Sleep

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Optimising the quality and quantity of our sleep is one of the most important things that we can do for our performance, and for our health. Chronically inadequate sleep can increase our all-cause mortality by 12%, and poor quality sleep can reduce our productivity by up to 60% the next day. This category includes all-things-sleep, including resources to help you nod off, stay asleep, get back to sleep if you've woken up in the night, wake refreshed, and manage menopause, children, pets and naps! As always, please let me know if there's anything that is unanswered, or if you would like to nominate something that you've found useful that could help someone else. References: Hafner M et al. Why Sleep Matters: www.rand.org 2016 Williamson A, Feyer A. Occup Environ Med. 2000; 57(10): 649–655.

What Experts Say

Without enough sleep, we are all tall two-year-olds

Jojo Jensen

The bridge between despair and hope is a good night's sleep

E. Joseph Cossman

Sleep deprivation is an illegal torture method outlawed by the Geneva Convention and international courts, but most of us do it to ourselves

Ryan Hurd

What You Say

We often feel we need to add things to support sleep, but I found it helpful to just stop interfering with what is naturally trying to happen, and let night follow day

Lilli

The Lumie lamp has been a game-changer for me - I used to snooze for ages and now I wake up much more awake

63 Resources in Sleep

Andrew Huberman Expert Series: Protocols to improve your sleep

A 6 part Andrew Huberman Guest Series with Dr Matt Walker: Protocols to improve your sleep

Audible

Audible is a subscription service for audiobooks and podcasts.

Baby and child sleep training

A range of digital programmes and tailored one-on-one consultations targeting baby and child sleep training with Polly Revaliente, and The Sleep Project

BetterSleep app

Popular app with music, sounds, meditations and stories for you to choose from to support your sleep

Bodyscan (The Sleep Project)

A guided bodyscan from the Sleep Project

Bon charge blue light blocking glasses

Blue light blocking glasses

Bon charge blue light blocking lighting

Lights and lightbulbs to reduce blue light

Bon charge sleep mask

A black out sleep mask

Bose QuietComfort headphones

Noise cancelling headphones

Breathwrk app

App providing breathing exercises

Calm app

A meditation and sleep app

Chillow

Having pillows that are either less likely to get hot, or actively cool down, can help during hot flushes. Here are some options, and the integrated mattress systems also can cool the pillow area.

Clocky alarm clock on wheels

Clocky helps if you're struggling to get out of bed in the morning. Unlike a traditional alarm clock, Clocky jumps off your nightstand and wheels around your room, forcing you to physically get up to turn it off.

Day One app

A journalling app with photo, video, voice and journalling entry

Does alcohol affect your sleep? Matt Walker & Andrew Huberman

A podcast where Professor Huberman interviews Dr Walker about the impact of alcohol on sleep

Earth.fm

Nature soundscapes and guided meditations

Eckhart yoga

Online yoga, pilates and meditation studio with a large variety of classes

Eight sleep mattress cover

A mattress cooling solution, which can have separate zones, and helps track sleep

Expert conversation on Sleep

A recorded conversation between Lilli and Dr Caitlin Chasser of The Sleep Project about sleep, its importance, and some tips for surgeons.

F.lux screen dimming software

F.lux dims your screen at local sundown.

Fancy a takeaway? Sleep

An exercise to work through at home to help to improve your sleep consistency.

Fans (manual)

Physical fans to cool you.

Greyscale mode

Turning your phone to greyscale helps make it less attractive to our brains

Happy Ears earplugs

Multi-use earplugs

Headspace

A meditation app

Insight timer

Free meditation app

Kitsch Eye Mask

Eye masks to help with sleep

Light lux meter pro app

Photon detection app

Loop earplugs

Earplugs designed for sleep, with adjustable noise relief

Lumie lamps

Light therapy lamps to help you wake, focus and support your circadian rhythm

MEQ chronotype assessment

Test your chronotype here

Manta sleep masks

Blackout, 'zero pressure' eye masks for sleep

NSDR by Andrew Huberman

A 10 and 20 minute NSDR (non-sleep deep rest) meditation by Andrew Huberman

Neal's yard bath/shower products

Neal's yard bath/shower products for sleep

Ocushield blue light screen protector

Blue light screen protectors

Old school alarm clock

Manual alarm clock

Optimising Performance for Surgeons course

A 6 week, remote, coaching course to help surgeons feel happier, be more productive and optimise their performance.

Oura ring

A ring-worn tracking device

Panda London eye mask

Hypoallergenic sleep mask made of bamboo

Retimer glasses

A wearable sleep tracker that also intervenes with light

Retrain your sleep (The Sleep Project)

A 4 week programme to help you optimise your sleep

Reveri app

Guided self-hypnosis app

Simba cooling pillow

Cooling pillow

Sleep cycle

A sleep tracker that wakes you at the optimum time in your sleep cycle

Sleep well through menopause programme

A 4 week programme for menopause and sleep

Spotify

A digital music, podcast and video app

The Five Minute Journal

A gratitude journal that takes just 5 minutes per day

The Holistic Psychologist meditation

A 16 minute meditation for times of stress

The Matt Walker Podcast

Dr Matt Walker's podcast focussed on sleep

The Shipping Forecast

A BBCR4 broadcast with weather reports for the seas around the British Isles

The Sleep Charity

Information about sleep

The Three Question Journal

A twice-daily journal incorporating habit formation and gratitude

The shift work survival guide

A 3 part blog by Dr Caitlin Chasser of The Sleep Project on managing shift work. You can also hear us talk about shiftwork on our conversation with experts.

The sleep foundation

An excellent repository of advice and information about all-things sleep

Timeshifter

An app to help with circadian shifting, through jetlag or shift work

Waking up app

Sam Harris' app combining mindfulness, meditation, lessons and conversations.

White, pink and brown noise

White, pink and brown noise soundtracks for sleep

Whoop

Body-worn tracking bands and garments

Why We Sleep (book)

A popular book by Dr Matthew Walker about the neuroscience and physiology of sleep

Yoga Nidra (The Sleep Project)

A 10 minute yoga nidra or non-sleep deep rest audio from The Sleep Project

Yoga with Adriene

A free online yoga resource

Yoga with Kassandra

Free online yoga classes taught by Kassandra