A few weeks ago I published an article about sleep. I wrote it in one take. It took half an hour.
I’ve spent many hours and dollars optimizing my sleep. Because of this I had an idea of what was important, so it was an easy article to write.
What if though, I had to write about the Titanic? Or how sloth’s survive in the wild? Or what it takes to become a neurosurgeon in the United States?
To write something worthwhile on these topics would take hours of research, a few drafts that professionals in the field should read over, and links to sources.
GPT-3 can write that for you in 30 minutes and be just as good.
GPT-3 is an artificial intelligence bot built by OpenAI that writes for you. It can do its own research, cite sources and write in whatever style you tell it. OpenAI is funded by Elon Musk and Sam Altman. They’re the same team that built a bot that taught itself DOTA2 and later beat the best players in the world.
The best way to use GPT-3 right now is as a sidekick to help you get past writer’s block.
Let’s take How to Sleep Better by Vladimir Novosselov and rewrite it with the help of GPT-3.
Step 1) Describe the content you want to create
We’re going to tell GPT-3 to write a long-form blog post about the benefits of improved sleep. Include a list of best items like mattresses and blackout curtains to buy for your bedroom to have a deep sleep. Write about techniques to calm down before bed.
Step 2) Generate a title
Now we’ll feed GPT-3 our title, and see what variations it gives us. My title is How to Sleep Better.
GPT-3 Generates:
9 Ways to Improve Your Sleep: Techniques and Items for a Deep Sleep
Benefits of Improved Sleep: Mattresses, Blackout Curtains and Techniques to Calm Down Before Bed.
How to Improve Sleep: 12 Steps for a Deep, Restful Night
11 Benefits of Improved Sleep: Mattresses, Blackout Curtains, and Techniques to Calm Down Before Bed
How to Get Enough (Quality) Sleep: Your Ultimate Guide on What Works
10 Tips for a Deep Sleep: 10 Steps to Beat Insomnia
Sounding better than my title already. I’m going to pick _10 Tips for a Deep Sleep: 10 Steps to Beat Insomnia _as our title.
Step 3) Write your intro and structure
Now I’ll write the same intro I used in my first article and let GPT-3 do the rest. I’ll write the skeleton so GPT-3 knows what to focus on.
Environment
Blackout Curtains
Bedroom Temperature
The rest of the article from here is generated by GPT-3, filling out only the headings from my original post. This took three minutes. It is cohesive, and more than that what’s written is true.
GPT-3 Generates:
It’s magical what you’re capable of when well rested.
On 9 hours of sleep you can tell me that I have before the end of the day to save a company on the brink of bankruptcy, and I’ll be excited to do it.
On 5 hours, if the person in front of me is taking a long time to pay for coffee, I’ll start getting agitated.
On 2 hours, answering an email feels like climbing a mountain.
What’s going on here? I’m the same person. I have the same skills as yesterday.
For some reason, sleeping is incredibly important to being human. We should do everything in our power to sleep. We should do everything in our power to sleep. Sleeping keeps your biochemistry balanced, which gives you a stable mind.
In order of importance, you need to set your environment, behaviour and supplements to best fall asleep and stay asleep. You’re looking for 8–10 hours. It’s different for everyone.
Environment
Blackout Curtains
Blackout Curtains are the most important additions you can make to your bedroom. Blackout curtains will keep out light from all sources, so that every time it’s dark in your room, it means sleep mode is activated and time for bed.
Bedroom Temperature
Temperature is important because when its warmer (less than 18°C), your body starts releasing adrenaline as a reaction to too much heat which interferes with falling asleep. Remember where we said good things happen on at least eight hours of sleep? Eight hours without enough restful quality sleep would be considered insomnia by many doctors and researchers. So please don’t try this one! Keep it cool or cold — ideally 16–18 °C depending on what feels good for you.
Mattress and Pillow
If your mattress or pillow isn’t comfortable, there will be no sleep happening on it — sorry! Your head should not lay at a 90 degree angle from the spine when sleeping. You want to have some natural curvature so that your neck gets supported by something other than its own weight during all phases of sleep (see below). This allows fluid to continue moving through the discs in between each vertebrae which is hugely important for maintaining spinal health over time. If you are currently using an uncomfortable pillow, replace it with one that offers support but still lets your head fully relax into it without feeling like too much pressure is being exerted against any part of the face/neck area. There are lots of pillow options out there, so do your research.
