World Expert’s Top Sleep Hacks: The Advanced Stuff
Expert Cited: Matt Walker
If you browsed our previous article summarizing some of Matthew Walker's sleep hack ideas, but are looking for something more to improve your sleep routine, good news! In his interview with the Diary of a CEO YouTube channel he also shared some advanced methods as well.
These are a mix of testing/monitoring techniques you can use, as well as physical changes you might want to incorporate into your sleep environment.
Let's dive deeper into some more advanced sleep hacks to consider if you want to level up your sleep hygiene.
Learn Your Sleep Chronotype
Sleep chronotypes are your natural tendencies for when you prefer to sleep and wake up, impacting your energy levels throughout the day. These preferences are categorized into different types (it goes deeper than early birds and night owls), but learning your chronotype is important so you can work with your own biology, not against it.
You can gain insights into this through self reflection, using a sleep diary (or a sleep tracking wearable), or through online quizzes.
Scandinavian Method
This small change could have a big impact on your sleep if you share your bed with your partner.
Try getting separate duvets, one that matches each person's comfort needs. This helps each person rest at their optimal temperature allowing partners to comfortably share their bedroom.
There's modifications to this model (some people ditch the top sheet and use only duvets, while others will go as far as having separate mattresses on the same bed frame or even separate beds in the same room).
This technique can reduce sleep distributions (especially if your partner tosses and turns) but maintains a level of intimacy by keeping couples together even if their sleep preferences don't match.
Sleep Divorce
Throwing the D word into a relationship is serious, but so is getting a good night's sleep. A sleep divorce is an increasingly more common trend where couples have completely separate rooms. If your sleep environment needs differ from your spouse, it may be worth considering a sleep divorce, so everyone wakes up happy and present for each other every morning.
Move Your Bed
While Matt Walker doesn't delve into the topic in this specific interview, there are a number of people who have experimented with moving their bed further from their wall to enhance their sleep.
The thinking is that there are electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) generated from electrical and cable wires that are inside walls and for some people, these signals may disrupt melatonin production and brainwave activity.
It should be noted that research to support this is scant, however, there are many people who have identified as being more sensitive to EMFs and taking steps to diminish exposure to these signals in their sleep environment (by moving their bed, turning off Wi-Fi at night, increasing the distance between lamps and objects powered by electricity) improves their quality of sleep.
Whether this is science or placebo in action, who knows? But if it helps with the shut eye for you specifically, it could be worth a little bedroom reconfiguration.
Sleep on This
Remember, there's no one-size-fits-all approach to sleep. Experiment with different strategies to find what works best for you. As Matthew Walker wisely says, "Sleep is not an optional lifestyle luxury. Sleep is a non-negotiable biological necessity." So, embrace your sleep chronotype, create a sleep-friendly environment, and unlock the power of restful nights.
