[Alisonhere]

I’ve been practicing sleep restriction for a few weeks, going to bed at 12am and getting up at 7am. This has been going well most of the time but I’m uncertain whether it’s ok to go back to reading in bed before turning out the light? Lots of CBT-I advice is to only sleep in bed. I used to read in bed and really enjoyed it though am nervous to go back to this. Now I’m reading downstairs then going to bed at 12am and turning light out immediately. Am I just setting up more rules here which probably don’t help sleep?

[Martin Reed]

Thanks for the great question — this is a common concern!

My thoughts are this:

If you enjoy reading in bed, I don’t see how it could be a problem. Your own experience tells you that reading in bed doesn’t stop sleep from happening and your own experience tells you that rules and rituals aren’t usually helpful when it comes to sleep!

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