More Sleep Hacks

#249: Light And Sleep
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Linda Geddes’ book, Why Office Workers Can’t Sleep (and Why That’s Bad), is excerpted on Lit Hub, which I read yesterday morning, after awakening at 5:20.

Geddes thinks falling sleep is affected by the light we experience after dark.  Bright blue light tells our brain it isn’t night yet.  Candlelight says the opposite.   Her opinion is informed by the experiments she and her family conducted over several weeks, each week using different lighting in their home after dark.

Except, I’d say there’s another factor that’s even more important: exertion.  No, I’m not saying 'exercise', because some people consider a half mile walk to be exercise.  No, I’m talking about serious exertion, like pushing a mower up and down a hill for half an hour—twice a day.  At least that’s my system.  If I’ve exerted sufficiently, I’ll fall right to sleep, even after staring at my 17" computer screen for an hour or two before turning in.

And, by the way, it may be that getting enough sleep is the key to aging gracefully.  Though, it should be said that old age conspires against that state of grace.  There’s the usual decline in physical activity, meaning low exertion levels.  Then, when one does exert, there's cramps-for-gramps, meaning drinking more water, thus getting up more often, and so interrupting sleep.  The secret?  Exertion.  Even if getting up more than once a night, a weary body will fall right back to sleep.