1 week Ago By Kate Lindsay
Online and off, so-called sleepmaxxers are going to extreme lengths in pursuit of better sleep. Is that a problem? Derek Antosiek considers himself something of a sleep connoisseur. He has applied tape to his mouth, propped his nostrils open with dilators and sealed his ears with plugs.
He has tried out a fan that pumped cool air under his sheets, and positioned separate mattresses for himself and his wife side by side so that her movements wouldn’t disturb him. He has tested light therapy lamps and air quality monitors and sleep trackers and blue light glasses. With each new experiment, the goal was the same: getting closer to a perfect night’s sleep.
After decades of Americans abiding by the mantra that they can sleep when they’re dead, many have woken up to the importance of a good night’s rest. Overall sleep time has increased over the past two decades, and even more over the past few years, according to the federal Government’s annual survey of how Americans use their time. “The tide is changing,” said Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the director of a sleep centre at the school.
“People – especially Gen Z – have reclaimed their right to a full night of sleep, and they have done that without embarrassment.”.
