I’m sure many will agree with me here when I say that while I don’t need to be the best at everything, I would like to be better at pretty much everything that I do.
Personal life, romantic life, work life, you name it, I’ve judged myself for not improving at least a little.
Well, imagine my relief when a neuroscientist said that I only need to do one thing to be better at everything. Just one thing.
Although, sadly that thing is something that I and 7.5 million other Brits struggle with: sleep.
Dr Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist at Stanford University, told the YouTube channel After Skool: “There are certain foundational behaviours – certain dos and don’ts – that set the stage for you to be better at everything.
“It always comes back to two elements: that’s sleep and what I call non-sleep deep rest. Sleep is the fundamental practice or part of our 24-hour cycle where if you don’t get it on a consistent basis, you are down-regulating your ability to do everything.”
He explained that your metabolism suffers, as does your immune system, if you don’t sleep well regularly. So, with that in mind, he suggested most people should aim to get a good night’s sleep, 80% of the time.
One of his top tips for improving sleep is to expose yourself to natural light for 5-10 minutes within an hour of waking up. And yes, this means getting outside sans sunglasses – but obviously not staring at the sun.
He also recommends steering clear of caffeine until 60-90 minutes after waking to avoid that all-too-familiar afternoon crash.
How to get enough sleep
According to University Hospital Southampton, the best ways to ensure a restful, healthy sleeping pattern are:
- Keeping regular sleep hours – so basically, getting up and going to bed at roughly the same time every day.
- Creating a restful bedroom environment with a comfortable room temperature.
- Only using your bedroom for sleep, sex and getting dressed – not for work.
- Avoiding using electronic devices before bed.
- Avoiding stimulants like caffeine after lunch.
- Eating a light meal before bed.
- Exercising regularly during the day.
- Getting regular exposure to natural light.
- Creating a relaxing bedtime routine.
- Limiting or avoiding daytime naps.
- Not forcing yourself to try to go to sleep.
Sweet dreams!
