Light beats schedules
Get ten minutes of light soon after waking, and dim the lights an hour before bed. Melatonin only reads brightness, not your calendar — leave a gap in the curtains; even street light counts.
Bedtime Tips
Everything about how to sleep — start with the simplest one: slow your breathing.
4-7-8 breathing · in 4 · hold 7 · out 8
Four rounds to start, more if you like
Caffeine's long goodbye
The half-life of caffeine is about five hours. A cup at three in the afternoon still has half of it keeping you awake at midnight. For an afternoon drink, try decaf or plain water.
Ride the temperature downhill
Take a hot shower ninety minutes before bed. The stretch right after you step out — while body temperature drops fast — is exactly when drowsiness rolls in. You have paved yourself a downhill slope.
Same wake-up time
Falling asleep you cannot control; waking up you can. Get up at the same time every day, and keep weekend lie-ins under an hour — your rhythm is anchored by when you get up, not by fighting your way into sleep.
If you can't sleep, get up
Still awake after twenty minutes in bed? Do not lie there fighting it. Read something boring under dim light, and go back when drowsiness comes. Beds are for sleeping — this small thing matters.
Tonight you can do just one thing: put your phone somewhere out of reach. Leave the rest to any line above.