How sleep restriction can improve sleep even when you're only getting a few hours of sleep
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
- The idea of allotting less time for sleep and spending less time in bed when you are desperate for more sleep seems completely counter-intuitive. However, if you are struggling with chronic insomnia, restricting the amount of time you spend in bed can be very helpful in a number of ways.
First, by observing a regular and appropriate sleep window, you will be allowing enough time for sleep drive to build during the day - and this can help you fall asleep.
Sleep restriction helps generate short-term sleepiness, which helps you recognize the difference between fatigue and sleepiness (and perhaps rediscover the sensation of sleepiness) - and this can be very valuable.
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Allotting less time for sleep also means you'll spend less time awake in bed during the night, tossing and turning, trying to sleep. The more time you spend in bed awake, rather than asleep, the more you reinforce the idea that the bed is a place for wakefulness and worry rather than sleep and relaxation.
Increasing the amount of time you spend in bed asleep rather than awake is how you ultimately reduce the power of sleep-related worry and anxiety, and make the bed a strong long-term trigger for sleep.
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My name is Martin Reed and I am the founder of Insomnia Coach®. I offer sleep coaching services that give people with insomnia all the skills and support they need to enjoy better sleep for the rest of their lives. I also offer a free two-week sleep training course for people with insomnia at insomniacoach....
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All content found on the Insomnia Coach RUclips channel is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice or medical treatment and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or other licensed healthcare provider. All content is provided as is, and without warranties.
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All content found on the Insomnia Coach RUclips channel is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
I wake up at 4am during REM sleep, What's the best solution for early morning awakening
I found the video very calming. To hear that other people besides myself are getting by on 2 - 3 hours sleep a night is so reassuring. When insomnia creates so much tension and worry this approach is a Godsend. Thank you Martin.
You are definitely not alone!
I know for years I considered my self a freak because I didn’t know other people got 2 and 3 hours of sleep like I do most days.
I'm with you all. I get 1-3. I suffer from an extremely stressful life altering traumatic event/mistake that happened...
I've never been the same. I got anxiety insomnia,... ans severe depression, and anhedonia.
I don't like living anymore.... and have lost previous desires, hobbies, activities... etc
How are you doing?
@@klanderkalam suffering from it since late teens. 3-decade plus later, it is still afflicting me. Medical diagnosis of my spouse is not helping things either. Now I am taking supplements & doing daily 5-lm walk.
Sleep restriction is helping me a lot ! Once you start getting some better sleep, you becomes happier and confident that you can sleep. That positivity further helps in sleeping better. I restrict myself to my bed from 1:30 am to 7:30 am.
I am so happy to hear this - thank you for sharing!
How bad was your insomnia
When you have only gotten 2 hours sleep and then you finally fall asleep around 5am it is unbelievably difficult to force yourself to get up at 6:30 when your sleep window closes.
Very true! Does staying in bed after 6:30 AM help you get to where you want to be? This video might be useful, too: ruclips.net/video/f1DPuRScZfg/видео.html
I can confirm that this works, I learned it from a psychologist during the start of the pandemic.
It’s though tho and requires dedication and motivation. I went to bed at 11pm and went out of bed at 5am. The first nights (and days) were heavy, I hardly slept, more like snoozed. But after a few nights, I noticed I was awaken by my alarm clock. The trick is to not worry about lying awake when it happens, don’t get frustrated, just accept it. Within a few days I was sleeping better. Bonus is you have a lot of extra time in the morning.
It’s not a quick fix and requires motivation. This helped me get off of sleeping pills that I had been using for a short time. (Disclaimer: If you’re using sleeping pills for a longer time consult with your physician before stopping cold turkey and starting the restriction therapy).
One last thought, there will be times where your sleep will derail again (as life happens) and you will have to start the restriction therapy again. So I see it as a tool that you can return to whenever needed.
(fyi I also put this comment at other videos on this topic)
Hey. Thank you. I had a bit of a breakthrough, mentally, this morning with respect to acceptance of nighttime wakefulness. Not struggling is the key, as you mentioned.
To also hear that from you is very encouraging.
Whoever you are, thanks again.
@@Daughterofthelivingword Each person needs their own specific minimum of sleep, however 5 hours is more than half of what is generally accepted as the normal minimum.
Can I ask, are you having trouble falling asleep, or staying asleep? And additionally, do you go to bed before you're actually tired enough to sleep?
@@peachmelba1000 I’m happy to hear you had this breakthrough, for me it also felt like progress. Your second comment/question, was that for me or @daughterofthelivingword?
