[elli]

i have been struggeling with insomnia since christmas.
i found the insomnia coach about about 2 weeks ago and i have been implementing bedtime restriction for about a week now. i get about 5 h a sleep. so i have been going to bed around midnight and getting up at 6. my problem has always been sleeping through and waking up very early. for the last days i have been waking up at 4:50 (exactly) every night. since i am feeling quite ok most of the time, i‘ll try to stay in bed and maybe dose off for a few extra minutes. am i doing this correctly? or do i need to restrict even more? i feel very sleepy around 11:00 😉 thanks for your help??

[Scott]

Hi @elli,

Great job staying committed to the techniques. Based on what you describe, it appears that your sleep window time is appropriate. I wonder if looking at the time when you wake could be generating some sleep related anxiety or is highlighting the sleep concern?

Scott

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If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[elli]

hey scott,

thank you for your reply! is it better to maybe set an alarm for 6 and not look at the clock when i wake up? at all? it is kind of a challenge not no be confronted with the actual time, as soon as i get up… 😉

do you have any experience how long it takes to see improvement in the overall time one is able to sleep when applying bedtime restriction?

thank you so much in advance!

[Scott]

Elli,

The concern with clock watching is that it can heighten your awareness of the sleep issue and create additional arousal which can make it more difficult to fall back asleep. Getting out of bed at the same time every morning is more important than hitting your sleep window start time so establishing an alarm time is fine.

Progress is different with everyone and is dependent on other factors, such as, how consistent the person implements the techniques, do they take daytime naps, are they modifying their daily agendas in hopes of achieving better sleep that night, etc. Progress is really dependent on how the person feels the next day also. Without knowing how long you typically slept before insomnia started, if you feel great with 5.5-6 hours of sleep but maybe that’s not as long as you slept prior to insomnia, I’d consider that progress. How are you feeling during the day and do you keep active with events that create a life you want to live?

Scott

—

If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[elli]

hey scott,

thanks again for your message 🙂

i´ll try to avoid the clock watching, thanks for the explanation.
but how do i stop this “inner clock” that wakes me up around 5?

before insomnia i got around 7 hours of sleep, so the 5 hours feel not enough, but i feel ok-ish resting wise. still i am so looking forward to an extra 1 or 2 hours, as you can imagine!

since i found all the information on the insomnia coach podcast and youtube videos i feel so much better, knowing that there are so many people who feel the same und who made such good progress using cbti techniques. before i was laying in bed awake for hours worring about how insomnia would take a toll on my health and how the next day would be terrible, which it often was 😉 i had all the avoiding of social activities going on and all the “sleep rituals” that were obviously so counterproductive, i got rid of all of them and started implementing bedtime restriction, which already improved the times i wake up during the night to once and that is only a very short window and i fall back asleep within minutes.

now i try not to fokus on sleep or the lack of it during the day and to do everything as normal as possible and enjoy my life as well as my work.

thank you again for your support!

elli

[Scott]

Elli,

I think all the steps/information you’ve learned and implemented have proven to be beneficial towards improving your sleep. As you mentioned, enjoying life, regardless of how you slept the night before, is so important in this journey.

If you’re consistently waking at 5am every morning, then it could be a signal that your body has generated all the sleep that it feels it needs for the night. Since you mentioned that you’re very sleepy at 11pm but your sleep window doesn’t start until later, do you think sliding your sleep window back to 1130pm might be beneficial?

Scott

—

If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[Author]

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