Though sleep is absolutely vital to our lives, getting a good night’s rest can sometimes seem like the most impossible of feats.
If you think the average person has a lot to juggle in their daily lives and finally winding down to restore and recharge, imagine the difficulty celebrities have with the added pressures of fame, constant travel, and late-night parties that can sometimes be a part of the job.
Fact: No one ever sleeps perfectly, all the time.
Though celebrities do lead the glamorous life and are afforded things some of us can only dream about, sleep problems are shared by all. So there’s some comfort in knowing that even the most outwardly-perfect among us can relate when it comes to catching some shut-eye.
From soothing meditation music to “clean sleeping”, these celebrity-approved sleep solutions run the gamut.
But surprisingly to us, they actually work! Whether you’ve tried everything and just want a look into a few other rest routines, or if you’re simply curious, read on for 15 very interesting rituals from some of our favorite stars.
Gwyneth Paltrow
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The Goop creator swears by “clean sleeping”.
We can always count on Gwyneth Paltrow to coin a new concept! Most of us have either heard of or prescribe to clean eating, but the Oscar winner wants all of us to join the “clean sleeping” bandwagon. “At least seven or eight hours of good, quality sleep—and ideally even 10,” is how she describes the lifestyle technique in Daily Mail. “Sleep plays such a powerful role in determining your appetite and energy levels that I believe it should be your first priority—even before you think about your diet.”
We can’t remember the last time we slept for ten hours, but leave it to Gwyneth to leave us inspired.
Jennifer Lopez
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Like Paltrow, Lopez is a huge sleep advocate.
50 is the new 20, according to Jennifer Lopez. The star just celebrated the momentous milestone and is changing the way we all think about aging.
Her number one beauty tip? SLEEP.
“The number one tip is to always get enough sleep,” she told InStyle. “I can’t stress this enough. Ideally I would love to get nine or 10 hours of sleep, but either way, I always make sure I get at least eight.” If nine hours makes us look even half as good as the Billboard Icon Award winner, then count us in!
Bill Gates
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Pre-bed reading lulls the tech genius to sleep.
Bill Gates’s mind is always focused on innovation and learning: even in the quiet and peaceful moments before bed. “I read an hour almost every night,” he told Seattle Times. “It’s part of falling asleep.” Gates swears by seven hours—especially if he needs to be creative the next day. “I can do parts of my job that way, but in thinking creatively, I’m not much good without seven hours.”
Bella Hadid
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Music soothes the supermodel into slumber.
A night’s rest is often referred to as “beauty sleep” and few things are as important to a supermodel than beauty. Bella Hadid knows a thing or two about that, as one of the world’s biggest supermodels today.
Her tip for catching some zzz’s in any time zone? Soothing music.
“Before bed, I love listening to meditation music,” she shared in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar. “It helps me zone out and fall asleep.” Turn on this “Meditation Music Zone” playlist and thank Bella later.
Richard Branson
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The Virgin Group founder loves a good pre-sleep documentary.
Who doesn’t love a bit of television before bed? Richard Branson may have one of the most unbelievable lives ever, but when it comes to his bedtime rituals, he’s just like us. “I’ll read for a bit or perhaps watch a documentary, to help me relax and put me in a great frame of mind to get a good night’s sleep,” he revealed on his very own Virgin blog. “Then it’s in bed and lights out hopefully by 11pm. I typically need five to six hours sleep to get the most out of my days.”
Arianna Huffington
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The Huffington Post founder cares so much about sleep, that she wrote an entire book about it.
Arianna Huffington has dedicated a huge portion of her career to all things sleep: penning the book The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time in 2016. “If we’re going to truly thrive, we must begin with sleep,” she wrote in a TIME op-ed. “It’s the gateway through which a life of wellbeing must travel.” So Huffington tries her best to get eight hours a night and has set a slew of guidelines for herself including: no electronics 30 minutes before bedtime, taking a hot bath before bed, wearing comfy pajamas, and many other tips.
Elle Macpherson
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The supermodel has to clear her mind before slumber creeps in.
As one of the world’s most in-demand supermodels and the founder of Welle + Co, Elle Macpherson has her hands full. So to unwind and get some much needed rest before another busy day, the Australian beauty clears her mind with some reading and writing. “I always keep a good book on my bedside table and a notepad for jotting down ideas, or for a general brain dump so I can get to sleep,” she told Well + Good. We always love a good journaling moment.
