If You've Ever Had Trouble Sleeping

Stop and read this.

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Something to Read: Is Your Sleep Screwed Up?

Could we agree that most of us have faced levels of sleep deprivation at some point in life?

Whether it was in times of academic desperation or just a bad case of jet lag — we’ve all been there.

Many could agree that a well rested person wants 1000 things and a tired person wants just one thing.

And that one thing is sleep.

It seems that we as a society suck at sleeping. Unadmitted tech dependence mixed with an array of poor lifestyle choices has left us dark deprived.

In other words, our circadian rhythm, aka the natural ways your body responds to light and dark have been flipped upside down.

And you’d think with all this new sleep-tech and supplementation in the world we’d solve the problem.

Now please don’t feel bad if you’ve struggled with sleep and/or waking up early. It’s easier to fix than you think.

I used myself as an example and provide three low friction tips on how you can sleep better.

The Best Morning Routines Begin the Night Before

My pre sleep routine in my undergrad years was a lot of marijuana followed by slices of pizza and chocolate ice cream. The TV in my room was on of course and the only way I’d be alive for morning classes was an energy drink first thing in the morning.

Now whether you can relate to my extreme habits or you’re somewhere in the middle. The focus should start with what you do before sleep.

Caffeinate smart: Replace energy drinks with coffee — don’t those who say caffeine is bad. The focus should be on what you drink and when. Some may consider this obvious, but I’ve found that many still don’t understand the effects of an afternoon cup of joe.

My coffee consists of instant grounds, splash of milk, and maple syrup for sweetener. If no maple syrup I’ll throw in regular sugar. My coffee intake is cut between 12-1pm at the latest.

Surroundings matter: Do me a favor and take your TV out of your room and see how you feel the morning after. Make it a habit to turn your phone on airplane mode before going to bed. Limit artificial light (your phone screen) as the evening progresses.

If Wi-Fi is on, my phones on airplane mode 100% of the time.

I invested in wearing blue-light Warby Parkers to keep my circadian rhythm intact. I even went the length where my iPhone goes into ‘night mode’ around 9pm.

How’s your diet?: Instead of the biggest meal being dinner, switch that to lunch. Eating big meals before bed tend to screw our sleep up. This is tough with how busy you and me are so don’t get bogged down if you have a pizza slice at 10pm one Tuesday.

Develop a caffeine cutoff for yourself and let a hard workout tire you out. Look into teas like chamomile, lavender, and lemon balm to help you get to sleep quicker.

I lean on two drinks on nights where I need to get to sleep fast. Chamomile tea being the first. The other is mixing apple cider vinegar with honey and warm water.

Resources to Feed Your Curiosity:

  • A study on the link between poor sleeping habits and poor mental health (e.g., depression, suicidality). (via PubMed)

  • “Prescription pills don't equal better sleep in the long run for women, study suggests” (CNN Article)

  • While all types of visible light can affect circadian rhythms, blue light has the largest impact.

  • How to turn on the night mode (iPhone) setting: click here

  • Six Best Bedtime Teas: click here

Something to Watch:

Evening Routine with Tim Ferriss

If you remember last week’s hard boiled egg video then you’ll recognize this is the same guy back again with another not-too-well-known trick.

I found the honey and vinegar concoction mentioned above from the first 90 seconds of this video years ago.

A Song to Listen to:

Mansionair - Astronaut (Something About Your Love)

Listen to this track and many others on La Fórmula, a playlist by Modern Analects

A Tweet to Think About:

If you enjoyed anything above — make sure to share with others and spread whatever you feel was valuable.

And make sure to follow all things Analects on Instagram and Twitter.

And until next week,

Burak from Modern Analects