Evan pointed to this old piece about sleep habits: Get up at a fixed time every morning and don’t go to sleep until you’re tired.

This fits my own experience pretty well. I’ve found that I wake up more well rested when I’ve had less sleep than I’d like to, but also, subsequently, that my sleep needs vary a lot more than I thought. And not going to bed until I’m so tired I have no trouble falling asleep has been a relief—no more lying awake in bed trying to sleep.

The breakthrough for me came when our daughter started waking us up at around the same time each morning. There’s simply no negotiating with a baby that’s awake and ready to seize the day.