Here’s what happened to me last night: I went to bed at 10pm, for a 6:30am wake-up and finally got to sleep at midnight.
Then, I woke up again at 1am and panicked until 3am about the next morning.
If you’re interested, I didn’t end up making that early work-out. But if I’d considered leaving my bed rather than simply stressing about the next day, some experts think I might have stood a chance.
Speaking to healthcare provider John’s Hopkins, sleep expert Dr Luis F. Buenaver said that staying in bed when you can’t sleep isn’t just likely to keep you up longer ― it can ruin your kips in the future too.
How does staying in bed affect your sleep?
It “will lead your brain and body to associate your bed with wakefulness instead of with sleep”, Dr Buenaver said.
That can have a longer-term effect on your ability to nod off once your head hits the pillow, so he says you should get up after around 20 minutes of sleeplessness.
“Sit in a comfortable chair in another room,” he advised. “Read a book, with just enough lights on so that you can see the print comfortably.”
Don’t do any work or pay any bills in that time, and if you start stressing about those or other issues, try distracting yourself with music or audiobooks.
You should only go back to bed when you’re feeling drowsy.
“It can be difficult leaving a warm, comfortable bed after waking up in the middle of the night,” the sleep expert said.
“But think of this step as an investment in better sleep — if not tonight then tomorrow night and in the future.”
Any other advice?
I’m definitely guilty of scrolling mindlessly through TikTok after my 3am jolts awake, but sleep expert Dr Jeff Rogers told Bustle that’s the worst thing I can possibly do.
“The blue light from your phone mimics daylight and suppresses the production of melatonin, the hormone which regulates your sleep-wake cycle,” he shared with the publication.
And while you might want to try switching rooms after 20 minutes, Wendy Troxel, a senior behavioural scientist at Rand Corps, told CNN that clock-watching is generally a bad idea.
“Clock watching becomes habitual, and that habitual response of frustration and anxiety also causes a stress response in the body,” she said.
“You look at the clock... and immediately might grit your teeth. You think of all the demands… how awful it is going to be when you’re sleep-deprived,” she added.
If that sounds like you, Dr Buenaver says it’s fine to guess when your 20 minutes have passed.