@@99rpm yes
@@peachmelba1000If the conditions are right, meaning it's bedtime and the room is dark and quiet, I'm wearing ear plugs and I'm not too worried about external stuff, I can fall and stay asleep just fine, also when I'm not super duper tired. I do sometimes find it a bit difficult to get back to sleep if I awake in the middle of the night or too early, because thoughts and ideas start to come into my head very quickly.
Practicing instead of achieving.
Thank u so much for this video.
It's all about using your mental energy constructively, Rin! Glad you found the video helpful.
Thank you you for tip. I've suffered with cronic insomnia for nearly 4 years. I will try sleep restriction from tonight I'll let you know how I get on.
Thanks for sharing!
Just watching at this guy makes me feel relaxed and ready to beat insomnia LOL, great content.
I am currently waking up after every REM phase (I have like 5 or 6 different dreams throught the night!!) but I am functionin normally during the day... it's been only like 5 days like this.. .SUCKS, but staying in bed makes me feel with the URGE OF SLEEPIN which makes me feel ANXIOUS (I suffer from health anxiety BTW)
I'll relax myself, its not a big deal yet.
If I dont overcome this, then I'll return to this video and pay more attention and try this method, cause I am seein more people sayin THIS WORKS
Thanks a lot, Coach
I hope I dont see you again !! (you know what I mean LOL)
God bless
Nighttime awakenings are a normal part of sleep. If you find it hard to fall back to sleep then that might be because you are putting effort into trying to fall back to sleep/putting pressure on yourself to fall back to sleep. These responses (although understandable!) make sleep a lot more difficult.
@@InsomniaCoach coach you have no idea how grateful I am
I still have problems sleeping, but at least I am taking it slowly. Actually yesterday I slept way better because I STOPPED ALL EFFORTS. I watched TV late, I ate some ice cream, I felt so relax and when I went to bed for a while to rest (because I planned to do a sleep window) I couldn't get out of bed because I was so sleepy and I slept a bit faster than before. I woke up like 4 times hehe but the second one was at 6 am so it wasn't that bad! Thanks a lot 🙏😁
@@nutriconciencia I love it! Thank you so much for sharing!
I like your chilled tone - it's relaxing
I appreciate that, Alec! Thanks for your support!
Hi Martin. Firstly wanted to say thank you so much for your amazing videos - it means more than you think to have someone out there who really understands all our irrational thoughts about sleep. As an insomniac I hugely appreciate it, and I'm sure so many others do too.
I wanted to also ask you some questions if you have a moment to answer please?
1) When you talk about sleep quality, how would the 5 hours make someone feel any better the next day if it's 5 hours of restricted (allotted) sleep as opposed to 5 hours with the 3 hours of wakefulness?
2) How do you distinguish between sleep readiness and fatigue? I'm trying to allot restricted sleep time, but sometimes I may feel sleepy and actually start falling asleep at my couch but not fall asleep in bed. I'm basically finding it hard to understand when my body actually wants to sleep and WILL sleep, rather than just it simply being tired (so then I can start to schedule my time for genuine sleep).
I appreciate your kind words, Joe. I am not 100% sure I understand your first question, but I think it might be related to sleep duration vs the time we allot for sleep. If you spent 10 hours in bed and got 5 hours of sleep, you might not feel as good compared to if you spent 5 hours in bed and slept for all 5 of those hours. In other words, when our sleep duration is more closely aligned with the amount of time we're spending in bed, we might enjoy a better quality of sleep. For the second question, this video might help: ruclips.net/video/zj2ET8LtP7A/видео.html
Just wanted to add that sleep restriction is definitely not for everyone. I did not stick with it for more than a week or so, but it made my insomnia and anxiety worse. My problem with implementing this successfully is my acute sleep anxiety. I can be totally fine, happy, not even thinking about sleep over the entire day, even into the evening. But once my SO goes to sleep, and I'm left in a lonely empty house, waiting for a sleep window to open in 2 hours...all that did was steadily ramp up my anxiety. Then when it would open, and I'd try to sleep, I couldn't think of anything else than my shortened window in order to (deliberately) only get 5 hours of sleep. The anxiety and stress would be through the roof. Getting out of bed after 20 minutes did nothing to calm me down. It sounds so simple to just "get up out of bed and go do something enjoyable until you are sleepy", well that can't happen because the window is closing down even more, which leads to more anxiety, and so on. Nothing about getting out of bed is enjoyable, and I tried damn near everything to relax in that period.
