Guest Post: 

I sat across from David Mayen last Thursday at a busy café. As the founder of Sleep Recovery, Inc., he stirred his coffee thoughtfully before explaining what most of us get wrong about sleep.

“People wait for the breakdown,” he said. “They ignore the check engine light until they’re stranded on the highway at midnight.”

I thought about my personal approach to sleep – that familiar pattern of pushing through tiredness until my body forces surrender. Sound familiar?

Most of us tolerate those occasional restless nights or mid-sleep wake-ups. We accept morning grogginess and afternoon energy dips as inevitable taxes paid for modern living. We wait for problems to become undeniable before seeking solutions.

But what if that approach fundamentally misunderstands sleep?

“Sleep wellness isn’t about fixing what’s broken,” Mayen told me. “It’s about tuning what’s already working to perform at its best.”

His perspective stopped me. I’d never considered that my “good enough” sleep might actually be several notches below what my brain and body could achieve.

Recognizing the Early Warning Signals

Before full-blown insomnia crashes the party, your body whispers warnings you might be missing.

Think about your own patterns. Do you rely heavily on your alarm clock? Do you function well enough during the day but need that second coffee by 2 PM? Do your weekend sleep patterns barely resemble your weekday schedule?

These aren’t necessarily problems – yet. But they’re signals worth noticing.

Sleep researcher Dr. Jeff Wilson explained this to me: “It’s like your car making a subtle new sound. You can ignore it and keep driving, but that tiny noise might signal something much easier to address now than later.”

I realized I’d been dismissing my own early warnings. That occasional restlessness when falling asleep. Those brief wake-ups I barely remember. The dreams that sometimes jolt me awake.

Small things. Until they’re not.

Three Systems You Can Fine-Tune

When I asked Mayen about practical approaches to sleep wellness, he described three interconnected systems that regulate healthy sleep. Each can be optimized before problems develop.

Your Drive System: Building Better Sleep Pressure

Sleep isn’t just about relaxation – it requires building sufficient biological pressure throughout your day.

“Many people with decent sleep have an imbalanced drive system,” Mayen explained. “Either they’re not building enough sleep pressure during waking hours or accidentally disrupting it.”

I thought of my scattered exercise routine and irregular work schedule. Was I building consistent sleep pressure or creating biological confusion?

A few adjustments worth trying:

Morning or early afternoon exercise enhances nighttime sleep quality without overstimulating your system before bed. I’ve started taking short walks during lunch instead of only exercising after work.

Creating mental engagement throughout the day builds healthier sleep pressure than my previous pattern of complete morning inactivity followed by intense afternoon focus.

Your Timing System: Working With Your Inner Clock

Each has a unique chronobiology—an internal timing system that determines our optimal sleep window. Fighting against this natural rhythm creates what researchers call “social jet lag.”

“The timing system is where personalization becomes crucial,” Mayen emphasized when I asked about one-size-fits-all sleep advice. “Telling everyone to ‘go to bed early’ actually creates sleep problems for people with naturally later chronotypes.”

After tracking my patterns, I’ve discovered my body naturally wants to sleep from midnight to 8 AM. Fighting this by forcing earlier bedtimes was creating unnecessary struggle.

To optimize your sleep timing:

Pay attention to when you naturally feel sleepy and alert on obligation-free days. This reveals your biological sleep window.

Work toward consistency while respecting your chronotype. The goal isn’t forcing an early schedule if that’s not your biology – it’s finding regularity that works with your natural patterns.

Develop transition rituals that match your needs. Some need two hours of wind-down, while others transition quickly. What works for your friend might not work for you.

Your Arousal System: Calming Your Brain’s Activity

Your brain’s activation machinery is crucial to sleep quality even when anxiety isn’t an issue.

“Everyone has an activation baseline,” Mayen explained over our second cup of tea. “People with naturally active minds often sleep ‘well enough’ but miss deeper, more restorative phases their brain could achieve.”

