[AmVess]

I've kept a sleep schedule for at least since high school. Always in bed with enough landing space at the end in case my body needed 7 hours instead of usual 6.

My body has long since gotten used to feeling sleep time arrive, and starts unwinding naturally. My brain also followed suit. No going to bed and waiting for the thoughts to run out. I'm usually asleep in less than a minute after hitting the bed.

I always set my alarm as a back up, but I was usually awake before it went off. Return to wakefulness and not groggy is also very fast; 5 minutes or so and I am ready to go.

My girlfriend suffered from pushing into late nights and getting in one more chapter of a book or what have you when we met. I got her onto a schedule and she's now like me. Body and mind tired at an early hour, mind clear of thoughts after lights out. Fast to fall asleep and stay there, deep sleeps every night.

There's a few other things I do to prepare for bed. No caffeine for a few hours prior, no alcohol. If I need a snack, then some vegetables instead of junk food. That slice of pizza might be tasty, but 100% it will interfere with my sleep in some way.

My bedroom is very dark. Almost no light leakage from the windows, no LED's, no tv set.

I always thought it was strange for people to active shaft themselves with poor sleeping habits, day after day for decades on end.

[pedalpete]

Try having kids, shift work, or just be older than 40.

Your sleep naturally declines as you age, and though sleep time declines, the more detrimental factor is the lack of slow-wave delta activity. Your brain literally gets worse at the restorative function that is vital to sleep.