Sleep

Reserve a real place for the night

Start from the time you have to get up and work backwards to plan your night. To wake up at seven and aim for eight hours of sleep, plan to be ready to sleep before eleven p.m. The time spent getting ready or waiting to fall asleep adds to the sleep you want to get.

Keep your sunrise time close from one day to the next, including weekends: avoid gaps of several hours. Above all, schedule a reminder to start closing out the day, before bedtime. Complete the current task, prepare for the next day, and place the phone out of reach of the bed.

Give the body guidelines during the day

Go out into natural light in the morning, such as during a commute or walking. Also move during the day. For caffeine, take as a first step a stop at least eight hours before bedtime: at 3 p.m. for a night planned around 11 p.m. This includes coffee, tea, energy drinks and caffeinated pre-workouts.

If you take a nap, keep it short, around twenty minutes, in the early afternoon. If it keeps you up at night, remove it to test the difference. Adjust one habit at a time over several days: you will more easily identify what changes how you fall asleep and how you feel when you wake up.

Make an evening easy to end

In the hour before bed, dim the lights and choose an activity that doesn't drag you into a new hour of content: reading, music, or preparing for the next day. With a screen, monitor what you're doing as much as its brightness. A busy conversation or online game can postpone bedtime even with a light filter.

Keep the bedroom dark, quiet, and cool enough to be comfortable under the covers. Start with the available settings: curtains, ventilation and noise sources. Choose the position in which you sleep well and a pillow that supports your head without raising it excessively. alcohol can make it easier to doze off, but degrades sleep: remove it from the evening ritual.

If you stay awake

If you lie awake in bed for a long time and start to get annoyed, get up for a quiet activity in dim light, then return when drowsiness returns. For persistent insomnia, cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia is a standard treatment. Respiratory pauses observed during the night or severe drowsiness despite sufficient sleep also justify looking for a sleep disorder.