How to live in sync with your circadian rhythm

Before covid hit and the world locked down in 2020, I struggled with insomnia. I was in my early twenties and had only been in the workplace for a little over a year, but during that time my sleep and I did not make common cause. Looking back, I probably never shook off my sporadic schedule from university, then an accrue of late nights on the weekend and the odd attempt at dragging myself to the gym before what I saw then as a gruellingly timed daily start in the office, I was all out of balance.

However, it was strangely after some time being largely housebound (when WFH became universal) that I realised I had somehow – through no part of my own doing – been miraculously cured of my wakeful nights. A little more time in the mornings, and the weeks and weekends blurring into each other, and I was programmed back to a normal sustaining human. Like many I now leave the house, and when it comes to my sleep (touch wood) I’ve not looked back, but when I heard about the impact of living in sync, there felt an important lesson.

The answer's in the sky

Given we are quite literally walking clocks, as Lynne Peeples, author of book The Inner Clock: Living in Sync with Our Circadian Rhythms, described in a podcast, our bodies are “filled with trillions of tiny timekeepers”, which are really genes that run in continuous feedback loops around a 24-hour cycle. As Peeples divulges, our inner tickers ensure “we do the right things at the right times”, such as metabolising food, combatting pathogens and getting our much-needed shut-eye – but we must be beating to nature’s rhythm for these genes to function properly.

Adults in the western world are now spending a shuddering 90% of their times indoors, and given artificial lights produce such meagre sources of light compared to the sun’s natural illumination, we are not giving our clocks the power they crave. While sunlight produces 10,000 lux, Anya Ratnavel from Sunday Light tells me, even a well-lit room will only reach a few hundred lux. Grace Williams, a wellbeing coach for professionals in high-performance roles, highlights that the most important thing I can do to align my circadian rhythm is to take in sunlight in the first hour of waking. Expanding, she says if it’s just one thing I change, it’s this, ideally for 20-30 minutes – and that means without wearing sunglasses or looking at my phone. It’s a simple trick I’ve heard before, but it’s also something I easily miss – with a perfectly curated morning routine of reading a few pages, feeding my cat and opening my glaring laptop.

Catch light indoors

If I struggle to get out in the first hour, Williams’ recommendation is taking an SAD lamp around with me as I make a coffee, put make up on and go about my normal routine. At 10,000 lux these small artificial lights are replicable of sunlight, bringing all of the benefits of natural light, without the UV rays and risk of sunburn. I was a little sceptical, as I can’t see myself holding a light to my face for that amount of time, but that’s the problem Sunday Light solves. Designed by Royal College of Art and Imperial College London alumni Nat Martin and Sean Hammett, Sunday Light, similar to SAD lamps, emits 30,000 lumens and 10,000 lux at eye level, but as a large overhead light there’s no need to lug a bright beam around with you each day. Hanging from the ceiling as a tranquil, style-conscious chandelier, Sunday Light emits a luminous blue glow, one that's reminiscent of both the sun and the sky while you’re indoors.

Walking does wonders

Back to the pandemic, the invention of walks in my day was another thing I have that period to thank for – given never before had the idea occurred to me of going for a walk in the city with no reason than to literally just walk. According to Williams, extra daylight is crucial, and its exactly small foundations like these that not only bring you a good night’s sleep but help shape our moods, focus and energy levels for the day. Her advice on office days includes always going out at lunch, taking meetings walking or using a focus dip as good reason to get oudoors rather than reaching straight for coffee or snacks.

My consultation also highlighted that being someone who likes to work first thing isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Digital devices like screens emit blue light, which is a shorter wavelength naturally emitted by the sun and carries more energy than others, meaning it plays a key role in our circadian rhythm and keeping us alert and focused in the day. Where it’s effective in the day though, it’s the opposite come evening, so prolonged exposure interferes with your sleep cycle by suppressing melatonin, the hormone that puts you to sleep. To end the day Williams recommends seeking contrast – this could be getting outside where possible and keeping home lighting lower in the evening.

While none of the advice are groundbreaking hacks that surprised me, they are not meant to be. These are simple ways to live in a way that’s more attuned with the natural world, and hopefully, ensure more radiant days both externally around you and within your mind and body.

If you’re looking to brighten up your indoors, head to Sunday Light to get yours here.