# The Rise Science Guide to Improving Your Sleep The amount of sleep you get predicts your work performance, your mood, your physical health, and so much else. Here’s how to get more of it, starting tonight. ### Sections 1. [What is this Guide, and What Can It Do for Me?](#what-is-this-guide-and-what-can-it-do-for-me) 2. [The Importance of Sleep Hygiene](#the-importance-of-sleep-hygiene) 3. [The Two Laws of Sleep](#the-two-laws-of-sleep) 4. [How to Prep the Perfect Sleep Environment](#how-to-prep-the-perfect-sleep-environment) 5. [Structuring Your Day for Better Sleep](#structuring-your-day-for-better-sleep) 6. [Getting to Know Yourself is the Best First Step](#getting-to-know-yourself-is-the-best-first-step) ## What is this Guide, and What Can it Do for Me? The internet is brimming with sleep advice. From this fact, we can draw two conclusions: millions of people want to improve their sleep, and there’s *probably* an enormous amount of misinformation about sleep floating around. This sleep guide strives to set itself apart from the others. We’ve written it to be comprehensive yet accessible, scientifically precise yet entirely actionable. As a map, it traverses not only the dreamscape, but also your day-to-day conduct. It will tell you: - Why proper sleep hygiene is essential for everyone (not just people who have trouble sleeping) - Why we ground our recommendations in two principal laws of sleep - How to look through the lens of sleep and adjust your behavior to benefit your nights, days, work, mood, and more At Rise Science, we only deal in facts that could be defended to a room full of sleep scientists. We’ll back up our assertions with esteemed, peer-reviewed studies, and debunk dangerous myths. (Disclaimer: this guide is not a substitute for medical advice. If you are suffering from insomnia or another sleep disorder, please consult a CBT-I specialist.) ## The Importance of Sleep Hygiene It may sound hyperbolic, but sleep is the foundation of all human performance. It affects our cognition, our emotions, our connections with others, and how effectively we can complete any given task. Neglecting your sleep hygiene, therefore, has serious consequences. ### What is Sleep Hygiene? Sleep hygiene is the upkeep of behaviors that influence the way you sleep. One common misconception is that these behaviors must relate directly to sleep itself. But many of them take place during the day and don’t involve literal snoozing—they’re included under the umbrella of sleep hygiene because they still have an *effect* on sleep. The [Oxford Handbook of Sleep and Sleep Disorders](https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195376203.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195376203) defines sleep hygiene as "a collection of behaviors distributed throughout the day that are not immediately sleep related but have sleep consequences." ### What if My Sleep Hygiene is Already Pretty Good? A troubling [70% of Americans](https://www.sleepfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2005_summary_of_findings.pdf?x16972) identify as sleep-deprived, and even if you *think* that you’re getting enough z’s, research indicates that [you’re probably overestimating how much time you spend asleep](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16120099/). ### Can I Change My Sleep Hygiene for the Better? You can! Better sleep hygiene is definitely achievable, especially when you’re educating yourself on sleep science and your own biological patterns. ## The Two Laws of Sleep Everything we’ve built at Rise revolves around what we call the two laws of sleep: **sleep debt** and **circadian rhythm**. ### Sleep Debt Sleep debt, simply defined, is the amount of sleep that you owe your body over the past 14 days or so. It’s a running total of the hours of sleep you’ve missed, relative to your sleep need. The repercussions of sleep debt are incredibly alarming. For example, after 10 consecutive nights of getting seven hours of sleep—one hour less than the recommended eight—[your brain becomes as impaired as it would if you hadn’t slept for a full 24 hours](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Why_We_Sleep/8bSuDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0). ### Circadian Rhythm Our second law, and the second “process” of the two-process model, is circadian rhythm. You may have heard your circadian rhythm likened to your body’s internal clock. It dictates your ideal sleep and wake times, but it encompasses so much more than just sleep—it influences your eating habits, your energy fluctuations, and almost every bodily function. ## How to Prep the Perfect Sleep Environment Luckily, some of the most important changes you can make for your sleep hygiene are relatively easy, one-time tweaks to your environment. They’re all geared around falling asleep—and staying asleep—in accordance with your circadian rhythm. ### Keep it Cool #### Why? As your body prepares for sleep, its core temperature drops. Scientists think that this release of heat transitions us into sleep more fluidly. A cooler room mimics this change in body temperature and further encourages sleep. ### Keep it Dark #### Why? Light is the primary signal interpreted by your suprachiasmatic nucleus (the master clock of your circadian rhythm). Our prehistoric ancestors set their biological clocks by the rise and fall of the sun, and our bodies have inherited the same tendency. ### Keep it Quiet #### Why? Noise keeps you from falling asleep, and also disturbs the sleep you get. If it doesn’t wake you up completely, it diminishes how deeply you enter each stage of sleep. ## Structuring Your Day for Better Sleep Recall that sleep hygiene encompasses changes you can make throughout the entire day, not just at night. ### Wake Up Your genetics, age, and recent sleep habits all affect the time you wake up in the morning. This is the opener to your day, and your opportunity to start strong. #### During this Time, You Should … ##### Be Consistent—Even on Weekends - Waking up at a consistent, predetermined time each morning is one of the best ways to align with your circadian rhythm and keep your sleep routine steady. ## Getting to Know Yourself is the Best First Step Changing habits, especially when they’re deeply ingrained, is hard. But as Walker notes, one way to acclimate to a new and beneficial routine is “exposure to your own data.” If you look at how much sleep debt you’ve accumulated, when you track the peaks and dips of your circadian rhythm, the truth becomes ever clearer: your sleep has a bearing on everything you do. Hopefully this guide has convinced you that you can and should improve your sleep hygiene. By increasing your understanding of how sleep affects your life, you’re taking strides toward more productivity, less stress, and better health—practically overnight.