Sleepmaxxing Is The Extreme Sport Of Bedtime — But Does It Actually Help You Get Better Sleep?

TikTok is out here turning everything into an extreme sport — dating, skincare, and now, sleep. Enter “sleepmaxxing,” the latest craze in which people are doing the most to get that perfect, Kardashian-level beauty sleep. Yes, your eight hours of shut-eye just got a glow-up, and no, you’re not ready for the level of extra involved.

What Is Sleepmaxxing?

“Sleepmaxxing” is exactly what it sounds like, taking sleep optimization to Olympic standards. We’re talking about intense routines, sleep hacks, and gadgets that make you question if this is a bedtime routine or a sci-fi experiment. It’s all over TikTok, where people show off their elaborate setups, from blackout curtains that make your room darker than Pete Davidson’s dating history to sleep tech that costs more than your rent.

Videos of people sharing their “sleepmaxxing” routines are racking up views because who wouldn’t be curious about how you can go from tossing and turning all night to waking up feeling like you just spent a week at a luxury spa? Spoiler alert: it involves a lot of gadgets and rituals that give off “I spent way too much time on Amazon” vibes.

Image Credit: Photo by Polina Kovaleva via Pexels

One of the more interesting sleepmaxxing trends is what TikTok users call the “morning shed.” It’s the name for that moment in the morning when you peel off the various contraptions you’ve worn to bed in the name of the sleep gods — think jaw straps, mouth tape (yes, really), and all sorts of sleep tech that supposedly helps you wake up refreshed and ready to take on the day like a girl boss.

And let’s not forget the nighttime rituals. There’s the viral “sleepy girl mocktail,” a drink made with cherry juice and magnesium powder that’s supposed to help you sleep like a baby. Side note: who knew cherry juice was the secret to better REM cycles?

If you thought your $200 weighted blanket was the pinnacle of sleep luxury, think again. The sleepmaxxing community is now splurging on things like AI-powered headbands that claim to cancel out brain waves keeping you awake and mattresses that can adjust the temperature, detect snoring, and even give you a gentle wake-up shake. Sure, it all sounds great… until you realize you need to rob a bank to afford it.

Does Sleepmaxxing Actually Work?

And here’s the kicker: a lot of this stuff probably isn’t doing much to actually help your sleep. Sleep experts are side-eyeing the trend, saying that while some gadgets might help make you more comfortable, most are just preying on our desperation for the perfect night’s sleep. Sleepmaxxing has created a billion-dollar industry, but before you throw your money at it, you should know that many experts think the key to good sleep is way simpler than a $500 AI headband.

If you’ve ever felt guilty for scrolling through TikTok at 2 a.m. (same), this might hit close to home. Experts are worried that our obsession with optimizing sleep is actually making us more stressed about it, which — ironically — makes it harder to sleep. Researchers have even coined a new term for this condition: orsothomia. It’s like orthorexia (being obsessed with “clean” eating) but for sleep. People with orsothomia become so obsessed with achieving the perfect night’s sleep that they stress themselves out to the point of insomnia. Yikes.

At the end of the day, if your sleep gadgets help you feel more comfortable, go ahead and keep strapping on that jaw tape or sipping your cherry juice mocktail. But if you’re starting to feel like sleep has become a high-stakes competition, maybe it’s time to dial it back a notch. Because the real secret to good sleep? It’s probably not as complicated as TikTok is making it out to be.