I ended up in the ER after a week of getting maybe 1-2 hours of sleep, and feeling dizzy and uncoordinated. Slight fever and trembles. I knew I could not go another night of anxiously waiting for a sleep window, and then getting very little sleep. It was a constant low grade panic attack, day after day getting worse as sleep consumed me, waiting for the next night to see if I would sleep. The pressure on that one moment became too much to bear, way more than the pressure to sleep. If you are a person who just can't sleep, but are not suffering from serious anxiety, this technique might work better, as you be more prone to being less anxious throughout the next days. This would allow the sleep pressure to build while your anxiety remains low.
The one thing I've learned about this technique is it's normally tailored to chronic insomniacs who have sleep maintenance issues. These people normally fall asleep without problem, but go long stretches of wakefullness through the night. Sleep restriction's intention is to compress this drawn out, broken sleep into a nicely consolidated block. I do not have that problem. Even in nights when I struggle with initially falling asleep, I'll go right back out even if I have to get up for the bathroom. I do not have any sleep maintenance issues at all. The anxiety over FALLING asleep was made worse by the long lonely hours in the middle of the night and additional pressure to sleep in a shorter window.
For me, someone with sleep onset problems, the best way for me to sleep is to do something specifically advised against in CBT-i traning. I go to bed much earlier than my wake up time. It gives me an hour or more to try and settle in, even if I'm unable to sleep immediately, I know in my head that I have extra "buffer time" to fall asleep and get the hour of sleep I need. Sometimes it doesn't work, but eventually I'll fll asleep at some point, and if it's a 4 hour night, it's better than a 0 hour night. Again, this is generally advised against, but I would argue that for people with anxiety and sleep onset problems, the peace of mind I get from giving myself extra time to fall asleep helps much more than the pressure of trying to perform in a very short window. I've had 3 or 4 bouts of short term insomnia throughout my life, and it always worked itself out using this method. Probably not the best, but it works, and over time I don't have lingering issue seeing my bed as a bad place. Just my two cents, I don't have any problem with any CBT-i technique, but this one just didn't work for me.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and your experience! As you rightly pointed out, there is no "one size fits all" technique because everyone is different. If what you are doing is working for you, nobody has the right to tell you otherwise. You are the expert on you!
@@InsomniaCoach I appreciate all of your videos and your website. I found a lot of helpful tips and have implemented other aspects of CBT-i. Sleep restriction is indeed a proven successful way to overcome insomnia, so I have nothing negative to say about this technique. But I'm prone of anxiety issues, and this one was very amplified for me. I'm sure it would have worked if I was a chronic insomniac who was used to many sleepless nights, and irregular sleep patterns, without the anxiety issues. Thanks for all of the help you provide to people!
what a strong comment. thank you.
Man I hope my brain adapts fast because I’ve had poor sleep for 5 months. Having my sleep window for 6 hours. Halfway week 1 and I slowly feel my sleep drive increase. I kinda blame myself for having a bigger sleep window daily after a bad night being up for 40 hours.
I tried the most radical restriction I know of. 10 Days of no sleep. I had projects and kept busy the whole time. ten days is the military's extreme. At the end of my ten days, I still couldn't get to sleep without help. I thought it might reset my circadian rhythm. Nope.
That's almost a world record right there, Raul. I wonder if there's a possibility that even a very small amount of sleep might have happened over those 10 days?
@@InsomniaCoach If it did, it happened while I was standing. I didn't take a break the whole time.
@@Raul28153 If we don't give sleep the opportunity to happen, it's quite remarkable how long we can force ourselves to remain awake! Sleep will always happen in the end, though - even if we try to avoid it.
@@InsomniaCoach yup eventually.
10 days of no sleep and you haven't experienced any hallucinations or at least fatigue? How did you continue to work? When I had the worst episode of insomnia and couldn't sleep consecutively for three nights in a row I felt like having dementia. I couldn't follow a simple conversation or keep my speech consistent.
I think I need you Martin. I am a mess. Sometimes I spend about 10 hours in bed and only sleep about one hour. It totally sucks.
It sounds like changing the amount of time you allot for sleep might be a helpful first step! If I can be of any help you can find me at insomniacoach.com :)
Thank you!
Thank you for posting this. I think this just might work.
You're welcome, John!
