The Night Shift, Part 3 of 4
Under the Hood is a weekly look at what's really driving your health, fixed 1% at a time.
Today: why the time you go to bed matters as much as how long you sleep, the two-part system I coach every client on, and a checklist for the guy who thinks he’s tried everything.
My dad was an early riser. I remember that about him growing up.
He’d go to bed late, especially in his 40s and 50s when he was working. Then he’d be up early again. Five, maybe six hours a night.
He loved his coffee. Many times I’d see him drinking it at four or five in the afternoon. He used to say it didn’t affect him. I believed him. I didn’t know any better back then.
Later in life, he had a host of health issues.
I can’t tell you sleep caused any of that. Nobody can. But I wonder.
Because “it doesn’t affect me” is exactly what the research says people tell themselves. In one study, people who had caffeine six hours before bed lost more than an hour of sleep. And they didn’t even notice.
My dad took care of his cars. I’m not sure he ever took care of what was under his own hood.
Last week we worked on what’s waking you up at night. The bathroom trips, the drink, the late dinner. If you tried one of those experiments for seven nights, good stuff. Keep it and let’s keep digging deeper.
This week, it’s not just about how much sleep you get. It’s about when you get it.
THE DEEP DIVE
The rule that matters most.
This one surprised me. In a study of about 61,000 adults, people with more regular sleep had a 20 to 48% lower risk of dying from any cause than the least regular sleepers.
And regularity predicted that risk better than how long people slept.
Same bedtime. Same wake time. Weekends too.
Your body thrives on consistency. Bed at 10 during the week and 1am on Saturday, and your body doesn’t know what time it is.
My son Arlyn is almost eight months old. We track his sleep, and the app sends us a score every week.
Look at these two weeks. His wake time barely moved. But one week his bedtime drifted about two hours later, and he didn’t make it up in the morning. He just lost it. Over two hours a night, and his score dropped from 93 to 85.
And the best night of that off week? The one night we got him down at 7.
If it matters this much for an eight-month-old, it matters for you.
Most of us can’t sleep in. The kids, the job, the early clients. The morning doesn’t move. Bedtime is what you control.
I’m in this boat too. Three kids, early clients, long days. I average six and a half to seven hours. Not where I want it.
But my bedtime and wake time barely move. That’s the one thing I’ve protected. And when you find room for more sleep, add it to the end of the night. That’s where most of your REM sleep lives.
Ignition and Downshift.
Here’s how I coach it. Your sleep has two halves, and they start before you ever get in bed.
Ignition is your morning. It’s what starts the engine for the day.
Wake up at the same time. Then get outside within the first hour. Ten minutes on a clear day, longer when it’s cloudy.
Leave the sunglasses inside. Your eyes are how the light gets in, and shades turn down the signal. Your regular glasses are fine. Just don’t stare at the sun.
Morning light starts the countdown to when you’ll get sleepy that night. In a study of over 400,000 adults, every extra hour of daytime outdoor light was linked to fewer insomnia symptoms and easier mornings.
Downshift is your evening. In a car, you don’t go from full speed straight to parked. You slow down in stages.
Same with sleep. You can’t go full speed all day and expect to shut off the second your head hits the pillow.
Remember the 10-3-2-1 rule from a few weeks back? Caffeine, food, liquids, screens. That’s your Downshift. I’m adding one number to it: 0. Zero snoozes in the morning. The Downshift sets up tomorrow’s Ignition.
And add a hot shower one to two hours before bed. As your body cools down after, it helps you fall asleep.
Take the TV out of the bedroom. The bedroom is for sleep and sex. That’s it.
Think you’ve tried everything?
A lot of guys tell me they’ve tried everything. Most of them haven’t. So I put it all on one card. Go down the list and see what you haven’t tried yet.
Exhaust all natural ways first.
I say this to clients all the time, and I say it most about sleep.
There are a hundred sleep routines out there. Most guys don’t need a new one. They need to pick one and actually stick with it.
The basics aren’t exciting, so people skip them. But here’s another thing I tell my clients about almost everything in health and fitness:
Do the simple things savagely well.
James Clear put it this way: “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
Wanting better sleep is a goal. Ignition and Downshift are the system.
And systems take practice. Researchers found it took a median of 66 days for a new daily habit to become automatic. Missing a day didn’t wreck it. Your kid gets sick, you travel, the night falls apart. Fine. Get back on it tomorrow.
That’s why I tell my clients to give it 60 to 90 days.
Tried everything and still lying there?
Remember Issue #10, when I called breathing the seventh movement pattern? Here’s where it earns its spot.
In through your nose, pause for two seconds, then out slowly through pursed lips for 10 to 12 seconds. Make the exhale feel too long.
Do 15 of those. That’s about five minutes. Don’t count perfectly. If you lose count, just keep going.
Still awake after twenty minutes? Get up, keep the lights low, and come back when you’re sleepy.
And if you’ve done the work for a few months and you’re still struggling, talk to your doctor. Ask about CBT-I, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. The American College of Physicians recommends it as the first treatment for chronic insomnia, ahead of medication.
Natural first. Then deeper.
QUICK HITS
FUEL — Work backward from your bedtime. In bed at 10? Your last coffee is at noon. That 3pm cup feels harmless. So did my dad’s.
TRAINING — If evening is your only window, train. A review of 23 studies found evening exercise doesn’t hurt sleep, and may even add a little deep sleep. The one exception is a hard session that ends within an hour of bed. If you can’t talk during it, finish it earlier.
FAMILY — If you’ve got young kids, their bedtime is a built-in downshift. When they go down, close the laptop. Be present with your wife. That’s part of the downshift too.
MIND — Reading a book in bed helps a lot of people sleep better. Just read on paper, and read calm. A thriller you can’t put down, or a business book that has you planning tomorrow’s meeting, will wind you up. Save the heavy stuff for the morning. If you struggle to fall asleep, read in a chair and only get in bed when you’re sleepy.
THIS WEEK'S 1%
Pick your wake time. One time, seven days, weekends included.
That’s your Ignition. Everything else gets easier once that’s locked in.
Then pick one thing off the card you haven’t tried. Just one.
You won’t do it perfectly. Five days out of seven still counts.
Next week is the last part of the Night Shift: supplements. What actually helps, what I use, and what’s mostly marketing. But I wanted you to run the free stuff first.
If you know a man who says “coffee doesn’t affect me,” send him this one.
1% BETTER
— Coach Joshua
Educational content, not medical advice. Partner with your physician, ideally one who believes in proactive care.
New here? Every issue lives in the archive. Last week I covered why you’re up at 3am, and the free fixes most men never