How to Sleep Like a Caveman

1. Reframe Your Understanding of "Good Sleep"

Most people are not even able to experience that amount of uninterrupted sleep even when circumstances are optimal.

Challenge the 8-hour myth. The pervasive idea that adults must get 8 hours of continuous sleep is largely a modern construct, not supported by evolutionary evidence or contemporary hunter-gatherer patterns. Our ancestors, like the Hadza tribe today, often experienced fragmented sleep, waking multiple times throughout the night, yet they didn't perceive this as a problem. This suggests that continuous, uninterrupted sleep is not a universal biological imperative.

Embrace natural variations. Human sleep patterns are inherently diverse, influenced by genetics, age, and environment. What constitutes "enough" sleep varies significantly from person to person, much like shoe size. For many, 6 to 7 hours of subjective sleep is perfectly normal and sufficient for optimal daytime functioning. The key is to find your personal optimal sleep duration, rather than adhering to an arbitrary number.

Sleep efficiency matters. Instead of fixating on total hours, consider sleep efficiency – the percentage of time spent actually asleep while in bed. While industrial societies often aim for 85% efficiency, the Hadza thrive with around 69%. This highlights that the quality of waking moments in bed is more crucial than the sheer duration of sleep, especially for those struggling with restlessness.

2. Insomnia is a Wake Problem, Not a Sleep Problem

When analysing broken nights the question should not so much be: ‘Why are you not sleeping’ but: ‘Why are you awake’ and, moreover: ‘How are you awake?’

Shift your perspective. Insomnia is often misconstrued as a deficit of sleep, leading to a counterproductive focus on forcing more hours. Instead, the core issue lies in the quality of wakefulness experienced during the night. If these waking periods are filled with anxiety, rumination, or stress, they become exhausting and perpetuate the cycle of poor sleep perception.

The vicious circle. Insomnia often begins with predisposing factors (like high sleep reactivity), is triggered by precipitating factors (stress, life events), and is maintained by perpetuating factors. These perpetuating factors are often our own thoughts and behaviors:

• Fretting about not sleeping enough
• Napping excessively during the day
• Spending too much time in bed
• Constantly checking the clock

Restful wakefulness is key. Hunter-gatherers, despite fragmented sleep, don't report insomnia because their waking moments are often relaxed, serving as natural "safety checks" rather than periods of distress. Learning to accept and relax during nocturnal awakenings, rather than fighting them, can transform the experience of a "bad night" into a more restful one.

3. Align with Your Primal Circadian Rhythms

In the morning and afternoon, it is important to expose yourself to daylight, just as our ancestors did.

The master clock's influence. Our biological clock, primarily regulated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), dictates our 24-hour circadian rhythm. This internal clock is profoundly influenced by natural light and temperature cues, much as it was for our prehistoric ancestors. Modern life, with its artificial lighting and climate control, often disrupts these natural signals, leading to circadian misalignment.

Optimize light exposure. To support a robust circadian rhythm:

• Morning/Day: Seek bright, natural light (at least 250 mEDI lux) early in the day. This signals to your body that it's time to be awake and active, promoting better sleep the following night.
• Evening: Dim lights significantly (max 10 mEDI lux) 3 hours before bed. Avoid "active" screens (smartphones, computers) due to cognitive arousal, though passive TV viewing has less impact.
• Night: Ensure your bedroom is pitch-black (max 1 mEDI lux) to prevent disruption of melatonin production and sleep quality.

Temperature as a sleep signal. A natural drop in ambient temperature signals to your biological clock that bedtime is approaching. Aim for a cool bedroom temperature (15.5–20.5°C or 60–69°F) to facilitate your body's natural core temperature decrease, which is crucial for falling asleep faster and deeper. A warm bath or shower a few hours before bed can also help by inducing a subsequent cooling effect.

4. Manage Stress to Tame Your Inner Predators

More anxiety leads to an anxious body that wants to react to threat.

Evolutionary stress response. Our bodies are wired to react to stress as if facing a prehistoric predator. Whether it's a sabre-toothed tiger or a looming work deadline, the physiological "fight-or-flight" response actively suppresses sleep, keeping us alert. Chronic stress, rumination, and even excessive positive excitement can lead to mental hyperactivity, making it difficult to wind down and achieve restful sleep.

