Guide · sleep · 3 min read
A wind-down that starts before you are tired, in the order that helps, on a day that started badly
Waiting until you feel sleepy usually means waiting until midnight. The wind-down is what creates the sleepiness.
Start here
Every point here is written so that a bad week is still enough to manage it.
A day that started badly does not have to stay that way.
If you only do one thing from this page, do the first point below. It is first because it removes the most friction for the least effort.
What helps
Do the boring parts of tomorrow tonight: clothes, bag, lunch, the first item on the list. Unfinished admin is what keeps people awake.
Stop work at a fixed time, not when the work is finished. The work is never finished.
Have a last-thing ritual that is the same every night. Tea, teeth, ten pages. Rituals work because they are boring and repeated.
What to do when it does not work
Start ninety minutes before you want to be asleep. That is longer than most advice suggests, and it is where the difference is.
Lower the lights in the room you are in. Bright overhead lighting at 10pm tells your body it is still afternoon.
If your brain starts up as soon as you lie down, keep a notebook by the bed and write the thoughts down. The paper holds them so you do not have to.
Questions people ask
Does a hot bath help?
Yes, if it is an hour or so before bed. The drop in body temperature afterwards is what makes people sleepy.
What if I am not tired at bedtime?
Do not lie there. Get up and read something dull under a dim light until you are. Bed should not become the place where you try.
Written for people who want the practical version. No accounts, no tracking, no newsletter wall.
If this is not the angle you need, try A morning routine that survives a bad night, without the usual advice, on a low-energy afternoon, Releasing tension you did not notice you were holding, in the order that helps, when you need to stop thinking about work or The five minutes after a difficult meeting, for people who have tried everything, when you have been meaning to start.