Have you heard of ‘sleepmaxxing’? It’s a hot social media trend, where folks are zoomed in on optimising sleep. Trends aside, I’ve been sleepmaxxing for years.
Ah, sleep, the stuff that restores body and mind like magic overnight. It’s a non-negotiable for good health. For those who can bring sleep on at will, it’s a mighty superpower.
My ability to fall asleep (once curled around a limestone spire under the open sky on a mountain, or around a basket of watermelons at the back of a dive boat as it churned across the night sea) was a source of envy for friends and loved ones who struggled with their kip.
Then came a night over a decade ago when I caught myself lying in bed listening to my partner snore softly as I stared at the ceiling. There was something strange about that I couldn’t put my finger on. Then it hit me. He’d fallen asleep before me! The tables had turned! What happened to my superpower of sleep?
And so began my dive into sleep’s many mysteries. Any good investigation begins with gathering data. For me, that meant apps, and eventually a smart watch, to track my sleep better. What a window into my sleep they gave!
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My sleep was a mess. It was inconsistent, with many brief and not so brief wakings, most of which I did not recall. The ideal healthy sleep duration of seven to nine hours for me became an ongoing, nightly quest.
Sleep is a journey, not a destination. Because environments change, and our bodies too.
Travel or heatwaves, illness and medications can interfere with sleep, just as other bodily changes can — weight gain, diet shifts or sensitivities, parenthood, menopause for the ladies, and exercise or the lack of it. And then there’s the mental and emotional terrain to tread as well. Not to forget YouTube and social media to navigate.
Yup, managing sleep can feel like riding a unicycle juggling mystery objects that appear and disappear at random.
What have I unearthed in my dive into sleep after all these years?
Get data for sleepmaxxing
Anything you can measure, you can manage. We know this from days when we had to budget our pocket money. Questions the data can help to answer:
- How much sleep you’re really getting (time in bed is not necessarily time asleep)
- What time you go to bed
- What time you wake
- Whether you have a regular bedtime
- Whether you have a regular wake time
- How often you wake at night
- What’s your sleep pattern? Do you even have one?
Phones aside, when it comes to sleep tracking, I’m at peace with a wearable – my smartwatch. It’s a better option than being wired up in a lab for an overnight polysomnogram. But I know people who oppose wearing a watch or ring for the purpose. Your call. The point is to get the best data you can on your sleep.
Hunting for sleep saboteurs
Data will help you figure out your sleep goals. Do you need to work on:
- Getting enough hours?
- Falling asleep faster?
- Sleeping through the night?
- Consistent bedtimes?
- Consistent waking times?
It’s okay if you need to work on more than one goal.
Then ask where the spanners in the works are. Is it the fur babies in your bedroom at play at 2am? Or hunger pangs? The need for a pee in the wee hours? An anxious mind? Noises from the neighbours or pre-dawn traffic?
Sometimes the solution can be found by working through the sleep hygiene list, like dark room, earplugs for quiet, having a wind-down time, staying off the devices an hour before bed, no TV in the bedroom (I cancelled my Netflix account), getting morning light exposure to reset your circadian clock (yes, a good night’s sleep starts in the morning!), spending time outdoors, exercising, etc.
But some things, like anxiety, may warrant professional help. It could be as simple a fix as a vitamin supplement. It’s always good to check.
READ ALSO:
Sleep Apnoea: More Than Just ‘Bad Snoring’
The Huberman ratio
My sleep target was, and is, what I call ‘The Huberman Ratio’. I’m a fan of Prof Andrew Huberman, a Stanford neuroscientist and host of the Huberman Lab podcast, who suggested 7 hours sleep for a minimum of 80% of nights.
That means about 24 or more nights of such sleep in a month. The first time I hit that, I discovered a whole new me. I was calmer, more grounded. I felt unflappable. Life felt good. I like it.
But it took a little more than just resetting bedtimes and wake times to get those hours.
Digging deeper for sleepmaxxing
I tracked everything I ate for a few weeks. I still do, on and off.
Logging my meals taught me that dark chocolate after 4pm is a sleep wrecker.
And matcha too.
And barley risotto.
And sweet desserts like ice cream after dinner.
And eating late (finishing dinner after 8pm).
And the usual carbs make me too bloated and uncomfortable to sleep…
So my diet has been evolving along with my quest for good sleep.
No sedatives or alcohol though, because “sedation is not sleep”, to quote Professor Matthew Walker, British scientist and professor of neuroscience and psychology at University of California, Berkeley, author of Why We Sleep.
No air-conditioning for me, either, as much as possible. It dries out my sinuses and throat. So when a heatwave cranked up, and the fan failed to make it cool enough to sleep, I shelled out for an alternative — a water-cooled mattress topper from the US. I set my mattress temperature to 18 degree celsius, and it was magic! My sleep graphs tell the story.
I couldn’t wait to slide between my cool sheets every night! Better still, this device was way cheaper to run than an air-conditioner. It barely caused a blip in my utility bill.
But all good things come to an end. Two years later, the silicone tubes to this water-cooled topper gave out. I decided against a replacement because the company had stopped shipping internationally. My sleep started to fray again.
Sensory deprivation therapy for sleepmaxxing?
This year, a friend invited me to check out a float spa in Singapore. Floatation therapy is a form sensory deprivation therapy that involves floating in a water-filled sensory deprivation tank to calm the mind and body through restricting the environmental stimulation.
Such isolation tanks have been used to study human consciousness since the 1950s in the US. The idea appealed to the nerd in me. These tanks have since gained mainstream acceptance for relaxation, stress relief, pain management and improved sleep.
I wasn’t expecting anything dramatic from floating in silent darkness in a tank of magnesium salt for an hour. But yes, my sleep was noticeably better after that. It lasted for about a week or two, much longer than the effects of a massage for me. At $99 for a session, it can be similar to getting a regular massage.
In fact, it was pleasant enough to make me think of ways to make it part of my lifestyle.
My relationship with sleep may never be perfect, but the adventure of trying is half the fun.
Working on sleep is second nature for Kim. Don’t try reaching her after 10pm, her phone will be on DND.