I had this exact question and so this really helps answer my question
Glad to hear it - thanks for letting me know!
wake up at 6 am or before everyday no matter when you sleep, and stand in sunlight for 15 mintues when you wake up, just 2 things bye bye insomnia
Riiiight……
What is your advise for people who cant sleep, Does sleep restriction apply? Also if your already sleepy but not yet your set bedtime..how to do? Does it contradict the go to bed only when your sleepy?
Well, everyone can sleep - so my advice would probably be the same! You might find this video helpful:
If you plan to go to bed later at night, is it OK to go to bed earlier if you feel sleepy enough? ruclips.net/video/-rD-0Zm_hOo/видео.html
Thanks
You're welcome!
Currently, I am getting 4 hour sleep. How long should my sleep window be ? I have early morning insomnia?
I'd typically suggest an initial sleep window of around five-and-a-half hours. I hope this helps!
The only thing that concerns me in "getting out of bed when you can't sleep..." is that the things that I will do whenever I am out of bed. Spending alone in the quiet of the night alone (while the rest of your family's asleep) is so boring, it's making me crazy and makes wanna reach a bottle of brandy but that's not a good idea. Help me, what should I do. Also, I don't prefer reading or just sitting on the couch.... I am thinking about working out even though I feel so fatigue due to series of sleepless nights, will that be okay?
These days, I think it's fine to stay in bed - as long as you are feeling comfortable in bed or engaged in an activity that helps you practice being awake with a bit less struggle.
But what about nausea and vomiting and Hyperthyroidism and also high blood pressure!
Hi, great video. I have struggled with insomnia on/off for years and have taken all types of medication to help. I take some to help me get to sleep which works well, however i wake several times during the night and at a last resort i need to take a dose of a fast acting sleeping pill (zoplicone) to get me back to sleep. After weeks of this i continue to keep waking and needing more medication.
I really want to have natural sleep and not rely on meds as this is causing anxiety. Is there any advice to stop the reliance on medication and retrain the brain to not need it? I am going to start the restriction therapy tonight. Thanks a lot for your help so far.
Your body is able to sleep without medication - just as it did before you experienced insomnia! Furthermore, even when you take medication, YOU are still the one generating sleep. No pill can generate sleep.
If you can work on addressing the thoughts and behaviors that perpetuate insomnia, you'll start to regain confidence in your natural ability to sleep and this will likely help you shift away from a perceived reliance on medication to sleep.
I hope this helps, and good luck!
This sounds like me. I tried the sleep restriction once and it worked. I went back to sleep pill and it is making me feel really bad, so I'm going to do the sleep restriction again tonite. UGH but it's worth it. Did it work for you???
Should I work up to a new sleep window or just start a new one completely, especially if that new sleep window is my goal bedtime
I'd suggest doing whichever you feel most comfortable with! It can be useful to start with a reasonably consistent out of bed time in the morning and go from there. It can also be helpful to think of the start of your sleep window as your earliest possible bedtime rather than the time you must go to bed - after all, a clock doesn't know when you are sleepy enough for sleep!
Does this work with sleep maintenance insomnia? I wake up around 3:30 am no matter what my sleeping window is. Can you make a video on how that would work?
Sounds like this is the video for you (prepare to be awed by my extreme closeup, though - the camera was a bit close when it was recorded!): Is sleep restriction helpful if your main challenge is staying asleep rather than falling asleep? ruclips.net/video/86AaBCNOAig/видео.html
I am in CBTi and I find Im so tired waiting for my sleep window and then when I push through I start waking up. Ive been doing it for almost 2 weeks and I was sleeping more before sleep restriction. Just started stimulus control too and I feel like that also wakes me up. Now getting around 2-3 hours a night 😔
Losing that sense of sleepiness is not unusual and is usually associated with conditioned arousal - and getting out of bed when being in bed doesn't feel good is how we typically address that conditioned arousal. So, I would encourage you to keep going and to be as consistent as possible - just as it took time for insomnia to develop, it can take time to address!
I've been dealing with insomnia for two months now, initially it would take me hours to fall asleep. But I started doing bed restriction 10 days ago, and the insomnia shifted immediately to early morning awakeness. For a sceduled bedtime of 12:30 to 06:30, now I'm falling asleep quickly, but waking up 30-60 minutes before the alarm rings, and I can't go back to sleep. Can I fix this with CBTi? Is there hope for me to have a normal sleep again?
Waking during the night is normal - what can make it harder to fall back to sleep is when we try to fight or avoid those awakenings, put effort into falling back to sleep, put pressure on ourselves to fall back to sleep, or try to fight or avoid the thoughts and feelings that might occur when we wake.
