5 habits I had that wrecked my sleep

What I've learned from 5 years of sleep tracking

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5 habits I had that wrecked my sleep

Tracking my sleep has dramatically improved my life.

I now sleep more than an hour extra per night, which helps me manage stress, be more patient with my kids, and have more energy during the day for work and exercise.

And tracking helped me do that by showing me that I had habits that were impacting my sleep.

So much so, that I’m now sleep better with 3 kids and a desk job, than I did as a professional athlete with none.

I’ll share some war stories in the weeks ahead, but here’s 5 habits I had that was wrecking my sleep:

Evening Booze

This is hard for me to say as a pub owner, but there is no amount of alcohol in the evening that doesn’t mess with sleep.

Alcohol may help people pass out and get to sleep. But the quality won’t be great and they’ll wake up lots and still be tired in the morning.

If you don’t believe me, try giving up that evening drink for 2 weeks and see what happens.

Eating late

I love a late-night trip to the fridge, but was shocked one morning when my Oura ring (what I use to track sleep) asked me the following:

“Yes, I did eat a lot close to bed time”

How on earth did the ring know I’d been late-night snacking?

Turns out it knows because my heart rate was up, as my body was still working trying to process the food, instead of relaxing into a deep sleep.

Now I try finish eating 3hrs before bed, and health tracking company Whoop recently produced a study that showed people sleep up to 26 mins less if they have meal close to bed.

Not winding down

The only way I was used to get any sleep was to exhaust myself to the point where I would collapse into bed.

But I’ve learned how I go to sleep plays in a huge role in how well I sleep.

Best analogy I’ve heard about preparing for bed is that it’s like shutting down a computer.

Do you just pull the power out at the wall? Or do you press “Shut down” and let the computer go into it’s shut down routine where it close all the apps before switching off?

Our brains are similar and I’ve found that a consistent 'shut-down routine' leads to better sleep.

No more collapsing into bed. Instead I now gently doze off.

Mouth Breathing

I wasn't sure about sharing this, but I've been taping my mouth shut at night for about 3 years, because I sleep with my mouth open.

But after learning about the benefits of nasal breathing, I began taping my mouth shut, and now I sleep better and no longer wake up with a sore, dry mouth.

At first, I worried what my wife would think.

But turns out she already knew I was a weirdo, and we've even decided to have our youngest daughter undergo a sleep study.

She’s the only one of our 3 children whose teacher said she struggles saying awake at school and frequently has a cough.

And yes, she sleeps with her mouth open too.

Not smart about when to drank water and coffee

Needing to pee is what wakes me up most, which is good because it means I’m hydrated.

But sleep tracking taught me that I wasn’t drinking enough water during the day, and would drink heaps in the evening to make up.

Also, everyone knows drinking coffee late stuffs sleep.

But adjusting coffee habits is really hard, particularly if we need coffee to feel energised.

I've found having my daily coffee 3-4 hours after waking up is best for me, as having it too early leads to a mid-day second cup and any later disrupts my sleep, which makes me want more coffee the next morning.

A vicious cycle.

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Sleep in the news

Thanks for reading.

If you sleep track, what’s been the biggest lesson for you?