How a Sleep Psychologist Sleeps
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your account’s‘Saved for Later’section.
Comment
Welcome to Sleep Better Week on the Strategist, where we’re helping you find everything you need to get your best rest — from testing the most comfortable mattresses to asking nosy questions about other people’s sleep routines. For more, head to ourSleep Better Week hub.
Dr. Jade Wu is a board-certified behavioral sleep-medicine psychologist, the founder ofThrive Sleep Clinic, anauthorand public speaker, a sleep adviser toMattress Firm, and a mother of two young children. But her deep knowledge of sleep — and the experience of helping patients work through its many challenges — doesn’t mean she has an extreme bedtime routine. Wu prefers a back-to-basics approach and will always recommend a completely dark room and a predictable schedule over a drawer full of supplements or data-tracking doodads. But she does have a few tricks up her sleeve, including fooling her inner night owl to get by in a morning person’s world.
On using a light box to fake being a morning person …
I wake up around 7 a.m., but not really by choice. I’m a natural night owl. If I didn’t have kids and didn’t have to work early, I would probably be more of like a 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. sleeper. But my kids are my alarm clocks — they are almost 4 and almost 6 years old.
I linger in bed for ten or 15 minutes just to slowly wake up, and I’m very lucky that my husband takes care of the first 20 minutes of the morning. I wrangle the kids into getting dressed, try to get them to eat breakfast and all that stuff. Eventually everybody’s out the door by about 8 a.m. And either I am taking someone to school at that point or I sit down at my laptop and start work for the day. Once I sit down at my desk and have mylight boxon, my real morning begins, and that’s usually about an hour after I’ve gotten out of bed.
New! You can now save this product for later.
The light box was originally designed to combat seasonal affective disorder, or seasonal depression. But it just so happens that people realized,Oh, this also really helps with circadian shifting. Being in this society where I have to function as an early person, the light box has helped me shift the timing of my circadian phase. That dose of bright light first thing in the morning is an extra-strong message to my brain:You’re supposed to be fully awake by now.
It also resets my internal clock so that I have an easier time falling asleep earlier in the evening and an easier time waking up earlier in the morning. My home office has a decently big window and my desk is right beside it, but it’s still not bright enough to give me the morning light exposure I need to maintain a “morning person” chronotype … even in summer. So I use my light box year round. I actually need the morning light-box session even more in the summer because the later sunset time is constantly tempting my circadian clock to slide.
… And sleeping in total darkness to keep her circadian rhythm in check
I started using asleep maskbecause we were living in a place that had a really bright streetlight right outside the bedroom window. I think most people don’t realize even a little bit of light can affect sleep quality. Now I bring my sleep mask everywhere. But if I’m traveling and I happen to not have a sleep mask, I actually go around the room and cover up all the little lights on appliances and whatnot with T-shirts. It really does make a difference. And that’s not just my personal experience — research has shown that even a few lux of light, less than candlelight level of light, can affect sleep. Even when your eyes are closed.
I’ve become dependent onmy sleep maskbecause the feeling of it is so familiar to me. When I’m traveling, it’s the easiest way to bring a piece of my regular sleep environment with me, so no matter what bed ormattressI’m sleeping on, at least I have this mask that feels very snug and comfortable and signals the onset of sleep.
New! You can now save this product for later.
On making sure she earns her “sleep appetite”
It was one of my New Year’s resolutions to be more consistent about this. I said to my husband, “No ifs, ands, or buts, I am going to walk the dog in the middle of the day every day.” One reason that’s so important is light exposure, which I’ve already said is really good for setting your circadian clock and for boosting your mood, all of which is good for your sleep later on. It’s also exercise. Exercise is the closest thing we have to a panacea for any sort of health issue. And specifically when it comes to sleep — sleep is basically recovery for your body, recovery for the things that you physically did today.
If you are completely sedentary, there’s not a lot to recover from. You’re not going to get that deep of a sleep or that much of a sleep. Moving your body is earning your sleep appetite. Having a break in your day away from your desk, away from whatever you’re doing all day long, is good for your mental health overall. If you’re going to bed at the end of the day with fresh air in your lungs, in a good mood, having exercised, having had bright light during the day, that’s a quadruple whammy for good sleep.
On choosing an acceptable “distraction” before bed
Before I go to bed, I sometimes read a bit, sometimes I watch an episode or two of TV, and do the hygiene stuff, get into bed, and do the last bit of chatting and snuggling with my husband. Then I put on an audiobook and turn out the lights. I pick books I actually like and want to read. Sometimes it’s a repeat of my favorites. I loveJohn Le Carré’sTinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I listen to that once a year and I get excited when it comes around to the time of year where I’ve forgotten enough of it that I can listen to it again. I love whatever audiobook has a narrator that has a nice voice. It doesn’t have to be boring. In fact, I don’t really want it to be boring because if it’s boring, I’m not going to pay attention. When I’m absorbed in the story, I’m transported to a different place, and it’s the perfect opportunity for sleep to sneak up on me because I’m relaxed and enjoying myself. If I try to slog my way through a boring thing, I’m just going to be frustrated and sleep is not going to come to me. It does make for a lot of rewinding the next day where I have to go back 20 minutes until I get to a place I remember. But it’s a very nice way to fall asleep.
New! You can now save this product for later.
I don’t know that it’s necessary or even feasible to be totally screen celibate nowadays. Let yourself have the distractions and comforts that you like, as long as it’s not too stimulating. The difference between falling asleep to an audiobook and scrolling TikTok before bed, for example, is that an audiobook is one source of sustained and kind of slow sensory input. It’s a story that you follow along in a prolonged, linear way. That is just engaging enough to get your mind off of your own stuff and have an enjoyable time falling asleep.
If you’re scrolling TikTok, it’s constantly changing. Sometimes even the emotional tone is changing so quickly. One video might be someone dancing; the next one might be political stuff happening on the streets that’s really distressing. One might be a tax tip; the next one might be a makeup tutorial. You’re switching gears so fast, and it is not relaxing or nurturing to your mind in a way that a linear narrative is. Plus there’s the visual stimulation aspect. For people who are really used to falling asleep to their phone or to their TV, I get it. It’s weird to suddenly try to lie in a room that’s totally dark and quiet. If you don’t like that, listen to an audiobook or a podcast. It’s the nice middle ground.
More From Sleep Better Week
- Welcome to Sleep Better Week
- What’s the Least You Can Spend on a Good Bed? (Frame and Mattress Included.)
- If You Don’t Know What Kind of Mattress You Want, Try a Medium-Firm Hybrid
- Unisom Was the Only Thing That Helped My Pregnancy Insomnia
The Strategistis designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read abouthere. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
