How I'm getting the best sleep of my life

I used to struggle with my sleep for years. I spent the whole night gaming and finally went to bed at 12 or 1am, when I had to wake up at 5:30am for work. Not because I felt tired, but because I felt I had to at least get a little bit of sleep.

And when I got into bed I struggled to sleep, I tried forcing it and it never worked. I just laid there with thoughts racing through my head for hours, occasionally checking how many hours I had left until I needed to wake up.

On lots of nights it was 3 or 4am before I eventually managed to fall asleep and only 1-2 hours until I had to wake up for work. The only time I managed to sleep easily was when it was time to get out of bed.

During this time I also barely exercised. I was spending 16+ hours per day sat at my desk constantly getting dopamine from gaming, social media, and junk food. My diet consisted of cereals, crisps, chocolate, microwave ready meals, and sugary drinks.

And these all contributed to getting poor sleep.

Reading this you might have noticed a problem with my lifestyle and that it could be the cause of my terrible sleep.

And it wasn’t just my sleep that suffered. I had no confidence, self conscious because of my acne, no social skills, skinny fat, no goals or direction in life, and I didn’t want to do anything except play RuneScape and League of Legends.

I lived like this for years and thought I had insomnia. I felt like I had no energy during the day, so I never wanted to exercise or be outside.

Little did I know at the time that it was my lifestyle that was the cause of my poor sleep. Not a medical condition.

I was trying to force myself to sleep, which just made actually getting to sleep worse.

It was only after I started to take responsibility and improve my lifestyle and other behaviours when my sleep finally started to improve.

I forced myself to stop gaming at certain times so I would prioritise things that actually matter instead.

I joined a gym and I worked out 4-5 days per week at 7am.

I began to eat a healthy diet focusing on whole foods.

Eventually I quit gaming entirely and learned to code with that time, leading me to getting a good job.

I started to increase my steps, ensuring I was walking 3x per day - morning, afternoon, and evening sun exposure for circadian rhythm.

I created a bed time ritual. 2 hours before bed I would max out blue light filters.

1 hour before bed I stopped gaming and instead started to read.

All of these things might seem small individually, but the results compound. I was now finally getting the best sleep I’d had for 10+ years.

So if you’re struggling with your sleep. Take a look at the habits that are preventing you from getting good sleep, and take action to improve those things so you can finally get the sleep you deserve. It’s all about making smarter choices.

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