The impact of hyperarousal. When stressed, specific emotion-regulating brain structures remain active during sleep, leading to less deep sleep and more wakefulness. This hyperarousal is a key characteristic of chronic insomnia. Thoughts about potential future stressors can trigger the same physiological response as actual threats, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of anxiety and sleeplessness.

Cultivate relaxation. To counteract this primal stress response, actively incorporate relaxation techniques into your daily routine, especially before bed.

• Breathing exercises: Practice deep, diaphragmatic breathing to calm your nervous system.
• Visualization: Imagine yourself in a safe, pleasant, nature-based environment to signal safety to your brain.
• Mindfulness: Learn to observe thoughts without judgment, creating distance from worries rather than trying to suppress them.
• Activity balance: Recognize that even positive overactivity can disrupt sleep; schedule dedicated downtime to unwind.

5. Optimize Your Sleep Environment and Habits

The general advice is to replace them on average every 6–8 years due to loss of comfort and support.

Create a sleep sanctuary. Your bedroom should be a haven for rest, free from distractions and optimized for comfort. This involves more than just a good mattress; it's about creating an environment that signals safety and relaxation to your primal brain. Regularly assess and adjust your sleeping conditions to support your natural sleep processes.

Key environmental factors:

• Mattress and pillow: A medium-firm mattress often provides optimal support for most, but personal comfort is paramount. Replace mattresses every 6-8 years. Choose pillows that keep your head cool and support your sleeping position.
• Bedding and nightwear: Natural, breathable materials like wool can aid thermoregulation. Weighted blankets may offer a calming effect for some, particularly those with mental health conditions.
• Noise and light: Ensure your bedroom is quiet and dark. Use blackout curtains or a sleep mask. Earplugs can be effective, especially for shift workers or those in noisy environments.

Mind your pre-sleep routine. What you do in the hours leading up to bedtime significantly impacts sleep onset and quality.

• Clock-watching: Avoid checking the time at night, as this increases anxiety and prolongs wakefulness. Remove visible clocks and keep your phone away from the bed.
• Napping: Short power naps (under 30 minutes) can boost cognition, but long or late naps can disrupt nighttime sleep, especially for insomniacs.
• Snoozing: While some studies are mixed, generally, hitting the snooze button can prolong sleep inertia and lead to greater daytime sleepiness. Aim for a single alarm.

6. Mind Your Stimulants and Diet

For a good night’s rest, it is important to use as little chemical stimulation as possible.

Caffeine's complex role. While prehistoric humans didn't have coffee, modern societies are heavily reliant on caffeine. Its impact on sleep is nuanced:

• Dosage and timing: High doses (400mg+) can reduce sleep duration even 6 hours before bed. However, a single cup half an hour before bed may have minimal objective impact for regular users.
• Sensitivity and habituation: Individual sensitivity varies, and regular consumption can lead to habituation, reducing sleep-disrupting effects. Older adults tend to be more sensitive.
• Recommendation: Avoid caffeinated drinks after 5 p.m., or earlier if you are sensitive.

Nicotine and alcohol. Both are stimulants that negatively impact sleep quality.

• Nicotine: Increases alertness, blood pressure, and heart rate, leading to shorter, more superficial sleep and less deep/REM sleep. Quitting can temporarily worsen sleep but improves it long-term.
• Alcohol: Initially aids sleep onset but disrupts sleep architecture, reducing REM sleep in the first half of the night and causing fragmented, lighter sleep with more vivid dreams/nightmares later. Chronic use is strongly linked to insomnia.

Dietary considerations. What and when you eat can influence your rest.

• Protein: Higher protein intake is associated with better subjective sleep quality.
• Late eating: Eating within an hour of bedtime, especially fatty foods, can prolong wakefulness and reduce subjective sleep quality.
• Supplements: Most sleep-promoting supplements (valerian, chamomile, vitamin D, zinc) lack strong scientific evidence. Melatonin is not a universal insomnia treatment and should only be used under medical guidance for specific conditions.

7. Social Connections are Sleep Protectors

The stronger the bond, the better the slumber may be.

