https://mysleepmate.com/blog/ Sleep research traced back to its primary sources, written in the open by Chaitanya Banerjee, including the corrections. en Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://mysleepmate.com/blog/10-3-2-1-0-sleep-rule/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/10-3-2-1-0-sleep-rule/ The 10-3-2-1-0 rule came from a productivity author in 2016, not a lab, and has never been tested as a protocol. All five numbers checked against research. Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee https://mysleepmate.com/blog/20-minute-rule-cant-sleep/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/20-minute-rule-cant-sleep/ Cannot sleep? Get up and leave the bedroom. It comes from a 1972 clinical protocol, and the threshold across studies ranged from 10 to 25 minutes. Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee https://mysleepmate.com/blog/are-long-naps-bad-for-you/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/are-long-naps-bad-for-you/ Long naps are linked to worse health outcomes in observational studies. But ill people nap more, and the researchers say so themselves. Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee https://mysleepmate.com/blog/best-time-of-day-to-nap/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/best-time-of-day-to-nap/ Early afternoon, roughly 1pm to 3pm. And it is not about lunch: the dip appears in people who have eaten nothing and do not know what time it is. Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee https://mysleepmate.com/blog/coffee-nap/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/coffee-nap/ Drink coffee then nap 15 to 20 minutes. In the trial that tested it, the combination cut driving incidents to 9 percent of placebo. Plus the bedtime cost. Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee https://mysleepmate.com/blog/does-napping-affect-sleep-at-night/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/does-napping-affect-sleep-at-night/ A short early-afternoon nap does not tend to harm most people's night. Long and late is the combination that costs you, and why that is. Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee https://mysleepmate.com/blog/how-long-should-a-nap-be/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/how-long-should-a-nap-be/ The 20-minute nap rule is credited to NASA. That study measured a 40-minute rest window, and the famous 34 percent figure is not in the report. Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee https://mysleepmate.com/blog/how-to-fall-asleep-for-a-nap/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/how-to-fall-asleep-for-a-nap/ My median was 12 minutes across 28 nights, with one night in ten over 31. If you are awake at minute fifteen you are in an ordinary range. Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee https://mysleepmate.com/blog/morning-sunlight-and-sleep/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/morning-sunlight-and-sleep/ Eight people camped for a week with no electric light and their melatonin onset shifted 1.4 hours earlier, in every participant. Plus the evening half. Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee https://mysleepmate.com/blog/phone-out-of-the-bedroom/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/phone-out-of-the-bedroom/ The blue light study everyone cites used four hours of screen reading. The stronger argument is conditioning, from a 1972 protocol. Plus my own data. Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee https://mysleepmate.com/blog/sleep-regularity-vs-duration/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/sleep-regularity-vs-duration/ Across 88,975 people, when you sleep predicted mortality more strongly than how long. The most regular fifth had around 30 percent lower risk. Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee https://mysleepmate.com/blog/socialising-and-sleep/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/socialising-and-sleep/ Lonely people had poorer sleep efficiency and more time awake at night, while total sleep duration was unchanged. It perforates the night, not shortens it. Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee https://mysleepmate.com/blog/what-i-changed-to-sleep-better/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/what-i-changed-to-sleep-better/ Fixed wake time, phone out of the bedroom, sunlight, exercise, seeing people. Ranked by how good the evidence actually is, which is wildly uneven. Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee https://mysleepmate.com/blog/why-do-i-feel-worse-after-a-nap/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/why-do-i-feel-worse-after-a-nap/ Sleep inertia is measurable impairment, not a feeling. One study found a 41 percent performance drop on waking from deep sleep. What actually helps. Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee https://mysleepmate.com/blog/are-sleep-calculators-accurate/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/are-sleep-calculators-accurate/ I built a sleep calculator, then audited it. What it gets right, what it is guessing at, and the one claim the whole category makes without evidence. Sat, 15 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee https://mysleepmate.com/blog/how-i-got-into-sleep/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/how-i-got-into-sleep/ A podcast, a paperback and a summer in 2025: how sleep went from the thing eating my hours to the subject I wanted to understand properly. Sat, 15 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee https://mysleepmate.com/blog/how-much-sleep-do-i-need/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/how-much-sleep-do-i-need/ The AASM and NSF sleep duration recommendations by age, what a guideline range actually means, and why eight hours was never the consensus figure. Sat, 15 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee https://mysleepmate.com/blog/sleep-cycles/ https://mysleepmate.com/blog/sleep-cycles/ Sleep cycles run 70 to 120 minutes, not a flat 90. What happens inside one, why deep sleep is front-loaded, and where the 90-minute figure came from. Sat, 15 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Chaitanya Banerjee