How to Get a Great Sleep Every Night
Apr 16, 2025
I am not the world's greatest sleeper...
And I come from a line of humans who are horrible at sleeping - both my parents struggle with it, and have for years.
So, if I, a guy who's been to 'sleep specialists' over the years, who's struggled to sleep at many periods of my life, can guarantee a great night's sleep...
...Anyone can. Trust me.
First, why is sleep so vitally important?
And do we have to choose sleep over achievement? (This is what I had in my brain for so long... that I've gotta work every waking hour if I'm going to win, even if it means poor sleep).
First, poor sleep is a leading cause of cognitive decline.
Poor sleep is one of the primary causes of low T.
It results in increased cortisol levels (your stress hormone), which eats away at muscle and stores fat.
Poor sleep means low energy, and low energy means reduced achievement and enjoyment of life.
Poor sleep means poor recovery, so you're not going to get the gains you can get if you get a great sleep.
Great sleep - namely optimal deep and REM cycles of sleep - gives you a big advantage in every area of life. You'll get more work done in less time, have more free time to enjoy life, have the energy to enjoy life, and live a better life, for longer.
So, how do we ensure we're getting a great sleep every single night, especially as ambitious, driven men whose brains don't seem to want to stop solving the problems we face in our lives and in our work?
Routine.
Years ago I read a sports psychology book. I was boxing, fighting in the amateurs, and I wanted to calm my nerves and be able to get into the 'zone' when I was fighting.
In boxing, if you're not 100% focused, you're at risk of not just losing, but of getting your lights turned off.
One of the things the psychologist - the author of the book that I haven't been able to find the name of - harped on, was the power of routine.
You see it with Michael Jordan as he's shooting free throws. The routine is the same, every single time, no matter what part of the game he's taking the shots. It's always the same.
Usain Bolt has the exact same pre race routine. Mike Tyson had the same entrance music and routine when he was mowing through heavyweights in the late 80's.
The power of routine is that it triggers normalcy, even in the most intense and important moments. You practice the routine when you're practicing, in a zero-stress environment, and you do the exact same thing when you're shooting free throws in the final seconds of a championship game.
It shows your brain and your body that you've done this over and over again, and that the situation you're in is technically no different than it was when you were practicing with no one around.
And it's even more important for sleep.
Circadian Rhythm
Our bodies work on a rhythm. It thrives on rhythm.
Going to bed at the same time every night, and waking up at the same time every morning helps set that rhythm so your body knows it's sleep time, but there's more you can do to send your brain a trigger that it's time to sleep than simply lie down.
And, again, this is especially important for the driven types, the guys with the weight of the world on our shoulders, trying to achieve, trying to solve problems...
Problems that never seem to cease.
I'll use myself as a use-case.
I Had to Make a Choice
Pretty much every morning I'm up around 4am. It's just when I wake up. Maybe a bit earlier, maybe a bit later.
Now, I'll work until I can't any longer. Sometimes that means to 7pm, sometimes 8pm.
The problem with this set up is that I would go to bed with my mind still on the work I'm trying to do. It wouldn't stop.
So, I wouldn't sleep.
I mean, technically I would, but my heart rate would be too high come bed time to really get into these deeper sleep cycles fast enough.
Your pre-bed heart rate is very important. You want to get it as low as possible.
I wear a Garmin watch to track this, and I was noticing it was too high before bed. It would actually spike up a little as I lay down and the onslaught of issues would come rushing to my thoughts.
That's the problem with the night. Think about it. We still have the brains of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Night time wasn't a time to relax, it was time to be alert.
You're the man. You're in charge of your tribe. And it's at night where the predators come out. So you'd be hyper alert for any noises.
We don't need that any longer today. We have walls, locked doors, and worst-case scenario, we have guns under the bed and dogs ready to fight with us.
But, our monkey brains don't know this.
So, I had to make a choice.
Do I want those extra couple of hours of work at the end of the day, or do I want to have a great sleep?
I had to think about it. Seriously. I get good work done in the evening, but would I get even better work done during the day if I had a great sleep?
The answer is, yes. So, I chose sleep.
Creating the Atmosphere for Sleep
This, however, doesn't just mean stopping work earlier, it means stopping the brain much earlier.
So, I started doing a few things, a few routines that I picked up from a few good books, and some of my own, that would trigger my wee brain to stop.
First, end of my work day is now 5pm sharp. The last 10 minutes of the work day are simply setting up the next day. It's a brain dump. Anything on my brain goes down onto a pad of paper, any stressor, any worry, written down.
Putting these world ending worries on paper allows us to see what they really are, they're just things we have to deal with - and we will.
This is trigger number one.
Second trigger is a walk. I take Alice for a walk. I get outside. My feet are moving, my brain is moving less. Walking is meditative. It's calming.
Third trigger is dinner with my wife. We talk, not about my work, but about life, about her work, about funny stuff.
Then, we watch an episode of a show together - I was fortunate enough to get her into the Sopranos, so I get to watch that for the dozenth time.
Then, I take Man Sleep, which has natural ingredients that further help calm the mind and others that help with the deep and REM sleep cycles.
Then, it's reading time, in bed.
By 8pm or 9pm I'm completely out.
My heart rate as I'm lying down in bed is in the low 50's or higher 40's BPM.
My energy the next day is non-stop. Morning wood? Check.
A Few Other 'Must's' For a Great Sleep
You have to workout.
Tons of research shows working out improves sleep quality, especially if it's done in the morning. Getting your stress hormones up early isn't actually a bad thing.
Do anything, some push ups, run with the dog, do your full weights routine, do anything to get the heart pumping early.
Carbs with dinner also helps. It lowers cortisol, eating them has a sleepy effect. Have meat with carbs for dinner.
Don't eat too late, either. The research is mixed with this, but if your body is processing a big meal, your heart rate will be elevated, making falling right into a deep sleep less likely.
The other aspects of a good sleep, like a cool, dark room (sleep mask if needed), no screens right before bed, no booze or nicotine within a few hours before bed, they all matter as well.
The key is the routine.
Have the entire last 2-3 hours of your day, if possible, dedicated to setting up a great sleep.
If you have kids, incorporate them into it. Walk with them. Talk with them. Focus on them, get your brain off of your shit and onto theirs. Bring them into your routine as best you can.
Professional Sleeper
Earlier I mentioned the power of routine for professional athletes. Well, you have to treat sleep like it's your profession.
There is nothing that ought to get in the way of sleep - and I'm primarily talking about the problems you so badly want to solve.
They will not get solved by constantly thinking about them while in bed.
In fact, your subconscious is more likely to solve them without your input.
Jot them down. And leave them on that paper. Let your subconscious handle them. Provide them no more thought or brain space.
When it's time to sleep, it's time to sleep, nothing else.
