Be honest.
Phone on the nightstand. Curtains that don’t really keep the light out. A temperature somewhere between tropical and reasonable. Maybe a TV on the wall and somewhere in a corner, probably a pile of clothes that’s been there for two weeks.
Your bedroom is the most important room in your home. You spend a third of your life there, yet it is often the least thoughtfully designed space in the entire house.
We’re going to change that today. Five steps. No major renovation. Just the right things in the right place.
Step 1: Make it dark.
Not a little dark. So dark that you can’t see your hand in front of your face.
Any light, no matter how small, disrupts your melatonin production. The glow from a streetlight, a blinking standby light, the light from your alarm clock radio. Your brain registers all of it as a signal that it is not night yet.
Blackout curtains are the best investment you can make for your sleep.
Step 2: Lower the temperature.
The ideal bedroom temperature is between 16 and 19 degrees. That feels cold. That’s the point.
Your body needs to lower its core temperature to fall into deep sleep. A warm room makes that harder. Turn the heating down, crack a window open, or sleep with less bedding.
If your room is too warm, keep the curtains closed during the day so the sun doesn’t heat it up. Open your windows once the air outside is cooler than inside in the evening, usually only late at night. A fan helps circulate the air and makes it feel cooler without actually lowering the temperature, and cooling your wrists and neck with cold water before bed lowers your body temperature quickly.
If you’re cold, use a good/heavy blanket. Cold air, warm blanket. That’s the combination.
Step 3: Get the phone out.
Not on silent. Not face down on the nightstand. Out.
Your phone in the bedroom causes two problems. The light from the screen disrupts your melatonin, and its presence alone makes you reach for it. Before bed, in the middle of the night when you wake up, first thing when you wake up.
Buy a regular alarm clock. They cost five euros and make your night a lot better.
Step 4: Make sure there’s silence or constant background noise.
Silence is ideal. But in practice, you may live next to a busy road, have a partner who snores, or hear your neighbors through the walls.
Varying sounds are the problem, not constant ones. Your brain responds to change. A passing car wakes you more easily than steady rain.
White noise, a fan, or an app with background sound masks those varying noises. Give it a try if you’re sensitive to sound.
Step 5: Use your bedroom only for sleep and (sex👀).
No work, no TV series, no endless scrolling in bed. The more you do in your bedroom besides sleeping (and sex), the less your brain associates the room with rest.
You want your body to relax automatically as soon as you walk into the bedroom. That only happens if you consistently use the room for what it’s meant for.
Bedroom in, eyes closed, sleep. It should be that simple.
This week’s habit
Pick one of these five steps and do it today. Not all five at once. One.
The easiest? Take your phone out of the bedroom. Tonight. See what happens.
1% Better Every Night.
Guy Veeke
PS. Optimizing your bedroom is step one. But how you breathe during sleep is just as important. Our bundle with mouth tape and nasal strips ensures your breathing stays on track all night:
https://snoozeless.nl/products/snoozeless-bundel-mondtape-neusstrips
