I Tried a Doctor-Recommended Sleep Routine for 2 Weeks—Here’s What Happened

Confession: I am over a decade out of college and still pull the occasional all-nighter. Not partying, but working. And if you are like 70% of the American population, you aren’t getting enough sleep either. That is, according to the authors of Better Sleep, Better You: Frank Lipman, a renowned functional and integrative medicine doctor, and Neil Parikh, co-founder of Casper. Inadequate sleep (in both duration and quality) is linked to a weakened immune system, weight gain, hormone dysregulation, brain chemistry imbalance, depression, anxiety, heart disease, prediabetes and diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and the list goes on. While we sleep, our brain repairs itself and flushes out toxins. The complex and integral magic of processes that occur during sleep for our brains, bodies and minds are only just coming to light. 

For most of us, we know that a bad night’s sleep makes us feel blah the next day. Without sleep, small tasks take longer, we become more easily overwhelmed and we find ourselves constantly on defense. It’s easy for a bad night’s sleep to snowball into a sleepless lifestyle. We may know we need more sleep, but the how is challenging. 

I embarked on a journey to revolutionize my sleep and quickly realized that since sleep is a basic human need involving my entire being, I would need to take a holistic multidisciplinary approach. I pulled from experts across the fields of functional medicine, psychology and neuroscience. What I found was that my entire perspective on sleep desperately needed to be reframed. At the start of my two-week sleep experiment, I had no idea how fundamentally my views on sleep were connected to my sense of self-worth or how changing my sleep habits slowly but surely could change my life. 

Day 1: The First Hour of a Thousand Hours of Sleep 

I dive into The Sleep Prescription by clinical psychologist Aric A. Prather, Ph.D., co-director of the Aging, Metabolism and Emotions Center at UC San Francisco and sleep scientist at the university’s Insomnia Clinic. As Prather points out, our circadian rhythm that controls sleep is a 24-hour cycle, not just the hours spent in bed. Our behavioral patterns throughout the day, starting from how and when we wake up, directly impact our quality and quantity of sleep. 

I also pick up Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, Ph.D., a neuroscientist and director of the Center for Human Sleep Science. One thing becomes clear: the importance of going to bed and waking up at a consistent time each day. I decide on a few rules for the next two weeks to start: 1) Get to bed by 10:30 p.m. 2) Wake up at 6:45 a.m. 3) Keep a sleep journal with notes about how I feel during the day. My goal is to get at least eight hours of sleep every night for two weeks. 

I consume sleep media until around 9:30 p.m., at which time I decide it’s time to get ready for bed because, what would a sleep experiment be if I stayed up late yet again? 

Day 5: My Toxic Partner—the Phone 

I have been recording my bedtime and waking time and am noticing a few unsettling patterns. I will get into bed but not fall asleep, and I will wake up and not get out of bed. One issue becomes glaringly obvious: my phone. 

Another pattern emerges. As night falls and I become sleepy, I actually fight to stay awake. Why was I actively avoiding sleep? You might be familiar with “revenge procrastination,” which gained prominence during the pandemic. Those who feel that their day is controlled by others (e.g., a busy mom or someone working long hours) might stay up late to regain a sense of their personal time. In fact, for those of us who fall outside of the category of clinical sleep disorders, the biggest obstacle to getting good sleep may lie in our minds. It would make sense, then, to talk to a therapist who specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI). Thankfully, I had the opportunity to speak with Prather. CBTI focuses on stimulus control and classical conditioning—training the body to respond to environmental factors. Ideally, the bed is an environmental trigger for sleep. However for some, the bed is a trigger for angst and worry. 

On the topic of “revenge procrastination,” Prather pointed to issues of control and a sense of autonomy. “Work-from-home culture has prompted many people to work all of the time, feeling that the expectation is always on. As a consequence of burning so much energy, the only thing they can take back is the time when they could be sleeping.” Prather said that the first step to combating revenge procrastination is to recognize when you’re doing it and to recognize the consequences of doing so. He suggested journaling, looking at daytime routines and focusing on a wind-down routine. If all of those things are addressed, it may be time to talk to a professional. 

I begin to realize that de-prioritizing sleep is a subtle act of self-sabotage, denying my most primal needs as a human being. Could centering sleep be more than just a journey of feeling refreshed and “killing” my to-do list the next day? 

Day 9: I Reclaim My Time 

“Sadly, human beings are in fact the only species that will deliberately deprive themselves of sleep without legitimate gain,” writes Walker in Why We Sleep. Walker has done remarkable research on what happens in our bodies while we sleep. For me, understanding why I need to sleep has been helpful in motivating me to address my lack of it. 

I realize that my sleep issues actually center on the morning and decide it’s time to look for an alarm clock that isn’t my phone. I decide on the Loftie clock, which features a two-phase alarm to support the natural waking process, a wind-down bedtime alarm and nightlight and soothing sleep sounds and stories. I am mindful of Prather’s advice to lessen my non-sleeping time in bed (meaning, when you wake up, try to get out of bed as soon as you can). Though the scrolling hasn’t completely stopped, it’s getting noticeably shorter. I prioritize my active morning meditation based on the Buddhist philosophy of ultimate self-empowerment to set concrete intentions for the day. 

While holiday shopping, I come across Better Sleep, Better You and purchase it. The book not only covers the importance of sleep but it also helps decode your “not-sleep type,” (stress/anxiety, rhythm, environment, hormones, nutrition) and covers daily habits like syncing with the sun, discovering your chronotype, exercise and breath, nutrition for sleep, sleep hygiene (creating your “sanctuary”) and even sex. The authors also provide guidelines for a 21-day reset. 

I challenge myself to get sunlight before looking at my phone and introduce more gut-healing foods to my meals. I am noticeably more alert at work. In fact, I opt to go to bed instead of pulling an all-nighter for a work presentation (something I would typically do). Fully rested, I complete the presentation bright-eyed and successfully! 

Day 14: The End, the Beginning

By the 14th day it’s settling in that by centering sleep, I am prioritizing myself in a way I have not done in a long time. “I can do that” has been my motto for as long as I can remember. Productivity and helping where I thought I could, even if it meant driving home at 1 a.m., were at the top of my list, sleep be damned (and it was). 

Not only am I continuing to aim for a consistent bedtime and wake-up time, keeping a sleep diary and eating more gut-friendly foods, but I am also more aware of my “sanctuary.” In addition to the usual advice to keep the room as dark as possible and at a cool temperature, Lipman and Parikh focus on air quality—citing that indoor air quality can actually be worse than outdoor, especially if we’re burning toxin-rich candles, using cleaning products, etc. I introduce air-cleaning plants and turn on my air purifier at night (my Levoit purifier can also emit essential oils, another rec from the experts). I feel empowered and excited to continue to experiment. This is the end of the two-week trial but also the beginning of a journey. 

Takeaways 

Recognizing that I am privileged to work during the day, work mostly from home and live in a secure apartment building, I had a stable foundation to distill perspectives from experts in psychology, neuroscience and functional medicine to reset my sleep routine. The experts all had some advice in common. 

• Think of sleep as a 24-hour cycle, starting with the morning.  
• There is no “one size fits all” approach; stay in tune with your body. 
• Avoid sleep aids if you can. Instead, try establishing a consistent routine, exercising, crafting a wind-down practice, fortifying your sleeping space and building adequate stress management (whether that’s journaling or therapy). 
• Avoid screen time before bed, and don’t use your phone as an alarm clock. 
• Our sleep needs and patterns fluctuate throughout our lives with age.