Sleep - Ramy Ghorayeb

Sleep is very important to me. I've found some things that helped me over the years. Nothing is fancy or very original.

Before going to bed

Digital boundaries: No computer one hour before going to bed. No work especially if I can help it; otherwise, it will take me 2+ hours to fall asleep.
Food: No food at least 30 minutes before bed. I am a night eater and can feel very hungry, but the feeling always disappears once I am in bed. Not allowing food in the bedroom helps prevent the body from expecting it. I have also completely stopped eating fast food (Pizza, McDonald's) for dinner because I realized it consistently causes me to wake up in the middle of the night. I only keep it exceptional at lunch with friends.

Light: Absolute darkness. I have double curtains so that even when I wake up in the morning and my eyes are adjusted to darkness, I still can't see anything.
Audio: I keep a fan running (facing the wall during winter) to cancel occasional outside noise. In places without silence, I use earplugs, though I have to retrain my ears to the fan noise when I return home.
Comfort: I keep my bedroom cold (very cold) and stay warm with a weighted blanket. I need to feel like my bed is protecting me from the hell that the outside is.
Aesthetics: On another note, my bed is all white and yours should be too because dark sheets are an ick.

Sleep Mode: I must spend less than 10 minutes scrolling social media to sleep well. Then the phone is put in Sleep mode, which I programmed to show no notifications and hide all apps from the homescreen except for Books and Manga apps.
Brightness: Set to the absolute minimum. I use the Reduce White Point accessibility feature and added a shortcut (triple-click power button).

Guiding support: My brain usually spirals and I cannot fall asleep by myself. I usually read a book on my Kindle or phone (still minimum brightness) in a sleeping position where only my finger moves. If I follow my protocol correctly, my brain gets quickly saturated from reading and shuts down.
Alarm: I don't put an alarm and always wake up naturally. Uber operates on San Francisco hours while I'm in New York so this is easy for me. It will probably be different if I change company.

If I know I am in for a rough night, I take 1.5 mg of melatonin. I try to avoid it as it gives me lucid dreams. When traveling, I start at 3 mg and reduce the dose by 1 mg every following week to get adjusted to the new timezone.

Sleep trackers usually just tell me what I already know, but I am a stupid data geek so I bought one. I use a Withings Sleep Pad under the mattress. It's a "set & forget" type that requires no subscription, charge or wearable device.