Howdy- I’m Keith, the new guy on the content team.

I’m also a new Zeo user and I love the data I get from it.

I will admit though, that part of this love affair might come from the fact that, every morning, Zeo tells me that I have great sleep.  I didn’t pop a pill or let my body “catch up” after short-changing it. I did this all through simple, easy to follow actions–and I’m going to share my formula with you.

Let’s face it, no one should have to just “deal” with poor sleep and part of my job here at Zeo is to help you all get that better night’s sleep. Let me make one thing clear: This great sleep is the result of small habits and behavior changes done repeatedly for years. True, the steps are easy but if you cheat on them, you’ll pay for it with your sleep.

Step One: Make a (standing) date with your Bed

I go to bed every night at exactly the same time. I mean, okay, it might not always be exactly the same time, but it’s awfully close. I usually start getting ready for bed around 9:15pm and it’s lights out not too long after. My girlfriend’s not crazy about that, but I make a point of reassuring her that it’s me who needs to go to bed that early, not her. 

A steady bedtime--though like most, I too, was guilty of "shifting bed time" one weekend

To help keep that bedtime, I don’t drink caffeine and I rarely drink alcohol–maybe a beer or two on the weekend but that’s it. I do go to parties, but I’m more a fan of the afternoon affairs so that I can keep my bedtime. Again, 9:15pm is certainly early for some, but keeping the same bedtime and risetime–even on the weekends–goes a long way towards sleep improvement.

Step Two: Turn your Bedroom into a Cave

Years ago, I discovered two wonderful things that help me get great sleep: light-blocking curtains and a fan. The light-blocking curtains keep the room as dark as possible, allowing my melatonin to kick in and sending me off to dreamland. The fan, on the other hand, has two purposes: to keep things nice and cool – even in the winter - to cancel out all other noise. Basically, I turn my bedroom into a sensory deprivation chamber every night and it works like a dream. I hardly ever wake up during the night, except to use the bathroom.

Step Three: Add an Exercise Routine to the Mix

For almost 7 years now, I’ve been exercising for about an hour and a half to 2 hours a day, 5 to 6 days a week. I’m pretty convinced that it’s the world’s greatest–and most overlooked–sleeping pill. As soon as I get up in the morning, boom, I go to the gym. Even better? A recent study shows that exercising during the morning leads to better sleep than exercising at night.

Step Four: Shake, Strain, then Serve Night after Night

Okay, I can hear you rolling your eyes over there. So what’s the payoff for all of this?

An average ZQ of 97. A recent “bad” night for me was less than 8 hours long and got me a ZQ of 94. Andi@Zeo said that was sick, but I think she’s just jealous. (Editor’s note: Dang right I am!)

What this means is that, night after night, I can count on:

• 1 1/2 -2 hours of Deep sleep
• 2-3 hours of REM sleep
• 3-4 hours of Light sleep
• less than 2 wake-ups each night

I do everything in my power to ensure that I sleep like a (32 year old) baby–and it’s great to see that it pays off.

My question to you is, now that you know some of my secrets, what are you going to do differently tonight and tomorrow?

Christine Peterson's poster of her Zeo research (download poster) was one of the highlights of the QS conference for me, as I said in an earlier post:

She measured her sleep with a Zeo for three months. Her poster showed how various things, such as caffeine consumption, correlated with sleep measurements, such as REM time. I believe the most important Zeo measurement is how long you are awake during the night. ... Christine's data showed a strong correlation between her score on Zeo's Sleep Stealer's index (...) and how long she was awake at night. With a high score, she was awake twice as long (about 1.5 hours) as with a low score.

Here's why.

The correlation between Sleep Stealer score and time awake.

When her Sleep Stealer score was 5 or less, she was awake about an hour during the night.

When her score was more than 5, she was awake about two hours - a big difference. There should be a big difference, but you could fail to see it for a thousand reasons. The large difference is a validation of the whole thing - above all, an indication that her Zeo is working correctly.

                                                          C Peterson - Total Z v Sleep Stealers                        

Even when her Sleep Stealer score is low, she is awake a long time.

This means there are major determinants of sleep depth not captured by the Sleep Stealer score. With the right Sleep Stealer score - assuming the correlation reflects cause and effect - she can improve from two hours to one hour (one hour difference) but that leaves one hour. This implies that the determinants of time awake not in the Sleep Stealer score are just as important as those that it contains.

Even when she is at the best level of important factors, she is awake a long time.

When she had no drinks, she was awake 56 minutes/night.  When other people didn't disrupt her sleep at all, she was awake 54 minutes/night. C Peterson -Time in Wake v Alcohol

C Peterson - Time in Wake v Disruption

The average wake time for women 50-59 is half an hour.

That's a lot of lost time, day after day, night after night. Note however that the data is from Zeo users, who may have worse sleep than average.  (Editor's note: see What's Your ZQ for more information about Zeo users' sleep quality)                                                                                              

It only took three months to collect the data.

This isn't on the poster. Yet this is a solid contribution, in the sense that I learned from it. With perhaps nine months of data and better data analysis, it might be publishable.

The main point such a paper would presumably make is that even when you do everything right (Sleep Stealer score = 0) you're still awake a lot. This point is nowhere in the sleep literature.

Seth's advice for better sleep

Christine, if you would like to sleep better I suggest:

1. Don't eat breakfast until at least three hours after you wake up.
2. Get at least one hour of sunlight early in the morning - e.g., 6 to 7 am. You can do this by working outside.  (I work outside several hours every morning.)
3. Stand on one leg to exhaustion four or more times per day. (I do it six times/day.) You can do this while reading - it should not reduce your free time.