Sleep is not a talent, it's a skill—3 techniques you can use starting today
I changed my diet. My constitution changed. My way of thinking changed. But there was one thing I just couldn't change—and that was my sleep. Back then, I was convinced that I was just someone who wasn't a morning person. But now, waking up feeling refreshed in the morning has become the norm. I only changed one thing. Sleep is not a talent. It is a skill. And since it is a skill, if you learn it, you will definitely improve.
◎ "I can't sleep" is not a matter of ability
☆ The assumption that "I've never been able to sleep well"
"I've always had a constitution where I can't sleep well" or "Waking up feeling groggy is just how I was born"—I often hear these words, especially from entrepreneurs and business owners in the child-rearing generation.
But is that really a fact? Or are you just convinced that it's something you can't change?
I was exactly the same way. When I was dating my wife, every date involved meals and snacks high in sugar and fat, and I gained 5kg in three months. When we got married, we talked it over. We realized, "From now on, this body isn't just mine anymore."
From there, I fundamentally reviewed my eating habits. I changed from a meat-centered diet to one centered on vegetables and fish, and I avoided sugar, wheat, trans fats, and food additives with high health risks as much as possible. I succeeded in losing 8kg in nine months. My constitution changed, and my way of thinking changed. My energy increased, and my concentration improved. I was genuinely surprised at how much the body can change just by changing what you eat.
However, there was one thing that didn't change: my sleep. The difficulty of waking up in the morning was as bad as ever, and every morning I continued to fight the feeling of "I don't want to get up." Even though I had changed so much through my diet, why was it that only my sleep wouldn't change? The assumption that "I have a constitution that can't sleep well" had already turned into a half-certainty.
☆ What changes when you rethink sleep as a "skill"?
That assumption crumbled the day an advertisement for a sleep seminar appeared on my smartphone. I had a gut feeling that "this is it" and signed up immediately.
That was when I learned for the first time:"Sleep is not a talent, it's a skill."
As long as you think it's a talent, you won't try to improve. You just end it by saying, "It's impossible for me." But when you view it as a skill, the story changes.Skills can be learned. They can be practiced. You can improve.
I tried just one thing I learned at the seminar. As a result, the difficulty of waking up in the morning was resolved in two weeks.All I did was stop using my smartphone and playing games before bed—that was it.
You might think, "Is that all?" But for me at the time, "that" was a complete blind spot. If I hadn't learned it as a skill, I never would have noticed. This is the meaning of rethinking sleep as a skill.
◎ Breaking down sleep as a skill
☆ The 3 elements that determine the quality of sleep
Sleep quality is determined by three major factors.
1. Sleep onset (the time and state until you fall asleep)
The time it takes from getting into bed until you fall asleep. The longer this takes, the lower your sleep efficiency. The ideal is within 10 to 20 minutes. If it takes longer than that, there is likely a problem with your sleep environment or habits.
2. Sleep depth (quality of non-REM sleep)
How deeply you can sleep while you are asleep. This is when the brain and body are repaired. Deep non-REM sleep occurs primarily in the first three hours after falling asleep. The quality during this period significantly affects your performance the next day.
3. Awakening (state after waking up)
The feeling of refreshment upon waking. This is a barometer that reflects the overall quality of your sleep. If you consistently feel sluggish or have a heavy head, there is a high possibility that there is a problem with the depth mentioned in point 2.
By simply being conscious of these three things,the vague worry of 'not sleeping well' turns into a concrete challenge of 'what needs to be improved.'That is the starting point for viewing sleep as a skill.
☆ 'Sleeping deeply' is better than 'sleeping long'
Many people who feel they are not getting enough sleep are actually not getting enough 'sleep depth'.
Have you ever had the experience of not feeling rested even after sleeping for 8 hours? That is a sign that you are not entering deep non-REM sleep. Conversely, people who wake up feeling refreshed even after 6 hours have high-quality sleep depth.Sleep is about 'quality over quantity'.This is the fundamental way of thinking when viewing sleep as a skill.
