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Habit Lab

Sleep better

Answer a few questions. Get the tools that fit your kind of sleep problem.

This is not medical advice. It is a guide meant to educate, not diagnose. If sleep is affecting your health, please see a doctor.

A few questions

Think about the last month. Answer for a normal night.

1Which sounds most like you?
2How long does it take you to drop off?
3How often do you wake in the night?
4How many hours do you really sleep?
5How often does it spoil your day?
6How long has this been going on?
7Do you snore loudly, or gasp in your sleep?

Your plan

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Start with these:

    The tools

    Four small things. Use the ones your plan picked out.

    Sleep window

    Most people with bad sleep spend too long in bed, not too little. This works out the hours you really sleep, so you can spend only those in bed.

    Your window

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    In bed
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    Asleep
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    Efficiency
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    Keep the same get-up time every day. Do not go to bed before your window starts. After a week, work it out again. Over 85%, add 15 minutes. Under 80%, take 15 off. It never drops below five hours.

    You will feel sleepier for the first week or two. Do not drive while you feel sleepy. Talk to a doctor first if you have bipolar disorder, epilepsy, untreated sleep apnoea or sleepwalking, if you are pregnant, or if you drive for work.

    Last coffee

    Half the caffeine is still in you five hours later. You can fall asleep on it and still sleep badly.

    Last coffee

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    Nothing with caffeine after this. That means coffee, tea, cola, energy drinks and dark chocolate.

    Wind down

    Your body needs warning. An hour is enough.

      Park your worries

      If your mind races at night, write it down before bed. Put it here and leave it until morning.

      Saved on this device only.

      See a doctor if

      • You snore loudly, or someone has seen you stop breathing
      • Bad sleep has gone on for more than three months
      • Your legs will not keep still at night
      • You fall asleep in the day without meaning to
      • You wake early most days and feel low

      These need treating in their own right. No sleep tip fixes them.