@@InsomniaCoach Thanks, Martin. Overall, looks like insomnia has to be handled with a very "hippie" sort of mentality. Just chill and go with the flow. I'll try to be less controlling next time I wake up in the middle of the night.
@@pizzalover1548 A hippie mentality - I love it! Might need to steal that one from you!
During the sleep restriction should I still get out of bed if not asleep within 20-30min?
That's up to you - I don't think there's any need to respond to wakefulness just because it's present. If it feels comfortable, you might simply rest. If you find yourself struggling, then you have the opportunity to do something else instead - and you might do something else in bed or out of bed, until conditions feel right for sleep.
I did this for one week. I noticed I still wake up once during the night and it can be a challenge to fall back asleep. Should sleep restriction eliminate this wakening if I keep it consistent?
From personal experience, this program can take weeks. It’s not a quick fix and takes a lot of discipline to keep going. I’ve had insomnia for years, especially waking and not being being able to fall back. After a few weeks every aspect of my sleep gradually improved. Best of luck and believe in the process.
@@johnnykilo4967 how did ur sleep changed?
@@pedroribeiro7594 2 big changes. First, I can fall asleep within 10 minutes and the biggest being that if I wake up I can easily fall back asleep.
Waking during the night is a normal part of sleep. The aim of sleep restriction is to ensure you aren't setting yourself up for long periods of wakefulness by allotting too much time for sleep. It can also help build sleep drive and help move you away from chasing after sleep (something that can make sleep more difficult) by doing things like going to bed too early, staying in bed too late, and napping during the day. It can take longer than a week for noticeable change to occur (everyone is different, though).
@@johnnykilo4967 Thank you for sharing!
Hi Martin, I have a question if you don't mind. In your website you said that it's not a good idea to set the restriction to less than 5.5 hrs but if we set the time on bed to 5.5 hrs and we can't fall asleep right away, doesn't that mean we get less than 5.5?
If you can't fall asleep right away (which is normal - it takes the average person between 10 and 30 minutes to fall asleep) that's OK since you still *allotted* five-and-a-half hours for sleep. In other words, you want to give yourself the opportunity to get five-and-a-half hours of sleep - but that doesn't mean you'll get it. Does this make things a bit clearer?
I just uploaded a video about this: Should you worry about how long it takes to fall asleep when following a short sleep window? ruclips.net/video/OpM-FMYssuQ/видео.html
Interesting video. Do you have a technique that helps to think of NOTHING? I tried it once or twice and it worked but after that, it didn't work anymore. I tried the military method: Don't think, don't think but it did not work.
Ah, if only there was a magical "off" switch for the mind! Unfortunately, that doesn't exist! You might find this video helpful: What to think about when you get into bed to help you relax and make sleep happen - ruclips.net/video/ild5Ige5cDg/видео.html
@@InsomniaCoach Thanks!!!!!!
@@thakiusmuckfeather1103 You're welcome!
Hi Martin say for example we only alot 5.5 hours for sleep but we don't feel sleepy by the start of the sleep window and we stay up longer. We end up with 4 hours window before going to bed. Is this not sleep deprivation you know depriving ourselves of sleep
If you know from experience that going to bed before you are sleepy enough for sleep doesn't lead to much sleep, then you're probably not depriving yourself of sleep. If you find that you can fall asleep pretty easily when you go to bed before you feel a strong sense of sleepiness then it might be worth going to bed as soon as the sleep window begins.
In the short-term, a sleep window might take some sleep away - but that's not usually the case for very long since I suggest having a sleep window a bit longer than your average nightly sleep duration.
Furthermore, the sleep window is a short-term technique that is intended to help build sleep drive, reduce the opportunity for long periods of wakefulness, strengthen the body clock, and prevent us from trying to chase after sleep - it's not something that we usually follow for the rest of our lives (especially when the sleep window is particularly short).
I hope there's something helpful here!
So, if you only sleep 3 hours a night, and spend a lot of time trying to FALL asleep, how is jumping in and out of bed every 20 minutes helpful? This makes no sense
This video is about creating and observing a sleep window - not about getting out of bed during the night. I don't think there's any need to get out of bed just because you are awake, but it's always an option if you find yourself really struggling with that wakefulness. Perhaps falling asleep might be made more difficult by trying so hard to make sleep happen?
How to improve sleep duration?
You might find this video helpful, Rizal: Get rid of chronic insomnia by getting rid of sleep efforts and safety behaviors - ruclips.net/video/YJiUkAQL-2k/видео.html