Earlier this year I posted about my sleep experiments. I was only getting 6 hours per night—sometimes less—and was feeling frustrated with my lack of shut eye.
I made 3 changes: reduced my caffeine consumption, imposed a consistent bedtime, and started a “wind down” routine.
After 5 months of adding in and subtracting these variables, I’m reasonably confident that excess caffeine consumption was the culprit all along.
I’ve dropped my caffeine intake down from 6-8 cups of coffee to 1 cup per day, and I can now reliably hit 7 hours sleep per night. When I give myself enough runway, 8+ hours is achievable.
A consistent bedtime and “wind down” routine, although helpful, don’t have a nearly as much impact compared to my level of caffeine consumption.
This change may seem obvious, but when I was consuming 6-8 cups of coffee per day, I didn’t even think about the effects it could have.
Here’s to better sleep and the benefits of consistent experimentation.