The wind-down
You can't go from a hundred to zero the moment your head hits the pillow. Sleep starts an hour or two before bed, with what you do to tell your brain the day is over.
Same bedtime, two evenings
Both Ians are in bed by 10:30. Only one of them is asleep by 11.
The evening, working back from bed
Decide the bedtime first. Then start getting ready for it one to two hours ahead.
The room
Four small changes. You don't need all of them.
Ten things that help
Nobody does all ten. They're a menu.
Run it as an experiment
Seven to nine hours suits most adults, at about the same times each day. How you get there is personal.
Pick one or twoWhichever look easiest. Not the whole list tonight.
Give it a week or twoNotice how you fall asleep, how often you wake, and how the morning feels.
Keep what workedDrop what didn't, try the next one. A few rounds and you have a routine that's yours.
If you snore heavily, stop breathing in your sleep, or are exhausted no matter how long you're in bed, that's a conversation for your doctor, not a wind-down routine.
