Honestly, after years of sleep issues, it worked out more or less like that. The trick is that the "why" can be many layers deep.
In my case, lighting turned out to be a big issue. All of the following proved necessary:
* Blackout curtains that made my room darker at night
* But, they were curtains. So, they were not so dark that no light came in in the morning. This helped me wake up
* Better interior lighting for night. I bought some "bedtime bulbs" after I saw them on HN, and installed them in my lamps. They're very warm, and I feel sleepier
* A red light in the lamp by my bed for reading
* Morning light. First thing I do upon waking is walk outside in the light, and try to get in the sun. Even in Canadian winter
* Morning light, part 2. I use a wakeup light, after reading about the one Sam Altman used here: http://blog.samaltman.com/productivity
* I use "reduce white point" on my phone past seven or so. It's set fairly high
* I make a point of getting ready for bed, and avoiding screens. So last hour is just getting stuff wrapped up for the day, hanging out, etc
* Sleep tracking. I use an apple watch, and auto sleep. I more or less centre everything around getting as much as I can. It's massively improved everything else in my life. This tracking is also how I measured the effectiveness of the changes above.
All of the above basically reset the circadian rhythm. That was why I kept going to sleep later than intended. Again, I had years of what seemed like onset insomnia. Now, I more or less don't. I still take longer to fall asleep than my girlfriend does, but I regularly am asleep before 11, rather than 1-2 am. And I feel much happier for it.
I also use .3 msg of melatonin, around 5-6 pm, following a tip here about dosing. (Apparently it's either that, or a larger amount right before bed)
Just now, I noticed I felt awake and realized I had left the overhead lights on. While typing this comment I turned them off, turning on the lamps with warm lights, and feel sleepier.
I suspect that's not quite how the original article meant it, but looking at my process in hindsight, it was fairly simple. Just basically continual assessment focussed on "why". Why was I not sleeping? And what do experts recommend for circadian rhythm.
In my case, lighting turned out to be a big issue. All of the following proved necessary:
* Blackout curtains that made my room darker at night * But, they were curtains. So, they were not so dark that no light came in in the morning. This helped me wake up * Better interior lighting for night. I bought some "bedtime bulbs" after I saw them on HN, and installed them in my lamps. They're very warm, and I feel sleepier * A red light in the lamp by my bed for reading * Morning light. First thing I do upon waking is walk outside in the light, and try to get in the sun. Even in Canadian winter * Morning light, part 2. I use a wakeup light, after reading about the one Sam Altman used here: http://blog.samaltman.com/productivity * I use "reduce white point" on my phone past seven or so. It's set fairly high * I make a point of getting ready for bed, and avoiding screens. So last hour is just getting stuff wrapped up for the day, hanging out, etc * Sleep tracking. I use an apple watch, and auto sleep. I more or less centre everything around getting as much as I can. It's massively improved everything else in my life. This tracking is also how I measured the effectiveness of the changes above.
All of the above basically reset the circadian rhythm. That was why I kept going to sleep later than intended. Again, I had years of what seemed like onset insomnia. Now, I more or less don't. I still take longer to fall asleep than my girlfriend does, but I regularly am asleep before 11, rather than 1-2 am. And I feel much happier for it.
I also use .3 msg of melatonin, around 5-6 pm, following a tip here about dosing. (Apparently it's either that, or a larger amount right before bed)
Just now, I noticed I felt awake and realized I had left the overhead lights on. While typing this comment I turned them off, turning on the lamps with warm lights, and feel sleepier.
I suspect that's not quite how the original article meant it, but looking at my process in hindsight, it was fairly simple. Just basically continual assessment focussed on "why". Why was I not sleeping? And what do experts recommend for circadian rhythm.