Wellness App Founder Shares What Helped Her Get Off Sleeping Pills

• Yunha Kim founded a meditation app and a sleep clinic app.
• She told Insider she slept so badly she had to turn to sleeping pills during lockdown.
• Now, people call her a “grandma” as she is asleep by 9 p.m.

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Yunha Kim, a founder of two apps, including a sleep-aid app, about her morning routine. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My morning — and evening — routines used to be very different when I had insomnia in 2020. Because I couldn’t go to a physical office, I found myself working on the wellness app I founded, Simple Habit, anywhere from 12 to 14 hours a day, and there was no distinction between work and home.

It was also a stressful time for startup founders because things were changing so fast. It was so bad that at one point, I was on sleeping pills.

I’d wake up feeling super groggy, as if I was hungover 

I’d then drink so much caffeine, which impacted my ability to fall asleep — and it just became a vicious cycle. 

So I tried to sign up for a sleep clinic to get some help. But the wait list was long — over six months. That was the genesis of the sleep-clinic app I founded, Sleep Reset. I’ve continued to use the practices I learned from my experience.

Now, people call me a grandma because I go to sleep sometime between 8 and 9 p.m. The body’s morning routine actually starts with your nighttime routine. If I do certain things differently at night, it messes up my morning routine. 

I learned that if you eat within three hours of your bedtime, your body’s still busy processing your food while you’re trying to sleep, making it harder to fall asleep. I used to eat dinner with my husband at about 8 p.m. before trying to go to bed at 9 p.m.

Of course, I couldn’t sleep because my body was still processing the food. Now, I have an early dinner — between 5 and 6 p.m.

I also don’t work after dinner now. Working up until my bedtime made it really hard for me to fall asleep. Instead, I do restorative yoga before bed to get my body in tune with my relaxed mind.

I wake up at 5 a.m. It’s really important that I wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. If not, I’m basically giving myself jetlag.

My partner is a night owl and wakes up much later. Luckily, I always wake up naturally before my alarm goes off, which means I don’t wake him up.

The first thing I do is drink some water, mixing hot and room-temperature water together

That helps me soothe my tummy as I have acid reflux. Drinking the water also tells my body it’s time to wake up.

Then I go into my yoga room to stretch and meditate for about 15 minutes. In the morning, I try to be more aware of what parts of my body need stretching after being in bed and not moving for eight or nine hours.

I like to say affirmations when I’m in a depressed mood — but when I’m feeling tired, breathing exercises help a lot.

I try to stretch and meditate no matter what, unless I’m running late to something, which rarely happens when I wake up so early. I eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up: usually a coffee and a banana.

My to-do list always has “check in with your emotions” at the top. As a founder and a CEO, it’s important that I regulate my emotions because it can bleed through to the company during meetings.

To help feel more positive, I also think about one thing I’m grateful for.

I’m then in the digital realm from about 5:30 a.m. onward

I love starting work right away because that’s when my brain is most rational and when I’m usually in a really good mood.

During this time, I don’t check my phone. I start with more high-level strategic things, like reviewing the product roadmap — things that actually require a lot of brainpower. I try not to do things like approving invoices or checking emails.

I’ll listen to music without lyrics, sometimes a smooth-jazz playlist on Spotify, often music by Odesza, an artist I like.

After three hours of this deep-focus time, I go out and walk my dog to make sure I’m getting enough exposure to light.

On the weekends, I usually have about five hours of alone time before my husband wakes up. I might read a book, do some laundry, wash the dishes, or take a bath.