Jennifer Aniston
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A multi-prong approach is key for the Golden Globe winner.
Jennifer Aniston does a number of things to ensure that good, restful sleep is close at hand. “My one key tip is to sleep with my phone at least 5 feet away from me,” the Friends actress told Huffington Post. “And I also do a quick meditation before I get into bed, even if it’s just for five minutes. There are also some yoga poses that I’ve found to be quite helpful in relaxing my mind, even if it’s just a simple downward dog and some stretching. But the biggest thing is the electronics shutdown, ideally an hour before I turn off the lights. It’s really a big deal.” We’ve never seen a more powerful trio.
Miranda Kerr
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The supermodel uses technology to keep her hours in check.
Though technology is the reason many of us get less rest—the constant pinging of our phones, for instance—it has also opened up a whole new world of sleep discovery for many others. Case in point: supermodel Miranda Kerr and her love for the Sleep Cycle app. “The app tells me my average time in bed is seven hours,” the second time mom-to-be told Vogue Australia. “I’d really like to have eight hours but if I get that, it’s like, ‘Hallelujah!'”
We’ve never related to her more and we’re definitely downloading this app ASAP.
Oprah
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The talk show legend & media executive knows exactly how much sleep works for her.
Oprah is an icon and she lives the best life imaginable: this is what we figured but her Instagram reveals that her days really are incredible. And with all the best life has to offer at her fingertips, the OWN Network founder is pretty particular about her favorite things—including sleep. “I function very well on five and a half hours of sleep,” she told Fast Company. “Anything less than that, I notice a lack of focus, a listlessness, a waning energy, and not-as-sharp thinking.” A bit less than the recommended seven or eight hours, but if there’s anything Oprah knows it’s herself.
Tom Brady
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For the six-time Superbowl winning quarterback, sleep is the ultimate recovery.
Sleep is one of the biggest ways your body recharges and restores itself. And no one needs more energizing and renewal from head-to-toe than a pro athlete. Tom Brady is constantly in practice and playing in games, thus he tries to get nine hours of sleep a night, on average. “I think sleep is so important because I break my body down so much with my sport,” he told ABC News. “It’s the only place to get the recovery that I need. There are so many people studying sleep now who realize that this is important; it’s not something you can skip for years and years and years and think you can get away with it,” Well, way to make us rethink all of those all-nighters in college Mr. Brady.
Norma Kamali
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The iconic fashion designer and wellness guru keeps caffeine to a minimum.
Though coffee and other caffeine-based products help us power through our work week, they are definite sleep disrupters when it comes time for us to lay down at night. It’s why style legend Norma Kamali restricts how much she has. On an episode of the MindBodyGreen podcast, she confirmed that she limits her caffeine intake, as well as creating the kind of sleep space that dreams are made of.
Lea Michele
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Tea is the actress’s sleep cure.
A cup of tea really does make everything better, doesn’t it? Lea Michele swears by a cuppa before bed, so she can swiftly drift to sleep. “Before I go to sleep, I always have tea, hot water, and lemon,” she told Byrdie. “It’s very simple.” That it is, but it’s also super effective.
Charlotte Tilbury
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The makeup artist to the stars actually puts on makeup before bed.
Most makeup artists and dermatologists recommend taking your makeup off before bed, but Charlotte Tilbury actually advises against it. And when you’re the woman partly responsible for the flawless faces of Blake Lively, Kendall Jenner, and Sofia Vergara, along with getting the Queen’s stamp of approval as an MBE, we’d be foolish not to take a listen. The beauty guru actually doesn’t lay down for the night until she reapplies her signature eye. “I take off all my eye makeup, and then I reapply it,” she told The Cut. “I put on my eyeliner, then I put a little bit of mascara on my top lashes, and then that’s it. I always say it’s my bedroom eye because it just makes me feel sexy.” We don’t think this approach is for amateurs, but we’re definitely taking notes from the makeup OG.
Jeff Bezos
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The Amazon founder approaches sleep like business.
Though you can buy virtually anything on Amazon at any time, anywhere, that doesn’t mean that its founder, Jeff Bezos, is always awake. The world’s richest man actually swears by eight hours of sleep a night and takes it as seriously as he does business. “If you shortchange your sleep, you might get a couple of extra ‘productive’ hours, but that productivity might be an illusion,” he told Thrive Global. “When you’re talking about decisions and interactions, quality is usually more important than quantity.” We couldn’t agree more!
