Taking the stress out of sleep

James Wilson AKA The Sleep Geek is the host of the podcast taking the stress out of sleep. He founded his company kipmate, to help people understand their sleep better, and understand which tips and tools to try to get the best kip possible. He work with organisations, sports teams and individuals delivering seminars, drop in sessions and kipmate has sort your kip, its digital tool. He has worked with the likes of M&S, AB Worked Food’s, Ernst & Young and West Ham United, contributing to their triumph in the Europa Conference League last season.

He is a poor sleeper, whose family made beds and mattresses, and is on a lifelong journey to improve his own, and the world’s sleep.

Volker has monitored his sleep for many years, via his phone, smart ring, and his smart watch as well. Yet, James thinks the harder you try, the harder it gets to get good sleep. He often works with footballers, and they do use trackers. However, he prefers to work with people that don’t have a tracker, as the tracker suggest you might have had a good or bad night sleep yet doesn’t really help you as well. It’s not an intervention, it is a measurement tool.

James looked at 2 weeks’ worth of data from James and Volker and analysed it.

Volker thinks that he is a good sleeper, naps every lunch time and can fall asleep easily, and he has his sleep optimised. David on the other hand thinks that he isn’t a good sleeper at all, using various tools and over the counter medicines to help him sleep. He also wears earplugs as he lives on a main road. David can also not sleep on the spot e.g., naps, or on planes.

Further, David thinks he is in the middle of staying up late or getting up early, sleeping on his side or sometimes on his front. Whilst Volker definitely thinks he is a lark (getting up early) and falls asleep on his back, then sleeps on the right-hand side. An online test for indication can be found here.

James points out that you should have separate duvets for better sleep. Also, James hardly meets couples with the same sleep type. He also recommends a pillow that helps you with your neck and or your knees. A simple thing to help you with your sleep and neck pain for instance.

The three questions James asked us prior to the show was:

1.    How quickly do you fall asleep?

Volker answered that he falls asleep instantly which is a sign of sleep deprivation. David takes 5-30 minutes. That indicates him being a good sleeper.

2.    How often do you wake up during the night?

We all wake up at least 6 times a night, something that comes from our days as cave men protecting us from sable tooth tigers. But we only remember it when we are awake for 5 minutes or more.

3.    How tired are you around 10-11 am in the morning.

You should be awake at that time of the day. But it can be impacted by your routine.

Alcohol and stress impacts REM sleep (20%) which is our overnight counselling sessions where we process things that happen during the day. Deep sleep (20%) is more about physical recovery and Core Sleep is about 60% of our sleep.

You can find out more about James’ work and get in touch via the following links:

@TheSleepGeek

www.thesleepgeek.co.uk

www.kipmate.com

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