[plssleep]

I’m currently observing a 6 hours sleep window (10pm to 4am, week 2). After I get out of bed at 4am, I feel so sleepy and simply could not function. One of Martin’s video talked about how you can start your day slowly and don’t have to do much early after you get up. So I sit on the couch and listen to podcasts. But I quickly doze off and have no idea what the podcasts talked about at all. However, if I stayed in bed past 4am, I definitely do not fall back to sleep. I actually already woke up before 4am (usually 3:30a/2:30a). I average 4-5 hours sleep, hence setting the 6 hours sleep window.

I wonder whether I can extend the sleep window to 5am so I don’t doze off on the couch after 4am?? But the dilemma is that I cannot sleep past 3:30am in my bed. I can only fall back to sleep on the couch. And after a week of sleep restriction, I don’t see any improvement whatsoever. How long do I have to wait till I can see some result?

Thanks!

[Chee2308]

Hello!
How long have you had insomnia and what was your sleep window like before this? If it’s different from now, it may be likely your body isn’t used to the current sleep window yet. And any reason why you chose 4 am as your get out of bed time? 4 am is probably still very dark, I think 6 am would be more preferable. This is because after you get out of bed, you should try to get some sunlight exposure to reinforce it. The human body is regulated by an internal body clock and a circadian rthym where light plays a large role. I think a sleep window of 12-6 am might be more appropriate for you, unless you are a shift worker and need to work in the early morning. Good luck!

[Martin Reed]

If your long-term goal is to sleep in your own bed, it might not be helpful to allow yourself to sleep on the couch. It often takes a bit longer than a couple of weeks for sleep to noticeably improve when implementing a sleep window. Since you have found that you find it really hard to stay awake when you get out of bed at the end of your sleep window, you might want to be a bit more active first thing in the morning — a short walk around the block can be really helpful.

As Chee suggested, you might find it helpful to adjust your sleep window so it starts and ends a bit later if you aren’t happy with the time your current sleep window ends. If you make a change, I’d suggest sticking with it for at least a couple of weeks before considering additional adjustments.

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