Sleep Hygiene
This is the common word for everything you do before bed to create a natural environment that will support sleep. This includes things like: avoiding caffeine and alcohol, eating light meals or snacks earlier in the day, turning off screens a few hours before going to bed (TVs, laptops), reading something less stimulating than your work email prior to lights out — I recommend fiction book(s) or an audiobook! Keep it mellow. Don’t set yourself up for insomnia by getting too emotionally invested in what’s happening on screen.
Supplements
Melatonin supplements can be helpful if you’re having trouble sleeping because of jet lag or other reasons where your circadian rhythms are disrupted from their normal pattern- they help regulate your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle. I still think they’re a bandaid that doesn’t always work for some people, but it can be worth trying if you’ve exhausted all other options. Important to note: melatonin supplements are not recommended in children under the age of 18 years old, pregnant or nursing women and those with certain medical conditions like depression, hypertension or seizures.
Here is my list of best items to buy for your bedroom:
Blackout curtains ($25) — The most important addition you can make to your bedroom! These will keep out light from all sources so when its dark in your room means time for bed; these should cost about $25 each. (It’s better than spending hundreds on a new mattress.)
Mattress ($800) — Usually the most expensive item on this list but it is worth the investment to get a good one. Spend $600–800 for something that will last you ten years and be very comfortable as well!
Bed Pillow ($35) — You need at least two pillows, some people use three: one for your head, one curved under neck or back of head and another flat across stomach. This should cost about $35 per pillow total ($110).
White Noise Machine ($60) — You can get one at your local Wal-Mart or Amazon for about $60. These are a lifesaver when you live in an apartment and all the noisy neighbors around you keep waking you up!
Eye Mask ($15) — If there’s light coming from outside, even with blackout curtains it will still be hard to sleep through the day; this is why I like eye masks ($12). They’re not very expensive but they make such a huge difference.
Noise Cancelling Headphones ($30-$100) — Get some good quality ones that won’t sound muffled or have static on them (comes down to personal preference); these should cost between $30 and $100.
Here are some techniques to calm down before bed:
Take a hot bath — Spend at least 15 minutes in the tub with Epsom salts and lavender oil, this is such a great way to relax your body and mind for sleep (and it smells so divine). I recommend getting two of these epsom salt kits ($20) which will last you one month each!
Meditate — If you want something less time intensive than taking an hour long nap throughout the day then try meditation when its dark outside around 30 minutes before going to bed; start by focusing on breathing slowly through your nose while counting from ten upward. You can also keep repeating mantras or affirmations too if that’s more your style.
Practice body scanning — For about 30 minutes before bed, try to tense and relax different areas of your body starting from the top of your head down to the tips of toes; this is a great way to calm yourself before sleep as it will help you recognize any tension or stress in these areas which have been tensed for hours on end!
Take some Magnesium supplements — These can be found at most drug stores and are an easy fix if you’re having trouble sleeping because of too much caffeine during the day (it’s also good for fighting migraines!)
Do not drink caffeinated drinks after noon — A huge factor when it comes to insomnia is how much coffee we consume during our days. If you drink it in the morning, wait until afternoon to have your second cup. And if you’re still having trouble at night then just try not drinking any coffee after noon!
Do some light exercise — Light-exercise is hard for people when they are sleep deprived because all of their resources are being directed to staying awake; but a good way to combat this is by doing something low impact like yoga or stretching before bed. Don’t feel bad if 20 minutes isn’t possible though and do what’s best for you (just make sure its only during the day!).
Try meditation — This can be done anytime throughout the day with great success but I find that 30 minutes before bed has been working wonders for me so far as my mind is more clear and relaxed than before.
The words in italics are written by GPT-3. Using GPT-3 can save you hours of time when working to push something forward.
This, plus other no-code tools like Shopify that will make more people entrepreneurs. More people will live flexible schedules and spend more time with family. With no-code tools more people are going to open businesses and contribute to our world.
GPT-3 is incredible. You can actually use it in production to help you get real world things done. I feel that AI is a lot closer than we think. There is value in this software, I can’t wait to see how humans get more productive using AI as a partner to get things done.