:30 (six years ago) link

test

lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Thursday, 12 April 2018 09:21 (six years ago) link

I literally do none of these things

21st savagery fox (m bison), Thursday, 12 April 2018 10:42 (six years ago) link

If you're not familiar with the Bulletproof diet, it's basically just eating a lot of butter

thots and players (rip van wanko), Thursday, 12 April 2018 12:56 (six years ago) link

i have found that through the simple expedient of developing crippling depression one can easily sleep for upwars of 18 hours a day

#TheBeatlesIn5Words Both surviving members are Vegan (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 12 April 2018 13:00 (six years ago) link

i.e., be your own earthing mat

mick signals, Thursday, 12 April 2018 13:04 (six years ago) link

This list omits the obvious, that is time, and bring sure to allot yourself enough of it.

Sleep is my great non-negotiable. (Thankfully I'm not experiencing insomnia at.) Without enough of it life suxxx

thots and players (rip van wanko), Thursday, 12 April 2018 13:15 (six years ago) link

bring=being

thots and players (rip van wanko), Thursday, 12 April 2018 13:15 (six years ago) link

sadly sleeping might be the thing I am best at, don't abide by any of this except 5 lol. w/ GAS on my headphones I think I've got falling asleep on the bus down to sub 100 seconds

ogmor, Thursday, 12 April 2018 13:32 (six years ago) link

12: when ready for bed, find the nearest bus

illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 12 April 2018 13:46 (six years ago) link

what better than the soft background rumble and the juddering and slow heaving of a bus to lull you to sleep. I'm looking at up to 40 mins of bonus kip per day, it's prime snooze real estate

ogmor, Thursday, 12 April 2018 13:55 (six years ago) link

occasional hobo knifings notwithstanding

thots and players (rip van wanko), Thursday, 12 April 2018 13:57 (six years ago) link

12: when ready for bed, find the nearest bus

this is how i got fired from my job as a bus driver just fyi

#TheBeatlesIn5Words Both surviving members are Vegan (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 12 April 2018 13:58 (six years ago) link

Just to be safe I make sure not to exercise for at least 24 hours before going to bed

Screamin' Jay Gould (The Yellow Kid), Thursday, 12 April 2018 14:17 (six years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Thursday, 19 April 2018 00:01 (six years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Friday, 20 April 2018 00:01 (six years ago) link

FAQ - Getting Started
I just started sleeping grounded and feel a bit strange. What could that be from?
I have noticed tingling in my feet for the first few nights I’ve been sleeping grounded. Should I be concerned?
Can I over-Earth myself? I sleep on a full body Earthing sheet and also at times use the Earthing mat on the floor at my computer. I noticed that my toes and fingers have become very sensitive. Last night I did not earth myself and my toes are fine.
Are there people who sleep grounded and don’t feel anything, or for whom grounding doesn’t work?
I am one of those electro-sensitive people you write about in the Earthing book. I have started sleeping grounded and the energy feels strange to me.
I don’t want to spend any money for any grounding device when I can make one myself. All I have to do it get a ground rod, some 20 gauge wire, and then wrap the wire around my ankle or foot at night.
Why should I buy any grounding product, like a sheet or a mat, when I can simply go barefoot?
I started sleeping on an Earthing sheet and noticed that I feel warmer. What’s going on?
I want to sleep grounded. What is the difference between a bed pad, a half-sheet, and a fitted sheet? Is one more effective than the other?
I enjoy the feel of plush cotton sheets. Can I put the Earthing sheet underneath my regular sheet?
Can I wear pajamas when I sleep on an Earthing sheet?
I like to wear socks to bed. Do my bare feet have to touch the Earthing bed sheet?
Can I wear socks when using an Earthing mat on the floor?

https://www.earthing.com/getting-started/

you bet, nancy (map), Friday, 20 April 2018 04:25 (six years ago) link

didn't know lagoon had 4 socks

F# A# (∞), Friday, 20 April 2018 05:00 (six years ago) link

Can I over-Earth myself?

No.

lag∞n, Sunday, 29 April 2018 15:50 (five years ago) link


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