☆ Sleep that restores the brain vs. sleep that is just lying down
Even if it looks like you are sleeping, there is sleep where the brain is not sufficiently restored.
During sleep, the brain activates a waste removal mechanism called the 'glymphatic system.' It is a mechanism that uses cerebrospinal fluid to wash away harmful substances accumulated during the day—including amyloid beta, which is associated with Alzheimer's disease. This system is primarily activated during periods of deep non-REM sleep.
In other words, if shallow sleep continues, waste products in the brain will continue to accumulate. Decreased judgment, emotional instability, and depletion of creativity—these may not be signs of 'fatigue,' but rather that the 'brain is not being cleaned.'
Management decisions, conversations with children, words to staff. The quality of all these things is determined by how clean the brain becomes at night.'Not being able to sleep' is not a problem of talent, but a problem of insufficient brain maintenance. That is precisely why it can be solved with technique.
◎ Technique 1: Create your own sleep onset switch
☆ The brain sleeps through 'patterns'
Blue light is not the only reason why smartphones and games are bad for sleep.
The blue light emitted from screens sends a signal to the pineal gland in the brain that it is "still daytime," suppressing the secretion of melatonin, the sleep hormone. But an even bigger problem is the "aroused state of the brain." Games and social media keep stimulating the brain's reward system. Will I get a notification? I want to clear the next stage. Just a little bit more—the brain in this state has entered "combat mode," where the sympathetic nervous system is dominant. Even when you get into bed, your brain is running at full speed. There is no way you can fall asleep.
The reason I was able to resolve the difficulty of waking up in two weeks is that I understood this mechanism and stopped using my smartphone and playing games before bed. I intentionally created time for my brain to switch into "preparation for sleep" mode. That alone changed things dramatically.
☆ Environmental design to make your bedroom a golden zone
The brain associates "places" with "actions" and stores them as memories. This is a brain learning function called "conditioned reflex." Pavlov's dog experiment is famous, but the human brain similarly stores actions in sets with specific places, times, and sensations.
When you look at your smartphone in the bedroom, your brain learns that "bedroom = place to look at smartphone." The reason you don't feel sleepy even when you get into bed is not because you have a weak will, but because your brain has learned it that way. You just need to use this conditioning in reverse.
Let's redesign the bedroom as a "place only for sleeping."Do not bring in your smartphone. Dim the lights. Keep the room temperature between 18 and 22°C.By continuing this, the brain will begin to learn a new conditioned reflex: "this environment = time to sleep." Most people feel a change within one to two weeks.
☆ Cultivate a 30-minute routine before falling asleep
To ensure you flip the sleep switch, cultivate a 30-minute routine before going to bed.
The important thing is that it is a "routine without a sense of obligation." Drinking your favorite herbal tea, doing light stretches, reading a few pages of a book you like—anything is fine. By doing the same thing every night, the brain begins to recognize that routine as a "run-up to sleep." This is also an application of conditioned reflex. Please enjoy cultivating your own personal trigger that says, "When I do this, I get sleepy."
◎ Technique 2: How to use "body temperature" to improve sleep quality
☆ The relationship between core body temperature and sleep
When falling asleep, there is something that always happens in the human body. That is the "drop in core body temperature."
By lowering the core body temperature (the temperature of internal organs and the brain), the brain recognizes that it is "time to sleep." Conversely, if your core body temperature is in a state where it is difficult to drop, you will not be able to fall asleep no matter how long you are in bed. Intentionally controlling this drop in body temperature is one of the techniques to improve the quality of sleep.
☆ Bathing timing changes your sleep
Bathing temporarily raises your core body temperature. Then, after you get out of the bath, your body begins to dilate the blood vessels in your hands and feet to return to the raised body temperature, and it begins to dissipate heat. This rapid drop in core body temperature induces natural sleepiness.
