Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETThere are thousands of songs about staying up all night to have fun, yet fewer about how nice it is to go to bed early. After a long day of work, nerve-inducing headlines, and strenuous exercise, all I want is sleep. That’s when the lyrics of Hall and Oates’ song, “When the Morning Comes,” a tune mainly about rejection that can be interpreted as an ode to a good night’s rest, come to mind: “It’ll be all right when the morning comes,” the duo sing. As a sleep enthusiast, I can’t help but agree.Also: The best sleep trackersAs a health and wearables editor, I wear smartwatches and smart rings around the clock. By testing these products, my interest in optimizing my sleep and health has grown. Not to brag, but I’m amazing at sleeping — my roommates jokingly refer to me as the Sleepytime Tea Bear. I treat my sleep the same way a professional athlete treats their workout routine, and it’s paying dividends. My sleep scores reach the high eighties and low nineties consistently, and I get around eight hours — the expert-recommended daily sleep dose — every night. My focus is clear and my energy is long-lasting. If you want to level up your sleep scores, I’ve consulted experts from wearables specialists, such as Oura and Whoop, and drawn on my own experience using these products and witnessing my sleep results to compile a list of tips I swear by for better slumber. 1. Consistency is key In early January, I caught a sinus infection that kept me bedridden for nearly two weeks. To get better, I would go to bed early — around 8pm. At the beginning, when sleep was dire, I would head off to bed at 9pm; by the tail end of my recovery, I would head off at 10pm. As I became more of a stickler for my sleep times, I would wake up at 6:30am every morning — no alarm needed. While I wish I didn’t have to endure two weeks of antibiotics, hacking coughs, and blowing my nose to develop an unwavering wake-up time, I’m thankful I got to reconfigure my circadian rhythms to a 6am wake-up time that works for me. I rise earlier, go to work earlier, come home and exercise earlier, and, most importantly, go to bed earlier. It’s great. This pattern is in line with the recommendation of Raphael Vallat, Oura’s lead machine learning data scientist — go to sleep and wake up at the same time seven days a week. Also: I tried a new anti-stress browser to see if it could really help me relax – and it actually works”Quality sleep isn’t just about time in bed — it’s about consistency and efficiency. A stable nighttime routine and an ideal sleep environment play a crucial role in optimizing rest,” a Whoop spokesperson wrote in an email. More
