One of the most underrated health optimization hacks in my opinion is optimizing the quality of sleep. If you don’t get enough quality sleep, it will definitely affect your ability to think better, your ability to perform better, and of course your levels of energy. Everything revolves around recovery and sleep is definitely one of the biggest aspects of this. I found that during my intense travels and traveling across different time zones, the biggest factor that used to hold me back from performing to my best abilities was the fact that I was not getting quality sleep. Sometimes I would travel to timezones where it’s still daytime in the UK but its night time where I’ve reached and of course adapting to that change would sometimes take 2 to 3 days. But then I realized very quickly that there are certain steps that I could take to be able to adapt to time zones better. And also, to prioritize my sleep, if I want to be productive and use my time effectively.
There is a difference between being busy and being productive, and I have experienced both. I felt that even if I was working fewer hours, as long as I was achieving more during those hours, it was better, which left me with more time to work on optimizing my sleep.
How I Optimized my sleep?
Some of the ways in which I optimized my sleep are –
- Blue light blocking glasses: I started using things such as blue light blocking glasses after 3 to 4 PM. If I am going to be in front of the screen for long periods of time, I would use blue-light-blocking glasses. There are two types of blue-light-blocking glasses. One is a lighter shade, which is less distracting and is easier to adapt to and work with. And of course, the closer I get to my bedtime, I would use a darker shade. I have recently experienced the red light rising blue light blockers which have not just been aesthetically pleasing but have also worked wonders with improving the quality of my sleep.
- Eating Pattern: I have also changed my eating pattern, I always try and have my last meal as early as possible, and the minimum time before sleep would be 2 hours.
- Intermittent Fasting: Intermittent fasting has also played a huge role in improving the quality of my sleep.
- Supplements: I do take supplements during my travels to help me aid in getting to sleep quicker and also to improve the quality of sleep where I have less disruption. Some of these supplements include magnesium.
- Regular Exercise: Exercise plays a huge role and I usually exercise as early as possible and I feel that my sleep pattern always improves when I exercise.
- Sleep tracking: To ensure that the steps that I take work, I need to be able to measure my sleep, so every time I do something that may help me improve the quality of my sleep, I track it. I use an Aura ring, which is one of the most accurate wearable devices that I’ve come across in recent times that helps me to track the quality of my sleep.
I have found that it’s not always the number of hours that you sleep but rather the quality of those hours that you sleep. During my travels, I rarely get 7 to 8 hours of sleep, and most of the time it’s usually 5 hours or sometimes even less, but I’ve found that improving the quality of those hours has helped me to optimize my performance.
So, the conclusion is that always ensure that you take relevant steps to get better-quality sleep, even if it’s not for as long as you might want it to be. And you’ll immediately be able to feel the effects of it on your performance. Try it and give me your feedback.