In the night
When you wake at 3am
What tends to help when you are awake in the middle of the night and cannot get back down.
4 minSource: Narrated
In the moment
If you are still awake after roughly twenty minutes, get up rather than lying there. Staying in bed awake tends to build the association between bed and frustration.
Go somewhere dim and do something undemanding, like a few pages of a book. Not a screen, and not the news.
Return to bed when you feel heavy-eyed rather than at a set time.
If you are too hot, cool down before trying again: a cold flannel on the wrists, a thinner layer, a window open.
The morning after
Try to keep your usual wake time even after a broken night. A long lie-in tends to push the next night later still.
Daylight early in the morning helps re-anchor the body clock.
One rough night is a rough night. A pattern over weeks is worth writing down and taking to your doctor.
Sleep is where memory consolidates and mood resets. It compounds further than almost anything else here.
General information, not medical advice. Narrated never diagnoses.
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