TN50#109, How’s Your SLEEP Environment? 27 March 2023

Hi Team,

Happy Monday and welcome to The Next 50 #109.  As we get started, please pause and rattle off the recommended guidelines for an optimal SLEEP environment, from memory.

Que the Jeopardy Music, we’ll wait…  OK, what are they?

Here’s my top 5:

  1. Dark Room, as in, can’t see your hand in front of your face dark.
  2. Cool Room, most testing shows, 65-68 degrees Fahrenheit.
  3. Absolute Quiet or Constant Noise, meaning well constant, like a distant stream from your sound machine, the hum of an air purifier or whirl of a ceiling/floor fan.
  4. Comfortable for you, meaning a mattress and bedding combo that works great for you, not what some influencer is recommending on IG or TV.
  5. Minimal life forms besides you, your spouse get’s a waiver but all the other living and breathing creatures in your household should generally be somewhere besides your bed.

How many of my list matches your list?  I’ll bet everyone got at least 4 out of 5, as this list hasn’t changed in many years.

Next question, how many of you have taken the time to get your sleep environment as dialed in as possible?  What’s your score for that?  5 out of 5, awesome.  3 out of 5, really?  Worse than 3 out of 5, oh the humanity!

OK, here’s a dirty little secret: performance frameworks, like this little sleep environment check list, that you don’t bother implementing are useless.  I know right?  You actually have to put the work in to improving your sleep environment to reap the benefits, it is so 1980’s

With that in mind I thought I might add a little more “meat on the bone” of these 5 points in the hopes that you’ll get motivated to optimize your environment.

Keep in mind that anything that wakes you up during your sleep time is negatively impacting your sleep and the following day’s performance.

  1. Dark Room: any light that causes you to realize you are awake should be removed or blocked from view during sleep. Here is a recent example for me.  I had a Shokz brand head set plugged in charging next to my hotel bed the other night, when the device is fully charged a light goes from dull red to bright blue, I found myself staring at the blue dot in the middle of the night, realizing I was awake I whacked it to separate it from the cord (it’s a magnetic connection).  If you find yourself occasionally staring at a light from a device or charger or gap in the curtains in the middle of the night; you should fix it, so it doesn’t happen again.  REMEMBER: anything that wakes you up during your sleep time is negatively impacting your sleep and the following day’s performance.
  2. Cool Room: Your body needs to be a couple degrees cooler than daytime temp. for optimal sleep. If you keep your room cool enough to be comfy under your bedding going to sleep you should be good and here’s why.  If you wake up under the covers and are hot you can simply uncover a leg, an arm or whatever and immediately cool back off – sleep restored.  If you uncover and your room is too warm, well then, you’re still too warm and still awake.  REMEMBER: anything that wakes you up during your sleep time is negatively impacting your sleep and the following day’s performance.
  3. Quiet Room: Things that go bump in the night, wake us up and should be avoided. If you have ever slept in a room with the windows facing 5th Ave, in NY City, you know how busy that street is ALL NIGHT!  If your bed shares a wall with an ice machine in your kitchen and you know that on weekdays your icemaker makes 3 loads of ice and on weekends your icemaker makes 5 loads of ice, this is a problem and you should move your icemaker or put it to sleep for the hours you are in bed.   REMEMBER: anything that wakes you up during your sleep time is negatively impacting your sleep and the following day’s performance.
  4. Comfortable for you: Your bed and bedding should not be waking you up in the night.  If you are laying awake because your neck is sore, your sheets are uncomfortable or you feel that bed spring on your right hip again, it is time to buy some stuff.  Still using the mattress that your parents bought you as a wedding gift and your oldest kid is in high school?  Buy a new mattress!  You spend about a third of your life in bed and good sleep makes everything you do when you are awake better for you and everyone around you.  REMEMBER: anything that wakes you up during your sleep time is negatively impacting your sleep and the following day’s performance.
  5. No other life forms: Your bed is for you and your spouse (maybe) to get optimal sleep in. I say spouse (maybe) because on the occasion that I am stuffed up and making noise to the point I am keeping Carly awake, I get the finger poke and I move to another room.  So if, on the regular, you are thinking about the kid’s foot that is jammed in your back and keeping you awake or the 12 lb. poodle that has you pinned on the edge of a king size bed and keeping you awake you should fix this by making sure these other beings are enjoying a great night sleep somewhere besides your bed.  REMEMBER: anything that wakes you up during your sleep time is negatively impacting your sleep and the following day’s performance.

Ok, last thing, in case you missed it: anything that wakes you up during your sleep time is negatively impacting your sleep and the following day’s performance.

As always share the post with your team or anyone who might find it useful and let me know what you think!

Have a good one, Alex

PS. The magic number for most people to remember something is hearing it 7 times.