how to regulate temperature for better sleep

If there’s one thing that titans, high-performers and elite achievers have in common, it’s the fact that they are always striving to get a little better in their personal and professional lives every single day. They’re always looking for tiny improvements that can help them gain the slight edge over others, most importantly their past selves. 

The same applies even to their sleeping habits. They know they can maximize their productivity, their performance and their overall success and well-being by using tools and strategies that help them sleep better and smarter. 

While most people fail to improve and optimize their sleeping environments, the uber successful amongst us are intrinsically driven to cultivate disciplined sleep habits and employ useful strategies to help them sleep better. They have learned that sleep mastery is paramount to achieving life mastery, and hence have figured out ways to ensure they get a great night’s rest.

Thanks to authors and thought leaders such as Arianna Huffington and Shawn Stevenson, and sleep researchers such as Matthew Walker, PhD, more and more people are understanding the importance of sleep and why both sleep quantity and sleep quality play a huge role in ensuring optimal health in the long run. 

We all know that we need around eight hours of sleep time every single night. It’s common knowledge. But that’s not the end all. We must make sure that like elite entrepreneurs and superachievers, we take a few more steps and develop effective sleep habits and optimize our sleep environments. In that way, we ensure that we not only get the right amount of sleep, but we also get the right quality of sleep, thus getting more out of our slumber time. 

In other words, if we want to truly join the league of the elite and the extraordinary, along with working smarter not harder, we must also rest smarter not harder. 

In addition to cultivating sleep discipline and hygiene, there are many ways you can optimize your sleep environment for a great night’s sleep. However, if there’s one thing that has proven to be one of the most effective factors, something that you can start doing right away tonight to ensure high quality of sleep even if your sleep hours get compromised, is controlling your sleep temperature. 

According to an article on The Wall Street Journal written by Sumathi Reddy, a recent study has found that sleep temperature is more important than illumination and duration of sleep. So basically, just setting the right temperature while you sleep can give you the massive advantage that you’ve been looking for. 

Most research studies have reported that the optimal sleep temperature rests somewhere between 60-68 degrees Fahrenheit (i.e. 15.6- 20 degrees Celsius). If you start going above 75 degrees or below 54 degrees, your quality of sleep will start to suffer significantly.

Here are some ways you can make sure that your room stays within the optimal temperature range:

1. Set the thermostat in your home to a cooler temperature during sleeping hours. If possible, install a separate thermostat in your bedroom to regulate the temperature so that you’re able to sleep right without making any manual adjustments. 
2. Turn on the air conditioner or open your bedroom windows to ensure that the temperature falls in the ideal sleeping range.
3. If you live in a tropical place where the summers are extremely hot, make sure that you use a fan (either a ceiling fan or a standing one) and/or an air conditioner to circulate the hot air and bring the temperature down.
4. Use a temperature-controlled mattress pad. A great example is chiliPAD, an incredibly useful product endorsed by bestselling author and entrepreneur Tim Ferriss in his book Tools of Titans. chiliPAD is a thin and unnoticeable mattress pad that snugly fits over your mattress and under your bedsheets and operates in the 55-115 degrees Fahrenheit range, helping you test the best temperature for you so that you have the most efficient and restful sleep.
5. Consider adding some indoor plants in your bedroom that not only help you in keeping the air cool but also purify it and flush out any toxins in the atmosphere. Some great examples are snake plant, golden pothos, spider plant, aloe vera, and peace lily.