Rick's Protocol Version 1.0

Protocol Version 1.0 was implemented in January 2023. It was a seven-element system designed to address every variable in my tracked sleep data that showed room for improvement.

The Seven Elements

1. Fixed wake time (6:45 AM regardless of sleep quality the previous night). This is the intervention with the strongest clinical evidence for sleep regulation. My protocol adopted it first.

2. No caffeine after 12:00 PM. Data had shown a correlation between my afternoon coffee habit and longer sleep onset latency. The correlation coefficient was modest but consistent across seven weeks of data.

3. 30-minute screen-free wind-down before bed. Clinical evidence supports blue light reduction before sleep; I implemented blue-light glasses at 8:30 PM and full screen cessation at 9:30 PM.

4. Magnesium glycinate 400mg, taken 60 minutes before bed. The clinical evidence for this is real but modest. My data after 30 days showed a 12% reduction in sleep onset latency on nights with magnesium versus nights without. Statistically meaningful in my dataset.

5. Room temperature: 67 degrees. HVAC adjusted. Temperature measured nightly by a sensor I installed specifically for this purpose.

6. Blackout curtains installed. Room confirmed dark at all hours.

7. White noise machine at 65 decibels.

90-Day Results

Protocol V1.0 produced the largest single-period improvement in my tracked data: average wake events from 3.2 to 2.1, sleep onset from 35 to 24 minutes, readiness score from 62 to 71. These are real improvements. They are also improvements to a baseline that was still below optimal. But they are real. The protocol works. Tonight will be different — or at least statistically more likely to be better.