The science of sleep revealed: How to hack your sleep with Dr. Dan Gartenberg
On the world renowned Science of Success podcast
In a recent podcast episode of The Science of Success with Dr. Dan Gartenberg, the topic of sleep was explored in detail. Despite sleep being critical for our health, wellbeing, and performance, it has been under attack in modern society. Factors such as lack of work-life balance and phone addiction have made it challenging for people to get sufficient sleep. However, it is essential to understand that sleep impacts nearly every chronic health issue and disease and every organ of the body. It is the operating system for how we make sense of the world.
There is a problematic belief that not sleeping is good for you, but this is far from the truth. The synaptic homeostasis hypothesis highlights the vital importance of sleep to memory consolidation, personality, and more. Deep sleep is how we prune, and REM sleep is how we integrate information. Getting enough sleep reduces the risk of Alzheimer's and other health issues.
There are different phases of sleep, such as REM and non-REM sleep, and our understanding of sleep is still in its early stages. Adults need 7-9 hours of sleep regularly, and hours in bed are not the same as hours of sleep. To ensure you get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep, you need to spend at least 7.5 hours in bed.
Your circadian rhythm determines your sleep schedule and performance, and taking a power nap right at your circadian dip can be an optimal performance strategy. It is also essential to consider your chronobiology and how it affects your productivity and effectiveness. Sunlight plays a vital role in controlling your circadian rhythm, and intermittent fasting can impact your daily energy levels and circadian rhythms.
Several hacks and strategies can help improve your sleep quality and get more out of deep sleep, such as eliminating noise pollution when sleeping, building up your homeostatic sleep need, and using targeted memory reactivation. Visualizing and practicing in your dreams or practicing tasks in your dreams can also help improve your waking performance. Lucid dreaming is backed by science.
To improve your sleep quality, the homework is to find one thing to do, such as improving your sleep environment or establishing a consistent sleep schedule. Getting sufficient sleep is essential for optimal health, wellbeing, and performance, and it is crucial to prioritize it in our lives.
