Sleep Better

Lesson 14: Your two-week sleep reset

Goal: turn the course into a simple plan, run it for two weeks, and see what changes.

Don’t try to do everything at once. Pick the few changes that fit your biggest problems, keep them going for two weeks, and measure.

Before you start

1. Look back at your two reasons from Lesson 1.
2. Set your wake time (the same every day, within about an hour at weekends) and your target bedtime from Lesson 3.
3. Put the countdown from Lesson 7 into your calendar as repeating reminders: last caffeine, last meal and alcohol, work stops, screens off.

Week 1: the foundations

Do all of these every day:

• Same wake time, alarm set once, no snooze.
• Daylight within an hour of waking (5 to 30 minutes depending on cloud; Lesson 4).
• A big glass or two of water in the morning, tapering off in the evening (Lesson 5).
• Caffeine cut-off at least 6 hours before bed.
• Lights down to lamps 2 hours before bed; screens away 1 hour before.
• A wind-down: to-do list, then a boring book, a sleep story or music on a sleep timer (Lesson 7).
• Clock turned away, phone out of reach (Lesson 6).
• Fill in the sleep diary each morning (below).

Week 2: fine-tune

Review week 1’s diary, then add what fits:

• Taking more than 30 minutes to fall asleep, or awake for long stretches in the night? Start stimulus control: bed only when sleepy, get up after about 15 to 20 minutes awake (Lessons 9 and 10).
• Sleep efficiency under 85%? Consider sleep restriction if it’s safe for you (Lesson 10), or start the free THIS WAY UP program.
• Waking early? Cut evening alcohol, darken the room (Lessons 5 and 6).
• Up to pee? Shift drinks earlier, legs up in the late afternoon, try the back-then-side trick (Lesson 9).
• Mind racing at bedtime? Add early-evening worry time and more hobby time (Lessons 7 and 8).
• Groggy at the alarm every day? Move bedtime 15 minutes earlier (Lesson 3).

The sleep diary

Fill this in each morning; it takes a minute. Estimates are fine, so don’t clock-watch at night to get them.

If you use a sleep tracker (Lesson 11), add its total sleep and resting heart rate, but fill in your own estimates first.

At the end of two weeks

Compare week 2 with your starting point from Lesson 0 and week 1:

• Has your average time asleep gone up?
• Has your sleep efficiency gone up?
• How do you feel during the day?

Keep the changes that helped. If after two weeks you’re still sleeping badly most nights, that’s useful information: take the diary to your GP and ask about CBT-I (Lessons 10 and 13).

Exercise 14

Write your plan on one page: your wake time, bedtime, countdown reminders, wind-down and the one or two week 2 changes you’ll add. Stick it on the fridge and start tomorrow morning with daylight.

Sources

• healthdirect, Insomnia (keeping a sleep diary)
• Sleep Foundation, Sleep restriction therapy (sleep efficiency)
• Sleep Health Foundation, Sleep hygiene and tips

This course is general information, not medical advice. If you have ongoing sleep problems, loud snoring with pauses or gasping, or sleepiness that affects driving or work, see your doctor. In Australia, if you are struggling or feel unsafe, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.