Content Library Articles Longevity Journal

3 Easy Sleep Experiments That Actually Work

June 23, 2025

There’s no shortage of advice for better sleep. And a lot of it can help—if you’re able to do it consistently.

But when you're tired, wired, or both, even good habits can be hard to implement all at once.

That’s why, for a lot of people, it can be more useful to treat sleep improvement like a series of mini-experiments. Try one small, specific change. Pay attention to how you feel. Then build from there. 

In this piece, you’ll find three of the easiest sleep experiments to try—each backed by research and simple enough to test tonight.

They won’t solve every sleep challenge for every person, but they’re low-effort ways to start figuring out what actually helps you. 

The best part: You can test them in your sleep. 

Easy Experiment #1:  Wear a Sleep Mask 

You probably already know that light can mess with your sleep—but it’s not just about the light you see before bed. Even light while you’re asleep can disrupt your body’s ability to fully rest and recover.

The reason? Your eyes contain tiny light-sensitive cells that aren’t involved in seeing images—they’re just there to detect brightness even when your eyes are closed. 

They send signals to your brain that regulate melatonin and your circadian rhythm, which help control when you feel sleepy, when you wake up, and how deeply you sleep through the night.

One study found that even very low levels of light—like the glow from a streetlamp through your blinds or a TV screen across the room—can lead to more tossing and turning, shorter sleep, and more wake-ups during the night.¹

A separate study from Northwestern University found that sleeping in a dimly lit room (just bright enough to see your way around) raised heart rate and disrupted overnight blood sugar regulation.²

The effect, accumulated over time, could lead to real health challenges. Case in point: In a five-year observational study of more than 43,000 women, NIH scientists found that those who slept with a light or TV on were significantly more likely to gain over 10 pounds compared to those who slept in the dark.

The experiment: Try wearing a sleep mask for a few nights and see how you feel. A high-quality mask that blocks out light completely can help your brain stay in “night mode” until morning. (I personally use BON CHARGE’s Classic Blackout Mask, which has hollow eye mask cavities so it doesn’t press on your eyes or lashes while you sleep.)

It’s a small change, but for a lot of people, it makes a surprisingly big difference.

Easy Experiment #2: Cool Down Your Bedroom

One of the signals that tells your body it’s time to sleep is a drop in your core temperature.⁴ That natural dip helps you fall asleep and stay in deeper, more restorative stages of sleep.

Sleeping in a cooler room may help support that process. In one study, people who lost more body heat during sleep spent more time in deep sleep—suggesting that keeping your environment comfortably cool can lead to better rest.⁵

So what’s the right temperature? Around 65°F is a good general target for most people.

The experiment: Try setting your bedroom temperature to 65°F for a few nights. If that feels like too much of a change, just lower it by 3 to 5 degrees from your usual setting. Adjust it an hour or so before bedtime, and see how it affects your sleep. 

If you find yourself waking up cold or having trouble falling asleep because you’re chilly, that’s a sign you’ve gone too far.

Just like a room that’s too warm, a room that’s too cold can also disrupt your sleep.⁴ Try nudging the temp up a degree or two and see if that helps

Easy Experiment #3: Write a To-Do List Before Bed

If your brain kicks into overdrive the minute your head hits the pillow, you’re not alone. 

One reason: Mental clutter—especially around unfinished tasks—can delay sleep. 

Researchers have noted that worry about work is one of the most common reasons people lie awake. That may be why falling asleep on Sunday or Monday nights often feels harder——after a couple days off, the return to work looms large.⁶

One simple way to short-circuit that spiral: Get it out of your head and onto the page.

In one study, participants were asked to spend five minutes writing before bed. Half wrote out a to-do list of tasks they needed to get done over the next few days. The other half wrote about tasks they had already completed. 

The result? The people who wrote to-do lists fell asleep significantly faster. And the more detailed their list, the faster they drifted off.⁶

The experiment: Spend a few minutes writing down what you need to do tomorrow or later in the week. You can do this as your last task of the workday, or just before bed—whichever fits your routine. 

If something new pops into your head right before you turn out the light, jot it down quickly and be done with it. Once it’s on the page, your brain doesn’t have to hold onto it. You’ll deal with it tomorrow.

A Harder Experiment: Cut Back on Alcohol 

It might be annoying to hear, but even a single alcoholic drink can mess with your shuteye—leading to lighter sleep, more wake-ups, and poor overnight recovery, especially from stress. 

In a Stanford University study, even low doses of alcohol—about one drink for women and two for men—raised resting heart rate, lowered heart rate variability (HRV), and cut into deep sleep.⁷

If a nightly glass of wine is part of your wind-down ritual, this experiment might sound daunting. But you don’t need to give up drinking for a month to see if it’s affecting your sleep. One night without it can be enough to notice a difference. (Learn more: The Truth about Alcohol and Your Health.)

The experiment: Skip the alcohol for at least one night and pay attention to how you sleep—and how you feel when you wake up. 

If you have an Oura Ring, Apple Watch, or Whoop, watch what happens to your heart rate, HRV, and time in deep sleep. Most people find that their sleep data worsens with each additional drink—starting with the first one. 

That doesn’t mean you need to cut it out completely. But it helps you make the tradeoff with your eyes open. (You can always do other experiments, too, such as: If you usually have two drinks, see what happens when you only have one.) 

And if you want to dive deeper into how to sleep better, check out my FREE Sleep Master Class. 

References

1. Cho C-H, Yoon H-K, Kang S-G, Kim L, Lee E-I, Lee H-J. Impact of exposure to dim light at night on sleep in female and comparison with male subjects. Psychiatry Investig. 2018 May;15(5):520–30. 

2. Mason IC, Grimaldi D, Reid KJ, Warlick CD, Malkani RG, Abbott SM, et al. Light exposure during sleep impairs cardiometabolic function. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2022 Mar 22;119(12):e2113290119. 

3. Park Y-MM, White AJ, Jackson CL, Weinberg CR, Sandler DP. Association of exposure to artificial light at night while sleeping with risk of obesity in women. JAMA Intern Med. 2019 Aug 1;179(8):1061–71. 

4. Okamoto-Mizuno K, Mizuno K. Effects of thermal environment on sleep and circadian rhythm. J Physiol Anthropol. 2012 May 31;31(1):14.

5. Herberger S, Penzel T, Fietze I, Glos M, Cicolin A, Fattori E, et al. Enhanced conductive body heat loss during sleep increases slow-wave sleep and calms the heart. Sci Rep. 2024 Feb 26;14(1):4669. 

6. Scullin MK, Krueger ML, Ballard HK, Pruett N, Bliwise DL. The effects of bedtime writing on difficulty falling asleep: A polysomnographic study comparing to-do lists and completed activity lists. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2018 Jan;147(1):139–46.

7. de Zambotti M, Forouzanfar M, Javitz H, Goldstone A, Claudatos S, Alschuler V, et al. Impact of evening alcohol consumption on nocturnal autonomic and cardiovascular function in adult men and women: a dose-response laboratory investigation. Sleep. 2021 Jan 21;44(1).