Sleep reset
Run these for a week. None of them works in one night.
- Same wake-up time every day. Weekends within an hour or so. Bad night or not. Evidence: decent
- Daylight in the first hour. Outside if you can, ten minutes. It sets the clock that decides when you get sleepy tonight. Evidence: decent
- No caffeine after lunch. It's still in your system six hours later. Evidence: decent
- Alcohol is not a sleep aid. It knocks you out, then breaks up the second half of the night. Evidence: solid
- Bed is for sleep. Not for mail, not for worrying. Awake for what feels like twenty minutes: get up, sit somewhere dim, come back when you're sleepy. Evidence: solid
- Go to bed when you're sleepy, not when you think you should. Going early to catch up mostly buys you more time awake in bed. Evidence: solid
If most nights are bad for more than a month, see a doctor and ask about CBT-I. It's a short, structured programme for insomnia, and it works better over time than pills. Evidence: solid
Why this works
Two systems decide your sleep: a body clock, and a pressure to sleep that builds the longer you're awake. Rules 1 to 3 steady the clock. Rules 4 to 6 protect the pressure and keep your brain from linking bed with being awake.
Good habits alone don't cure long-running insomnia. Evidence: solid That's what the doctor is for.