The circadian rhythm affects every single cell in our body, has a profound effect on quality of life from energy levels to stress management to sleep quality and more. ## Essential info: 1) 🌅 Bright light, ideally sunlight in the morning sets the start of the rhythm and tells the body when to wake up. Blue and green light provide the strongest signal, so using dimmer lights that look more like candlelight in color is best before bed to send the signal that it is night time making sleep easier. 2) 🌡️ Temperature also has a sizable effect. Cooling off before bedtime and warming up before waking up mimics the shifts that our ancestors got for free for living outside. 3) 🏃‍➡️ Exercise is another factor to consider. Exercising in the morning can push wake up time earlier which is helpful to compensate for the sun rising later in the winter. Exercising late can reduce sleep quality. 4) 🍽️ Meal time: eating during the day works better. The body usually can't regulate blood sugar as well at night and I found eating a meal within 3 hours of bed to be worse than a night of heavy drinking for sleep quality. The important thing is to be consistent with eating times. For example, jet lag can be reduced fasting while flying and waiting until arriving to eat the first meal at the same time of day of one's first meal time. ## Implementation I find automatic solutions that are reliable like the rising and setting of the sun work best. This makes each improvement additive, ideally building an environment that the human body is actually adapted for. 1) Morning wake up light. The ideal is having a window that is dark at night and faces the sunrise. There are other options that work: 1) Sunrise alarm clock 2) Make the environment most of the morning is spent in bright, either with sunlight or artificial lamps. 2000+ lumens with a color temperature of 5,600 to 6,000K is similar to sunlight. 1) Skylight 2) Desk mounted 3) Sit near large windows 3) Lighting in the hours before bedtime is best when similar to candlelight: yellow/orange in color and just bright enough to safely navigate/read by. 1) Usb lights can be installed almost anywhere. These ones are incredibly efficient, my meter couldn't even measure the power draw! They have adjustable brightness and color and turn off automatically in bright light. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09VJX2B8N 4) Automation to easily keep the schedule 1) Filter evening blue light on devices. Free and takes seconds to enable, I turn the filtering up as far as is readable comfortably (usually the max) 1) Mac and IOS: night shift 2) Windows: night light 3) Android: night light 4) Custom software as the built in options don't filter as much blue light as I prefer 1) [Android: Twilight](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.urbandroid.lux) 2) [Mac, Windows, Linux: f.lux](https://justgetflux.com/)1600K is the color temperature I found best at night 2) Create distinct and reliable cues for events that are important to always show up on time for like bedtime routines 1) Phone alarms can work too, seems fitting and amusing to use an alarm in the evening to ensure waking up at the right time in the morning! 2) [Android has the Calendar Alarm app](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app_by_LZ.calendar_alarm_clock) 3) [IOS has app options too ](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/calalarm-calendar-v3/id1590304931) 3) [Timer switches](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091FXLMS8) allow most devices to be scheduled which can save power/money as well. Great for turning on evening lights, turning off bright day lights, and anything else you use that is better used day only or night only by default. 4) [Fingerbots enable automating almost any switch/button](https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806044685312.html) without having to rewire the house. Great for turning on bedroom lights right before it is time to wake up. Other useful tools: * Genetic testing can estimate the time you are naturally predisposed to wake up. If you already have 23&me, they have a report. I don't like using their service due to the privacy issues and selling of personal information * Use local sunrise/sunset times to line up your waking with https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/