The intimate details of my sleep routine

Sleep has been talked about a lot, and that's great because sleep is SO valuable for humans.

But I wanted to give my two cents.

And hopefully, what I'm about to share might add to whatever you currently know about this very important topic.

Let's talk about why sleep is so critical first…

Sleep improves your metabolic health, your longevity, your mental health, physical attractiveness, fertility, your libido, your sex hormones, your weight control, your appetite, your relationships, your athletic performance… potentially even your WEALTH.

And yet…

Most of us have had nights where we've LOST sleep.

Maybe because we're new parents, or we're out partying, or we have work commitments, or are going through a particularly stressful period.

And you know the toll that takes on you the next day…

So how much is enough?

I think 7.5 to 8 hours is probably ideal for the vast majority of humans.

I know a lot of us THINK we're “superhuman” and that we're at our best performance with 6 hours a night.

But the vast majority of us – we're talking 97-99% – need 7.5 to 8 hours of TRUE SLEEP (not just time in bed) to function best.

In terms of what the research says…

Sleeping LESS than 6 hours versus sleeping 8 hours a night leads to a massively increased risk of almost every chronic illness (PMID: 20469800)

We're talking cardiovascular disease, cancer, dementia, metabolic illness, obesity... everything gets significantly WORSE.

Now, before I get into my routine, quick digression:

Coffee, alcohol and marijuana…

They're all BAD for sleep. Period.

I know this triggers people but this isn’t even debatable.

Am I saying be puritanical? No.

I'm just giving you the information – do with it what you will.

As for supplements…

I don’t take anything for sleep.

Not even magnesium.

The data on magnesium is pretty shady…

If you take magnesium and it helps you, fine, it could be placebo.

Is it the worst thing in the world? Not really.

Some magnesium will make you have diarrhea, which may not be great.

Perhaps threonate or glycinate are the most sedating.

Melatonin? Not a fan AT ALL.

The doses on the shelves in stores are massively super-physiologic, and I think this could have major consequences for humans.

There's good evidence that in animal models, giving megadoses of melatonin shrinks the gonads too (PMID: 36189166)

So, you tell me how much melatonin you want to take... for me it’s a ZERO!

Alright.

Back to the main topic…‍

Here are the intimate details of my sleep routine.‍

I got to sleep EARLY – usually around 8:30 pm

That isn’t to say I don't occasionally stay up later than usual - there are some exceptions.

But the first and most important thing that I've found for my sleep is having a CONSISTENT bedtime and wake-up time and I try to maintain this as much as I can.

Obviously, the times will vary based on where I am in the world too…

I live in Costa Rica most of the time meaning I’m near the equator – it’s about 12 hours of daylight and darkness almost all year round.

Regardless…

The way I think about sleep, in the most simple terms, is BRIGHT days and DARK nights.

‍This is so incredibly important for circadian alignment. And the BIGGEST needle mover.

So, you want to be VERY diligent with this.

Here’s what I do:

I wake up usually around 5:30 am.

I’ll go outside to get some sunlight in the eyes along with grounding and light movement.

There’s a surprising amount of good evidence behind grounding and sleep.
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The cortisol-regulating effects can help optimize your circadian rhythm – setting you up for a better night of rest (PMID: 36481428)
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The goal here too is to get as much bright, natural FULL BODY light exposure as soon as possible to help "anchor" your sleep-wake cycle.

Our ancestors would have spent their days mostly outdoors exposed to natural light too.

But since we cannot spend ALL our time outdoors today (especially during winter!) … I’ll sit next to an infrared lamp when working indoors.

Again, historically, we would have been exposed to natural infrared light from the sun ALL day long.

Infrared light exposure – at the correct times – helps regulate melatonin production in your body and thus, regulate your circadian rhythm and sleep-wake cycles.

Think about it from an evolutionary perspective... humans didn't bathe in harsh artificial lighting from screens and cellphones all day long like we do today.
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So I want to MINIMIZE this as much as possible because the research is unequivocal: Blue light is TERRIBLE for melatonin production (PMID: 25535358)
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And anecdotally speaking, I've found that infrared exposure during the day makes a HUGE difference in my sleep quality (it’s also just better for overall health too like mitochondria function, lowering inflammation etc.).

And after dark? Every single light in my house is red incandescent.

Not LED red – that's going to have flicker – but incandescent red.

So if you come to my house for dinner at 6:30, we're eating in red lights or by candlelight (I really enjoy using beeswax candles and low light at night for this).

Of course, I switch OFF the WiFi for sleep.

These are novel signals that our bodies have not adapted to deal with…

There's mounting evidence that EMF exposure can interfere with our sleep quality, potentially by affecting the nervous system and impacting melatonin production (PMID: 25340654; PMID: 10188140).

Think about it logically... do you really need WiFi beaming through your body while you're trying to rest and recover? Our bedrooms should be sanctuaries for sleep, not mini radio stations broadcasting signals all night long!

And that’s it!

If you cannot perfectly replicate what I do – don’t sweat it.

Just do what you can/are comfortable with.

For me, sleep is BUSINESS.

Everything I feel like I'm doing in the world that's good right now is creative.

I want to be clear with my team, I want to be emotionally stable, I want to surf well, I want to be kind to people in my life, I want to make good decisions... and I need the currency of sleep to allow me to do the most good in the world.

So if you take ONE thing away from this newsletter, let it be this:

Sleep is the single most important "hack" for longevity and performance that I've ever seen.‍

How much you want to leverage it in 2025 is your choice!

Welcome to the Remembering.

Paul

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