This is my summarization of The Neuroscience Behind Fixing Your Sleep Schedule published by Dr.K or HealthyGamerGG. The original video provides a lot more information, context, and examples that make you understand more about the subject, I recommend watching the video. This post is just my summarized version for me and other people who might want more concise media, do not like to watch videos, or have not known Dr.K yet.
TLDR: Don't miss your sleeping window, take free time during the day so that your brain can process your emotion, do some work, do some exercise, eat fully, manage your stress, and try to wake up early and at the same time everyday.
You have a window to fall asleep
It's called Circadian rhythm, it dictates when it is the easiest to wake up and go to sleep. If you miss that window, it will become increasingly difficult to fall asleep.
There are two things involved in it.
Adenosine
This chemical accumulates in your brain throughout the day. It signals the level of fatigue you have and makes you want to go to sleep.
The frontal lope
It's inside your brain, restraining impulses and controlling behaviors. You can think of it as willpower and it's getting exhausted over time.
There's a window that the fatigue signals in the brain are high and you have enough willpower to restrain impulses which means you're tired enough and you can prevent yourself from doing anything else rather than going asleep.
If you wake up at around 8 AM, your sleep window is probably around 9 PM and 10 PM, a 1 to 2-hour window.
Emotional flooding
Everything in the modern world suppresses your emotional circuitry. The moment you put your device away (when you go to bed), you experience emotional flooding.
You then try to distract yourself (with some other activities - social media, Shorts, etc), but your emotion is still suppressed, you need more distraction; the loop goes on until your brain is too tired.
The solution is to give yourself empty times in the day for your brain to take out the trash, to process your emotion. It's recommended to take an hour-long walk without listening to anything, try meditation, or journaling.
How to spend your waking hours
Your brain keeps track of all the things you need to work so if you procrastinate all day long, your brain won't let you fall asleep because you still have things to do.
The solution is to do some kind of work in the day. It doesn't need to be important work, it can be meaningless, it just needs to be some kind of work.
Anabolism
Exercise
Your body builds tissues when you sleep, if you need to develop tissues, you need more sleep (think of a baby or a bodybuilder).
So, doing some exercises will help you sleep better.
Learning
Make sure you eat throughout the day. If you don't, your brain will keep you awake because of its lack of nutrients (caloric/nutrient deficit).
Your dinner should be heavy and rich in carbohydrates which stimulate insulin that makes you sleepy.
Stress
Stress makes your brain think you are in danger, and as a result, it keeps you awake.
People commonly think that they need to fix their sleep schedule to fix their lives. However, it's the opposite, fixing your life will as a result fix your sleep schedule.
Tips and others
- Waking up when you're tired is easier than going to bed when you're not.
- It's not about going to bed on time but about waking up on time or even waking up early.
You can start waking up between 4 AM and 7 AM. Don't have coffee immediately (you can have that later) and start working immediately. You will have the ability to work better and your brain will think you have done enough work to fall asleep later in the day.
- When you're tired, don't go to sleep immediately but wait for your natural bedtime.
- Observe dawn and dusk, and have some natural light in your daytime.
Feeling overwhelmed isn't about the total number of tasks that you do. It's about the number of tasks that you CHOOSE to do compared to those that you HAVE to do. The more you CHOOSE to take on, the less overwhelmed you will feel.
Top comments (0)