Evolutionary social sleep. Our ancestors slept in groups, providing safety and social bonding. This communal aspect of sleep likely contributed to a sense of security, which is crucial for restful sleep. Modern hunter-gatherers still practice co-sleeping, highlighting the deep-rooted connection between sociality and sleep.

Romantic relationships. The quality of your romantic bond significantly impacts sleep.

• Falling in love: Can lead to easier sleep onset and fewer awakenings, possibly due to enhanced mood and reduced stress. Good sleep also boosts perceived attractiveness and sexual desire.
• Relationship quality: Satisfaction and perceived social support from a partner correlate with better subjective sleep quality over time.
• Conflict: Unresolved arguments before bed can worsen sleep, as negative memories are less effectively suppressed during sleep. Poor sleep, in turn, can exacerbate conflict and reduce empathy.

Co-sleeping dynamics. While sleeping with a partner can increase REM sleep and sleep-stage synchronization (suggesting a sense of safety), it can also lead to disturbances.

• Disruptions: Snoring, tossing, or pet movements can fragment sleep. Separate beds or comforters might be a practical solution.
• Pets: Dogs in the bedroom (but not in the bed) may not negatively impact sleep, especially for older adults who benefit from companionship and increased activity. Cats, being more nocturnal, are more likely to cause disruptions.

Friendships and work environment. Social support extends beyond romantic partners.

• Loneliness: Perceived lack of social contact is linked to more sleep problems, creating a bidirectional cycle with mood issues like depression.
• Work stress: A poor psychosocial work environment, particularly a lack of social support, increases insomnia risk. Conversely, improved sleep can boost job satisfaction and productivity.

8. Embrace Sleep Restriction for Lasting Change

The goal at first is not to sleep better, but to have shorter periods of restless wake.

The paradox of sleep restriction. When suffering from insomnia, the natural inclination is to spend more time in bed, hoping to catch up on lost sleep. However, this often backfires, reducing sleep pressure and leading to more fragmented, restless wakefulness. Sleep restriction therapy (SRT) is a powerful, evidence-based technique that counterintuitively shortens your time in bed to improve sleep quality.

How SRT works:

• Increase sleep pressure: By limiting time in bed, you build up adenosine, increasing your natural drive to sleep.
• Reduce restless wake: The primary goal is to condense your sleep into a shorter, more efficient block, thereby reducing the time spent lying awake and anxious.
• Re-associate bed with sleep: It helps break the negative association between your bed and wakefulness.

Steps for implementing SRT:

1. Track sleep: Keep a sleep diary for one week to determine your average actual sleep time.
2. Calculate efficiency: Divide average sleep time by average total bed time (e.g., 6 hours sleep / 8 hours in bed = 75%). Aim for 83-85% or higher.
3. Restrict bed time: For the next week, spend only your average actual sleep time plus 30 minutes in bed (e.g., 6.5 hours). Maintain a consistent wake-up time.
4. Gradual expansion: Once your sleep efficiency reaches 83-85% for a week, gradually increase your total bed time by 15 minutes per week, maintaining efficiency.

Effectiveness and challenges. SRT is as effective as full Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i) for 70-80% of patients, leading to faster sleep onset and less time awake. It can be challenging initially, causing increased daytime sleepiness, but persistence leads to significant long-term improvements in subjective sleep quality and daytime functioning.

9. Address Circadian Misalignment and Parasomnias

The threat simulation hypothesis gives an evolutionary explanation for the occurrence of events such as sleepwalking, sleep paralysis and nightmares.

Circadian rhythm disorders. When your biological clock is significantly out of sync with societal demands, it can lead to disorders like Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS) or Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome (ASPS).

• DSPS: Characterized by falling asleep and waking up much later than desired (e.g., 3 a.m. to 11 a.m.). It often starts in puberty and can lead to social and occupational difficulties.
• Treatment: Chronotherapy (gradually shifting sleep times) combined with bright light therapy in the morning can help reset the clock. Melatonin, under medical guidance, can also support this shift.

Parasomnias: Nightly ghosts. These are unusual behaviors or sensations during sleep, often rooted in evolutionary survival mechanisms.

