Dr. Peter Attia

The next one here is really, really hard for people to wrap their head around sometime, but it's called time in bed restriction. Previously, people referred to this as sleep restriction, which the name of that is obvious. So why would you do such a thing? Well, the problem is for many people with insomnia, they're actually spending too much time in bed and their sleep efficiency is really low.

The next one here is really, really hard for people to wrap their head around sometime, but it's called time in bed restriction. Previously, people referred to this as sleep restriction, which the name of that is obvious. So why would you do such a thing? Well, the problem is for many people with insomnia, they're actually spending too much time in bed and their sleep efficiency is really low.

They're spending a lot of time in bed because they're tired, because they're not sleeping and it becomes a vicious cycle. Now, anybody who's used a wearable for sleep or uses anything that measures sleep probably notices a calculation that gets spit out called sleep efficiency. Sleep efficiency is time sleeping divided by time in bed. You want to be able to hit at least 85% here.

They're spending a lot of time in bed because they're tired, because they're not sleeping and it becomes a vicious cycle. Now, anybody who's used a wearable for sleep or uses anything that measures sleep probably notices a calculation that gets spit out called sleep efficiency. Sleep efficiency is time sleeping divided by time in bed. You want to be able to hit at least 85% here.

I should say you want to be able to hit about 85% here. So to be clear, if you're hitting... 95%, you're not giving yourself enough time in bed is almost assuredly the case. And if you're hitting 75%, you're probably spending too much time in bed. So to restrict time in bed, you want to first understand your typical time of sleep with a sleep diary.

I should say you want to be able to hit about 85% here. So to be clear, if you're hitting... 95%, you're not giving yourself enough time in bed is almost assuredly the case. And if you're hitting 75%, you're probably spending too much time in bed. So to restrict time in bed, you want to first understand your typical time of sleep with a sleep diary.

And then you add a 30 minute buffer to get your target time in bed. So you can also determine the ideal wake up time and base your time in bed off this wake up time. So getting your wake up time right is key. This is the thing that you want to be fixed. And then your bedtime starts to take care of itself as you build up sleep pressure over time.

And then you add a 30 minute buffer to get your target time in bed. So you can also determine the ideal wake up time and base your time in bed off this wake up time. So getting your wake up time right is key. This is the thing that you want to be fixed. And then your bedtime starts to take care of itself as you build up sleep pressure over time.

You've probably heard me talk about this on the podcast before. The more consistent your wake up time is, even on weekends. the easier it is to control sleep hygiene. The term of people who let their sleep schedules move on weekends and they sleep in a lot later, which is understandable, right?

You've probably heard me talk about this on the podcast before. The more consistent your wake up time is, even on weekends. the easier it is to control sleep hygiene. The term of people who let their sleep schedules move on weekends and they sleep in a lot later, which is understandable, right?

Like if you work Monday through Friday and you're getting up at five in the morning, it is a real tempting on the weekends to sleep till eight or nine o'clock. The problem is that process of social jet lag is devastating for your circadian rhythm. So she describes focusing on process S, which is sleep pressure, to standardize what she calls process C or circadian rhythm.

Like if you work Monday through Friday and you're getting up at five in the morning, it is a real tempting on the weekends to sleep till eight or nine o'clock. The problem is that process of social jet lag is devastating for your circadian rhythm. So she describes focusing on process S, which is sleep pressure, to standardize what she calls process C or circadian rhythm.

And we talked a little bit about sleep trackers. She does not recommend using them if you're struggling with insomnia. And I couldn't agree more from our own practice. One of the first things we do when people are struggling with sleep is we get them to take their sleep trackers and at best put them away, at worst throw them out. Once this kind of gets in your head, it becomes a brutal cycle.

And we talked a little bit about sleep trackers. She does not recommend using them if you're struggling with insomnia. And I couldn't agree more from our own practice. One of the first things we do when people are struggling with sleep is we get them to take their sleep trackers and at best put them away, at worst throw them out. Once this kind of gets in your head, it becomes a brutal cycle.

So you don't need this to fix the problem. Cognitive techniques. I found this to be very interesting. Schedule time for worrying. Again, for many people, the waking up part then triggers the set of ruminating thoughts. Insomnia sometimes arises from not processing information enough during the daytime. spending too much time in bed ruminating.

So you don't need this to fix the problem. Cognitive techniques. I found this to be very interesting. Schedule time for worrying. Again, for many people, the waking up part then triggers the set of ruminating thoughts. Insomnia sometimes arises from not processing information enough during the daytime. spending too much time in bed ruminating.

So she has her patients schedule worry time by intentionally putting something on the calendar where they literally write down all the things that they are worried about. And they might have 20 minutes a day to do that. And then they don't have to feel the need to process this at night.

So she has her patients schedule worry time by intentionally putting something on the calendar where they literally write down all the things that they are worried about. And they might have 20 minutes a day to do that. And then they don't have to feel the need to process this at night.

So you think about the things that you would normally think about laying awake in bed and all of a sudden it gets a lot better. She does something called tracking the degree of belief, which means asking yourself, how much do I believe this is true? So a lot of times people will find the things that seem absolutely certain in the evening may turn out to be kind of unlikely during the day.

So you think about the things that you would normally think about laying awake in bed and all of a sudden it gets a lot better. She does something called tracking the degree of belief, which means asking yourself, how much do I believe this is true? So a lot of times people will find the things that seem absolutely certain in the evening may turn out to be kind of unlikely during the day.