Quotations by Peter Attia

It's important to mentally prepare ourselves for sleeping. For me, this means avoiding anything that might create stress or anxiety, such as reading work emails or especially checking the news. Another way to turn down the sympathetic nervous system and prepare the brain for sleep is through meditation. There are several good apps that can help with guided meditations, including some that are focused entirely on sleep. [2023] - Peter Attia

Give yourself enough time to sleep-what sleep scientists call a sleep opportunity. This means going to bed at least 8 hours before you need to wake up, preferably 9. Darken the room completely. Make it dark enough that you can't see your hand in front of your face with your eyes open, if possible. If that is not achievable, use an eye shade. I use a silky one called Alaska Bear. Fix your wake-up time-and don't deviate from it, even on weekends. If you need flexibility, you can vary your bed-time, but make it a priority to budget for at least 8 hours in bed each night. [2023] - Peter Attia

Don't obsess over your sleep, especially if you're having problems. If you need an alarm clock, make sure it's turned away from you so you can't see the numbers. And if you find yourself worrying about poor sleep scores, give yourself a break from your sleep tracker. If you find yourself lying awake in bed, unable to get back to sleep, my advice is to stop fighting it. Get up, go into another room and do something relaxing. Fix a cup of tea (noncaffeinated, obviously), and read a (preferably boring) book until you feel sleepy again. If the sleeplessness persists, the most effective treatment is a form of psychotherapy called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, or CBT-I. Studies of CBT-I techniques have found that they're more effective than sleeping medications. [2023] - Peter Attia

Just living alone, or feeling lonely, is linked to a much higher risk of mortality. While most issues around emotional health are not age dependent, this is the one emotional health "risk factor" that does seem to grow worse with increasing age. Surveys show that older Americans report spending more time alone every day-an average of about 7 hours daily, for those age 75-and are far more likely to live alone than people in middle age and younger. Feeling connected and having healthy relationships with others, and with oneself, is as imperative as maintaining efficient glucose metabolism or a optimal lipoprotein profile. [2023] - Peter Attia

DBT (dialectical behavior therapy) consists of four pillars joined by one overarching theme. The overarching theme is mindfulness, which gives you the ability to work through the other four: emotional regulation (getting control over our emotions), distress tolerance (our ability to handle emotional stressors), interpersonal effectiveness (how well we make our needs and feelings known to others), and self-management (taking care of ourselves, beginning with basic tasks like getting up in time to go to work or school).  [2023] - Peter Attia