The most effective timing is 1 to 2 hours before bedtime. Soak in 40°C (104°F) water for 15 to 20 minutes. Research reports that compared to showering alone, soaking in a bathtub reduced the time it took to fall asleep by an average of 12 minutes.
For those who say, "I still don't have time," a foot bath is recommended. Simply fill a basin with 40–42°C (104–108°F) water and soak your feet up to the ankles for 10 to 15 minutes. Because the feet are at the extremities of the body where heat dissipation occurs easily, you can expect effects similar to a full-body bath. Enjoying reading or music while soaking your feet during your personal time after the children are asleep—this alone will change the quality of your sleep onset.
☆ The "disruption of body temperature rhythm" that parenting executives often fall into
Parenting executives are particularly prone to disruptions in their body temperature rhythm due to "late-night meals, bathing, and work." Do you ever find yourself finally getting some personal time after the kids are asleep, working, eating, and bathing—only to realize it's 2:00 AM?
Eating right before bed keeps your body temperature elevated due to digestion. Late-night bathing also means you are going to sleep before your core body temperature has fully dropped, leading to shallow sleep. These habits, which you may have dismissed as "unavoidable because I'm busy," are actually the cause of significantly lower sleep quality.
The ideal is to finish eating and bathing at least 2 hours before bedtime. If that is difficult, start by moving just your "bath time" earlier. Even just doing that will change the depth of your sleep.
◎ Technique 3: Design your awakening
☆ How you wake up determines your daily performance
Sleep is a skill, not just in "how you sleep," but also in "how you wake up."
The state of your brain immediately after waking up becomes the baseline for your performance for the rest of the day. There is a huge difference in morning concentration between a day when you wake up sluggishly while looking at your smartphone and a day when you wake up with intention.
☆ Utilize the morning rhythm of cortisol
The 30 to 45 minutes after waking up is a time zone known as the "Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR)." Cortisol is known as a "stress hormone," but when secreted appropriately in the morning, it promotes wakefulness and creates the foundation for your daily vitality.
There are only three things you should do during this time: 1. Get sunlight, 2. Drink water, 3. Move your body lightly. Morning light resets your internal clock and automatically regulates the timing of melatonin secretion at night. Water replenishes the fluids lost during sleep and restores brain function. Light physical movement promotes blood flow and maximizes the awakening effect of cortisol.
By doing these three things within 30 minutes of waking up, you will change both your concentration for the day and the quality of your sleep at night.How you wake up in the morning determines how you sleep at night.
☆ Decide "what kind of person you want to be today" immediately after waking up
Immediately after waking up, your brain is in a transition period from theta waves to alpha waves. It is a state where your subconscious is close to your conscious mind—the clearest moment before being swallowed by the hustle and bustle of the day.
Decide in one phrase here, 'Who do I want to be today?' 'I will stay calm,' 'I will cherish excitement,' 'I will enjoy making decisions'—anything is fine. This one phrase sets your brain's RAS for the day.Waking up is not just an 'act of getting your body up,' but a 'ritual to design who you are today.'
Summary: Those who tame their sleep, tame their life.
My sleep, which I couldn't change even after losing 8kg by changing my diet, changed in two weeks after learning just one thing. This experience taught me that 'sleep is not a talent, it is a skill.'
Skills can be learned. They can be practiced. They can be improved.
Please try starting with the three techniques I introduced today, wherever you can.
Technique 1: Create a sleep switch → Stop using smartphones and games 30 minutes before bed
Technique 2: Use body temperature → Soak in a 40°C bath for 15 minutes 1 to 2 hours before bed (a foot bath is also acceptable on days when you don't have time)
Technique 3: Design your awakening → Use light, water, and movement the moment you wake up, and decide on 'who you are today' in one phrase
You don't have to try to do all three. The moment you aim for perfection, you will stop continuing. First, try just one for two weeks. That alone will change your mornings two weeks from now.
Sleep is a skill and a means.Those who tame their sleep, tame their life.The most powerful tool to accelerate your life is right there.