For years my evenings ended the same way: one more episode, one more scroll, lights out far too late. I didn’t need a new mattress — I needed a softer landing.

So I tried something tiny. Ten minutes, three steps, every night. Six weeks later my sleep score went from the low sixties to the mid eighties.

1. Dim the room at 22:30

Light is the loudest signal your body gets. Switch to lamps, lower the screen brightness and let the house feel like evening.

“You don’t have to fall asleep faster. You just have to stop running into bed.”

2. Write tomorrow down

Two minutes, one list: the three things tomorrow needs. Your brain stops rehearsing them the moment they live on paper.

3. Breathe slower than you think

Four seconds in, six seconds out, for five minutes. The longer exhale is the part that tells your nervous system the day is over.

• Lamps on, big lights off

• Three things for tomorrow

• Five minutes of 4–6 breathing

Peridot reminds me at 22:30 and keeps the routine for me. Most nights now, I’m asleep before I notice.