Let us now formulate the fundamental theorem of good sleep
To get high quality night sleep that maximizes your learning effects your sleep start time should meet these two criteria:
- strong homeostatic sleepiness: this usually means going to sleep not earlier than 15-19 hours after awakening from the previous night sleep
- ascending circadian sleepiness: this means going to sleep at a time of day when you usually experience a rapid increase in drowsiness. Not earlier and not later! Knowing the timing of your circadian rhythm is critical for good night sleep.
People with irregular sleep hours and highly stressful lives may simply be unable to locate the point of ascending circadian sleepiness as this point may not exist!
Formula for good sleep
There is a little-publicized formula that acts as a perfect cure for people who experience continual or seasonal problems with sleep entrainment. 
This formula is free running sleep! It's what I've being doing for the last 2 years.
Free running sleep is defined by the abstinence from all forms of sleep control such as alarm clocks, sleeping pills, alcohol, caffeine, etc. Free running sleep is a sleep that comes naturally at the time when it is internally triggered by the combination of your homeostatic and circadian components. In other words, free running sleep occurs when you go to sleep only then when you are truly sleepy (independent of the relationship of this moment to the actual time of day). Night sleep on a free running schedule lasts as long as the body needs, and ends in natural awakening. No form of sleep disruption is allowed. In particular, any use of an alarm clock is the cardinal violation of the free running sleep principle.
Free running sleep is sleep that is not artificially controlled to match our schedules and desires. It is a sleep without alarm clocks and sleeping pills. Mankind has practised free running sleep for as long as it existed. Our ancestors were gently encouraged to retire to bedtime at sunset, and would wake up naturally, probably after having spent no less than 8-10 hours in bed (see also Segmented sleep). All departures from that healthy practise were an imposition of culture, habit, religion, and/or tradition.
We wish to fall asleep at a specific time, and wake up at a specific time. Amazingly, a big chunk of the population does not realize that this is not possible without a detriment to health! Luckily, nearly everyone has the intuition that sleep is vital for healthy living. Those who would want to dispense with sleep altogether form a tiny minority. Nearly all creative people would wish to wake up fresh and ready for action. Preferably at a specified time. The same people wish to be less tired in the evening before sleep, and fall asleep instantly. Preferrably at a specified time.
However disappointing this might be, everyone would do better in life if those truths were assimilated. If we agree to wake up naturally at one's body's preferred time, it should be possible to be fresh and dandy from the waking moment. However, a decline in mental capacity over the waking day is inevitable.
There is only one formula for healthy and refreshing sleep: Go to sleep only when you are very tired. Not earlier. Not later. Wake up naturally without an alarm clock.
This simple formula is called free running sleep. For many people, after years of sleep abuse, even free running sleep can be tricky. It will take a while to discover one's own body's rules and to accept them. You will know that you execute your free running sleep correctly if it takes no more than 5 min. to fall asleep (without medication, alcohol or other intervention), and if you wake up pretty abruptly with the sense of refreshment. Being refreshed in the morning cannot be taken for granted. Even minor misalignment of sleep and the circadian phase will take the refreshed feeling away.
Free running sleep algorithm
- Start with a meticulous log in which you will record the hours in which you go to sleep and wake up in the morning. If you take a nap during the day, put it in the log as well (even if the nap takes as little as 1-3 minutes). The log will help you predict the optimum sleeping hours and improve the quality of sleep. Once your self-research phase is over, you will accumulate sufficient experience to need the log no longer; however, you will need it at the beginning to better understand your rhythms. You can use SleepChart to simplify the logging procedure and help you read your circadian preferences.
- Go to sleep only then when you are truly tired. (at first that might be tricky but after some weeks of practices you should feel more tired near your bedtime) You should be able to sense that your sleep latency is likely to be less than 5-10 minutes. If you do not feel confident you will fall asleep within 10-20 minutes, do not go to sleep! If this requires you to stay up until early in the morning, so be it! (and that's why you should start this on vacation :] )
- Be sure nothing disrupts your sleep! Do not use an alarm clock! If possible, sleep without a bed partner (at least in the self-research period). Keep yourself well isolated from sources of noise (I live in a very noise place and that's not being an issue for me after I practice this a lot and my melatonine levels are high) and from rapid changes in lighting.
- Avoid stress during the day, esp. in the evening hours. (remember physical exercise is a stress for the body) This is particularly important in the self-research period while you are still unsure how your optimum sleep patterns look. Stress hormones have a powerful impact on the timing of sleep. Stressful thoughts are also likely to keep you up at the time when you shall be falling asleep.
- After a couple of days, try to figure out the length of your circadian cycle. If you arrive at a number that is greater than 24 hours, your free running sleep will result in going to sleep later on each successive day. This will ultimately make you sleep during the day at times. This is why you may need a vacation to give free running sleep an honest test. Days longer than 24 hours are pretty normal, and you can stabilize your pattern with properly timed signals such as light and exercise. This can be very difficult if you are a DSPS type. (Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome)
- Once you know how much time you spend awake on average, make a daily calculation of the expected hour at which you will go to sleep (I use the term expected bedtime and expected retirement hour to denote times of going to bed and times of falling asleep, which in free running sleep are almost the same). This calculation will help you predict the sleep onset. On some days you may feel sleepy before the expected bedtime. Do not fight sleepiness, go to sleep even if this falls 2-3 hours before your expected bedtime. Similarly, if you do not feel sleepy at the expected bedtime, stay up, keep busy and go to sleep later, even if this falls 2-4 hours after your expected bedtime.
If you wish the read the complete and original content by Dr Piotr Wozniak, here is the link.
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Hello @ggrpg. Wow, what a great contribution, i really like this one. I will resteem this one. Thanks