[Gracie]

I find the biggest challenge with sleep restriction is staying awake during the day. Have only been doing it for a few days and the mornings are fine but then I become very tired and feel I could sleep standing up. I seem to get over that after an hour or two and then it comes back in the evening when I’m trying to stay awake for a couple of more hours. Challenging!

[Edgar]

That is a common complaint,but be persistent.

And I find it impossible to FALL asleep during the day, hard as I try and even if I missed the entire night before.

Funny how we all fight different things.

[Martin Reed]

Hello Gracie! As suggested by @Edgar, that high level of sleepiness is quite common in the short-term — and is one of the early goals of sleep restriction since many people with chronic insomnia have actually lost that strong sensation of sleepiness. Getting it back can be very reassuring!

What is the start time and end time of your current sleep window? If you are feeling very sleepy during the day then it’s worth making sure that it’s not too short. The goal with sleep restriction isn’t sleep deprivation — we simply want to build sleep drive and reduce nighttime wakefulness.

Feeling sleepy before going to bed and then awake when you get into bed is a symptom often associated with conditioned arousal. One way we help to tackle that is to get out of bed whenever being in bed doesn’t feel good.

As you said, these techniques are challenging but they are very effective.

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