I recognized myself immediately. My mind races with ideas and plans even on good nights. Mayen suggested several approaches:

Brief daytime stress regulation improves sleep better than only meditating before bed. These prevent the accumulation of tension that subtly disrupts sleep architecture. I’ve started taking three-minute breathing breaks between work tasks.

Practice managing thoughts rather than eliminating them. “The goal isn’t an empty mind,” Mayen emphasized. “It’s developing a relationship with thinking that allows natural deactivation.” Scheduled worry time earlier in the evening has helped me tremendously.

Create environmental comfort that matches your sensory profile. Some need absolute silence, while others sleep better with background noise. Some need complete darkness, while others find low ambient light more relaxing. Experimenting with different conditions revealed that I slept better in a slightly cool room with minimal background noise.

Technology: Friend or Foe?

Our devices often get blamed for disrupting sleep. Yet the right technology used thoughtfully can enhance sleep wellness.

“The key is distinguishing between passive consumption and active enhancement technology,” Mayen said.

Endless scrolling and stimulating content certainly contribute to sleep disruption. However, specific tools can play positive roles:

Sleep tracking that measures heart rate variability and breathing patterns (not just movement) can identify subtle changes before they become problems.

Blue Light Controversy

Mayen continues, “Blue light is everywhere in urban environments. Flat screens, computer monitors, and even hit TV shows like Severence have massive blue and blue-grey hues in almost every shot. In terrestrial nature, there’s virtually no blue light anywhere. I have my two cups of coffee outside every morning. The sunrise has large amounts of red and purple in the frequency spectrum. We need this every day to fight off diseases of all kinds. Driving in our cars doesn’t count. Because the windows in our vehicles filter out the good stuff.”

Heat and Cold Factors

Temperature regulation devices that adjust based on sleep stages can enhance deep sleep quality even for generally good sleepers.

Audio programs designed with neurological principles can help optimize brain wave patterns during sleep transitions.

Sleeping slightly cooler made a surprising difference in my deep sleep metrics, something I discovered through tracking.

Small Nutritional Shifts That Make a Difference

Even without sleep disorders, subtle nutritional adjustments can enhance sleep quality.

“Most people only worry about avoiding caffeine and alcohol,” nutritionist Sarah Weinstein told me. “But certain proactive choices can improve sleep architecture.”

Research shows several promising approaches:

Consuming protein earlier in the day provides building blocks for sleep-regulating neurotransmitters.

Including foods rich in specific minerals like magnesium, potassium, and zinc supports sleep neurochemistry. I’ve added pumpkin seeds, bananas, and leafy greens.

Managing blood sugar stability throughout the day does wonders; even slight fluctuations can disrupt sleep architecture without causing full awakenings.

The Bigger Picture

The benefits of fine-tuning already-functional sleep extend beyond preventing future insomnia.

When I followed up with her, she explained, “The difference between adequate and optimal sleep affects everything from thinking to emotional balance to immune function. It’s about accessing your full potential.”

People who enhance their sleep often experience the following:

• Clearer thinking and better problem-solving
• More emotional resilience during stress
• Faster recovery from physical activity
• Consistent energy throughout the day
• Fewer seasonal illnesses

One month into my sleep wellness experiments, I’ve noticed more consistent afternoon energy and fewer “foggy” mornings.

Starting Your Own Experiments

Beginning sleep wellness practice doesn’t require dramatic changes. Try these accessible steps:

1. Observe your sleep and daytime energy for two weeks without trying to change anything.
2. Pick one element from each system (drive, timing, arousal) that seems most relevant to your patterns.
3. Make minor, sustainable adjustments rather than complete overhauls.
4. Consider objective feedback tools to track your progress.
5. Focus on enhancing what works rather than fixing what’s broken.

“Sleep doesn’t need to be broken to be improved,” Mayen reminded me as we parted ways. “The path to better sleep begins before problems arise.”

What subtle sleep signals have you been ignoring? Instead of accepting adequate rest tonight, you might take the first step toward discovering what optimal sleep means for your life.

After all, why wait for the breakdown when you could be experiencing the benefits of a finely tuned-system instead?