• Threat simulation hypothesis: Parasomnias are thought to be a "virtual reality" training for dealing with real-life threats, helping us practice responses in a safe, sleep-induced state.
• Non-REM parasomnias: Occur during deep sleep (NREM3), often in the first half of the night. Examples include sleepwalking, night terrors, confusional arousals, sleep eating, and sexsomnia. Sufferers typically have no memory of these events.
• REM parasomnias: Occur during dream sleep (REM), more common in the second half of the night. Examples include nightmares, sleep paralysis (waking up unable to move, often with hallucinations), and REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD), where individuals act out dreams.

Managing parasomnias.

• Reduce triggers: Sleep deprivation, alcohol, certain medications, and stress can exacerbate symptoms.
• Safety: Remove hazards from the bedroom (sharp objects, breakable items) if sleepwalking is an issue.
• Optimal sleep duration: Ensure sufficient, but not excessive, time in bed.
• Nightmare specific: Keep a dream diary, visualize changing the nightmare's ending, or practice lucid dreaming (recognizing you're dreaming).

10. Be Wary of Sleep Tech and Misinformation

For now, always consult your doctor or sleep expert first and don’t rely on the opinion of that celebrity influencer!

The allure of sleep tech. The market is flooded with smartwatches, apps, and gadgets promising to optimize sleep. While these technologies offer data, their accuracy and utility, especially for those with sleep problems, are often questionable.

• Accuracy: Most consumer devices are unreliable for measuring sleep stages and can overestimate total sleep time in insomniacs. They are best suited for healthy individuals tracking general wellness.
• "Sleep scores": These often vague metrics can cause "orthosomnia" – an unhealthy preoccupation with achieving perfect sleep scores, leading to increased anxiety and worsening insomnia.

Social media misinformation. Influencers frequently promote unverified sleep advice (e.g., mouth-taping, 5 a.m. club) that lacks scientific backing and can be misleading or even dangerous. It's crucial to critically evaluate information and prioritize evidence-based strategies.

The future of sleep science. While technology is advancing, the core principles of good sleep remain rooted in our evolutionary biology. Future innovations should focus on:

• Validated interventions: Developing and testing products that genuinely support natural sleep processes.
• Accessible education: Bridging the gap between scientific knowledge and public understanding, perhaps by collaborating with responsible communicators.
• Personalized approaches: Recognizing individual variations in sleep needs and responses to interventions.

Prioritize proven methods. Instead of relying on unproven gadgets or fads, focus on established behavioral therapies like CBT-i and sleep restriction, which address the underlying causes of sleep problems.

11. Sleep for Health, Not Just Duration

It is a comforting idea that the subjective sleep problems seen in insomnia alone do not seem to be associated with mortality.

Beyond the hours. While extreme short (less than 5 hours) or long (more than 9 hours) sleep durations are associated with increased mortality risk, this link is often confounded by underlying health issues or poor sleep quality, not just duration itself. For individuals with insomnia, the good news is that subjective sleep problems alone are generally not linked to earlier death.

Sleep's true health benefits. Sleep is vital for various bodily functions:

• Immunity: Deep sleep boosts cytokine release, helping fight viruses and bacteria. Consistent sleep timing supports a balanced immune response, reducing allergy risk.
• Physical recovery: Sleep, especially deep sleep, is crucial for muscle tissue maintenance, growth, and repair, influenced by anabolic hormones.
• Pain management: There's a bidirectional link between sleep and pain; poor sleep increases pain sensitivity, and treating sleep problems can alleviate chronic pain.
• Cognitive function: Deep sleep aids declarative memory (facts), while REM sleep enhances non-declarative memory (skills), creativity, and problem-solving. Naps can also boost learning.
• Emotional regulation: REM sleep is critical for processing emotions and emotional memories. Fragmented REM sleep can worsen mood and increase stress sensitivity.

Debunking health myths. Many alarming headlines about sleep and chronic diseases (obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer) often oversimplify complex relationships.

• Confounding factors: Links are frequently distorted by co-occurring mental health conditions, medication use, or other sleep disorders like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
• OSA vs. Insomnia: OSA, with its oxygen deprivation, is clearly linked to cardiovascular issues and Alzheimer's, whereas insomnia's link to these conditions is far less direct and often mediated by other factors.

Focus on quality. Ultimately, prioritizing subjective sleep quality and addressing restless wakefulness is more impactful for overall well-being than chasing an arbitrary number of hours.

Last updated: December 31, 2025