[lukewinarko]

For the few weeks I’ve been stuck in this cycle of sleeping 4-5 hours and then waking up every 2 hours. I believe this is called sleep fragmentation, and even on days where I get a total of “7 hours”. My eyes still feel tired and droopy throughout the day.

[hiker]

Hi lukekwinarko, you might want to check out Martin’s sleep restriction tips and his emails and podcasts. I think part of the program involves going to bed at a certain time and getting up at a certain time, regardless how well you slept. But I would refer you to his materials.

Beyond the specific program he outlines, as a general longterm rule, I have found that keeping track of the time hasn’t worked that well. Of course if you have time-sensitive obligations, e.g. having to get to work at a certain time, you cannot ignore the clock. But to the extent possible, I have found that I did better when i stopped calculating.

Actually the thing which disturbed my sleep the most was thinking about how my sleep was disturbed. And then thinking about it some more, and then trying to stop thinking about it. And realizing that made me think about it all the more. I still can get into this mindset, until I realize for the 10,000th time that it’s best just to acknowledge I am thinking about it and let it be. Which does not guarantee better sleep the next night, but it has been the best alternative over time.

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