Goals: Strengthen sleep hygiene (especially optimizing the sleep environment), lengthen sleep opportunities for everyone, and stick to a consistent wake-up time each day.
Whenever I teach a course, I end by asking students to share one thing they learned that changed their behavior or perspective. In Intro Psych, the most common answer is almost always sleep. We just don’t talk enough about the incredible power of getting a good night’s rest. The truth is, sleep deficit undermines every aspect of health—from mood and memory to immunity and long-term disease risk.
That’s why, when I mapped out the first weeks of Our Best Life Project, I knew we needed to start with foundational pillars of wellbeing—and sleep rose right to the top. These aren’t one-week habits; they’re long-term practices we’ll keep checking in on throughout the project.
Matthew Walker sums up the importance of sleep brilliantly in Why We Sleep:
“AMAZING BREAKTHROUGH! Scientists have discovered a revolutionary new treatment that makes you live longer. It enhances your memory and makes you more creative. It makes you look more attractive. It keeps you slim and lowers food cravings. It protects you from cancer and dementia. It wards off colds and the flu. It lowers your risk of heart attacks and stroke, not to mention diabetes. You’ll even feel happier, less depressed, and less anxious. Are you interested?”
If you haven’t guessed, that “treatment” is simply getting enough sleep. Yet modern life makes it harder than ever—thanks to electric lighting, nonstop work demands, and (of course) the joys of parenting. Sleep needs also change across the lifespan: newborns require up to 17 hours, school-aged kids 9–11, teens 8–10, and most adults thrive with 7–9. Are you getting that much?
Our Family’s Sleep Experiments This Week
- Optimizing the sleep environment.
We checked out each bedroom for light, screens, temperature, and noise. Blinds were closed more tightly and glowing electronics were unplugged. Teen phones were already charging downstairs each night, but this week we got more consistent about enforcing a set time for it to happen. Ideally, the temperature in the room should be around 65 degrees (hard in a hot climate!) so we talked about wearing light pajamas and using a light blanket. White noise was set up for better consistency. S loves falling asleep to audiobooks, but since that kept his brother awake and likely woke him lightly after he was asleep, we swapped in a regular book instead—not his favorite change, but his roommate was grateful! We also talked about sleep hygiene—like when to have caffeine, workouts, screens, and (for the adults) alcohol. Give your brain a clear signal it’s time to sleep—wind down with calm, healthy habits, not late-night chaos! - Lengthening sleep opportunities.
We realized none of us were giving ourselves enough time in bed. Eddie and I pushed our weekday bedtime earlier and let ourselves wake 30 minutes later, without a snooze. We also helped the kids set new bedtime goals. The key has been tackling homework, showers, and chores before the late evening, so no one is starting a big project at 10 p.m. - Consistency.
To protect circadian rhythms, we’re aiming to keep wake-up times steady—even on weekends. Right now we’re trying out a one-hour shift instead of the much larger weekend swings we used to have.
The kids pushed back at first (as kids do), with plenty of reasons why they couldn’t possibly get more sleep. Meanwhile, I couldn’t help reminiscing about the glory days of 7:30 p.m. bedtimes—teens really are a whole new animal! But once we got into the rhythm, everyone was happily getting in bed by their more concrete bedtime—and honestly, who can complain about a little extra cozy time under the covers on a crisp fall night?
Key Takeaways: Sleep is not optional in our best life; it is foundational to everything. We all needed more shut-eye than we were getting. With a little planning and intentionality, even a busy family can carve out enough rest.