What is Dim Light Melatonin Onset?

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The internal clock that dictates your circadian rhythm is sensitive to several cues, but light and temperature are the most powerful. As you enter your evening wind-down period—ideally, about 2-3 hours before you go to sleep—you’re also entering what’s scientifically known as the Dim Light Melatonin Onset, or DLMO.

During DLMO, your brain perceives that the sun is dimming, and produces more of the sleep hormone melatonin in response. It’s priming you for bed, and it’s your job to work with it, not against it. That means avoiding any light source that will trick your brain into curbing its melatonin production. As you ready yourself for sleep, your body temperature also cools, further encouraging sleepiness.

Getting into the right mindset for your evening wind-down is uruguay telegram data also paramount to achieving deep, natural sleep. You want to feel relaxed and unburdened, so that the journey into sleep is a relatively smooth one. But often, people end up busy, anxious, and unable to fall asleep as quickly as they’d like.

When you’re not sleepy, and especially when you’re actively worried or engaged, you’re in a state of arousal. This is the antithesis of the relaxed mindset you want before bed. Arousal is encouraged by activities that demand a lot of attention and/or emotion, such as streaming an exciting television show, taking on another work task, or running through all of your thoughts and anxieties about the next day.

At the extreme end of arousal is hyperarousal—a state of alertness and stress that puts your body into fight-or-flight mode, commonly experienced by those who suffer from insomnia and PTSD.

Anxious thoughts about work are a particular obstacle to a salesperson’s sleep. They don’t just keep you from falling asleep—they also disrupt the sleep you’re able to get, and make waking up in the morning more difficult. This is why it’s so important to mentally detach from work during your wind-down period.

How Does Winding Down Guard Against Burnout?
As we’ve learned, catching up on sleep is the best way to prevent burnout, and the wind-down period certainly facilitates that goal. But it also fights back against burnout on its own, independent of sleep.