Give yourself a sleep routine, your awake brain will thank you

How do you tell your brain that it is time to go to sleep?

Every evening I follow the same ritual. At least, if my schedule allows it. It starts with an episode of a TV show, just something light to unwind from the day. Then I pick up a book. Reading helps me unwind, away from screens, stimuli, and to-dos.

About an hour before I go to bed, I take a hot shower. At the end, I turn the tap to neutral for a minute: not hot, not cold. Why? I'll tell you later.

Just before bed, I lie on a nail mat for fifteen minutes, often with a relaxing session on my ears: a Non-Sleep Deep Rest or Yoga Nidra session. This mat activates pressure points in your body, which initiates relaxation and stimulates the production of endorphins. It might sound a bit alternative, but I regularly fall asleep on it. I use a Flowie myself , but there are other nail mats that work well. Not everyone is a fan, so it's a matter of experimenting to see how your body reacts.

Meditation technique

Yoga Nidra is a meditation technique from the yogic tradition in which you consciously explore the boundary between wakefulness and sleep, often through a body scan or visualizations. I'm a personal fan of House of Deep Relax . You can try a free session. Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) is a broader term, popularized by neuroscientist Andrew Huberman. It encompasses Yoga Nidra, breathing techniques, and other methods to deeply relax the nervous system, often without a spiritual layer.

What I notice is that even while reading a book, my body already understands what's coming. Bedtime is approaching. My brain switches to sleep mode. It's not for nothing that our brains are called prediction machines: they constantly try to guess what's going to happen, even before it happens. The more predictable the routine, the easier it is for your brain to adjust to rest. With every habit, I give my internal clock a signal: it's almost time to sleep.

During the period when I was sleeping poorly, I started building this sleep routine with a few elements I enjoy: television, reading, and a bed of nails. My biological clock has become so finely tuned that I start yawning at the same time almost every night. Drowsiness follows naturally. And once I'm in bed, I usually fall asleep within fifteen minutes. I'm not saying this to impress you. It used to be completely different. Back then, I could easily lie awake for an hour and a half.

Time to go to sleep

And now about that minute of lukewarm shower water. Why do I end my shower with a minute at neutral? Because it helps my core temperature drop more quickly afterward. After a warm shower, your skin temperature rises, causing your body to release heat more quickly to the environment once you step out. Ending with lukewarm water slightly enhances that effect. And a dropping body temperature is an important signal to your brain that it's time to go to sleep.

Children adapt very well to a sleep routine. But that's just as true for adults.