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  4. The evening protocol: ten, three, two, one, zero

Ten, three, two, one, zero

Short answer

A simple countdown to bedtime: ten hours before, no more caffeine; three hours, no heavy meal or alcohol; two hours, no work; one hour, no screens; and zero snoozes in the morning. It tackles the most common disrupters of your sleep one by one.

10 hours
No more caffeine
1 hour
No screens before sleep
0
Snoozes — get up in one go

Why each part works

Caffeine blocks adenosine — your natural sleep pressure — for up to ten hours. Alcohol and heavy meals disturb your REM sleep and your digestion. Work and screens keep your nervous system and your circadian rhythm active. And snoozing fragments precisely your lightest and least restorative sleep.

None of these five is a secret. What makes them remarkable is that together they cover almost everything a bad night can be blamed on, without anything having to be bought.

How to start

Start with the one rule that makes the biggest difference for you — usually the screen-free hour or the caffeine cut-off. Build the rest up over a few weeks. Consistency counts for more here than perfection.

And keep one thing in mind: if these five aren't in place, no test night on any bed says anything reliable. You are then measuring your evening and not your mattress.

Sources

  1. Drake et al. (2013). Caffeine effects on sleep taken 0, 3, or 6 hours before bed. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.
  2. Ebrahim et al. (2013). Alcohol and sleep. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
  3. Chang et al. (2015). Evening use of light-emitting eReaders. PNAS.

Frequently asked questions

Doesn't alcohol actually help you fall asleep?

With falling asleep yes, with staying asleep no. Alcohol suppresses deep sleep and REM and makes the second half of the night restless. You fall asleep faster and wake up less rested.

Why is snoozing bad?

After the alarm you fall back into light sleep, the least restorative stage, and you are pulled out of it again each time. Those nine minutes achieve nothing and make getting up harder.