It all started when he was in high school and was diagnosed with ADHD, and a recommendation to use medication and talk therapy was made.  We asked the question “For how long?”.  The answer “In essence, forever”.  It felt as though we were being told how he could Survive, but little more. 

As Gen Xer’s and professional problem solvers, one of whom is a powerhouse woman and very successful business executive, having a “solution” that did not provide a path to thriving, and had medication with known negative side effects (including sleep impairment) at its core, baffled and upset us.  Driven by the thought “There must be a better way!”, we were launched on the path to research how to help.

We started by looking into general health and what could be done to mitigate the challenges he was facing. The underpinnings of good health are:

• Sleep (high quality and enough of it).
• Diet (Fuel for your body and brain to thrive).
• Activity (When the body moves the brain grooves!)
• Mindfulness (Simply being aware and engaged in your thoughts and surroundings)

He was a very active in a variety of athletics, so activity was covered off.  He was living at home, so we were able to create healthy meals and hydration choices, so diet was covered off.  Mindfulness was tougher, but ongoing therapy helped in this regard.  That left sleep.

As we continued our research, we noticed the shared symptoms between ADHD and sleep deprivation.  When you are sleep deprived you present yourself to the world as though you have ADHD.  To be both sleep deprived and have ADHD is unfortunately the perfect storm.

Common symptoms between the two were eye opening, such as:

• Diminished Emotional control, including being prone to mood swings.
• Difficulty managing stress and making rash decisions without considering the consequences.
• An impaired short-term memory and inability to focus.
• Reduced capacity to make good decisions and solve problems.
• Experiencing decreased energy and sluggishness leading to decreased performance.

To name a few.

Having determined that sleep was the area in which we needed to focus, we started to look at how to create good sleep habits.  This is where the term Keystone came to our attention, as a keystone habit is one that triggers a domino effect/positive chain reaction in one’s life. Good quality sleep and enough of it qualifies as a Keystone habit because it impacts so many areas of everyday health.  Poor sleep has a similar negative effect.

Poor sleep leads to increased cravings for sugary and fat laden food. It robs us of physical energy and makes being active much more challenging. It leads to brain fog and a lack of engagement and mental energy. Once again sleep was the key to overall health and providing the opportunity to Thrive.

Research on habit formation relevant to becoming a great sleeper came next.  In speaking with our son, it became obvious that an inability to calm down his racing mind, to stop the endless mental chatter when his head hit the pillow, was a key factor as well.  Creating a new habit is hard at the best of times.  Compound this with the negative impacts from not getting enough quality rest, and it became obvious that making the process easy was a necessity. 

Ways to make the process easier include:

• Using habit stacking, which is simply linking a new action to an existing habit. 
• Having visual cues so that it is easy to remember what step(s) to take. 
• Daily reminders to act
• Minimizing the number of actions to take.

The bottom line was that a well thought out program that simplified the ability to calm the mental chatter, and thereby assist in falling and staying asleep, was the solution we needed to create. The elements of this system would be driven by the mantra of “Keep it simple stupid.”

1. Make a sleep supplement with combined ingredients so there was no need to open multiple bottles with different ingredients.  Ingredients that calm the body and mind and assist the brain to do what it does well, create the right natural process to get great rest. 
2. Link taking the supplement to brushing teeth, a habit most people already use before they go to bed.  By placing the bottle beside their toothbrush, the reminder is right in front of them and helping to trigger the thought to “Take two NightCaps and go to bed with the intention to sleep well.”
3. Create a simple, “completed in 30 seconds or less” daily survey that draws attention to the sleep thieves and helpers in a person’s life.  Designed to be completed each morning on a cell phone, it asks 6 questions around behaviour that could help or hurt an individual’s ability to sleep well each night.  Sleep thieves are actions like using screens or caffeine close to bedtime and helpers can be getting sun on your face early in the day or being physically active.
4. Send a text reminder in the morning, to complete the survey each day. This will create a conscious and/or subconscious awareness that promotes short circuiting the sleep thieves and using the sleep helpers.

We created the NightCaps product and the Great Sleeper Survey to be habit formation promoters, so that people like our son can switch off their brains and sleep well.  Doing so will allow them to improve their mood , increase their energy and professional performance, while enhancing physical health and enriching
their personal relationships.