Stop counting sheep – and 13 more no-nonsense tips for getting back to sleep

The Guardian

3 days ago

Bad news for that old favourite, counting sheep. 'It has been studied and it doesn't work,' says Dr Eidn Mahmoudzadeh, a Manchester GP and co-founder of The Sleep Project, which offers support for sleeplessness at all ages. 'It is too simple and mundane; people don't carry on, they just get bored and their thoughts wander to worrying about sleep.' Counterintuitively, you should go for something more mentally challenging, he says, to distract the brain.
Rachel from London counts backwards from 100: 'Do it slowly and if thoughts interrupt or you miss where you are, just start again. Sometimes the thoughts overpower, but most times I don't get much beyond 76.'
Alternatively, try a 'cognitive shuffle' exercise, says Dr Lindsay Browning, a chartered psychologist and neuroscientist. 'It works by thinking of any word, such as 'cake' and trying to name as many words as possible that start with the first letter, C. When you have exhausted that list, move on to the next letter, A, and so on.'
There are lots of other ways of doing this. Suz Koch from Washington state says she 'chooses a category (eg: fruits, dog breeds, colours, movies) and starts at A, naming one thing from the category for every letter of the alphabet. It's a low-stakes activity that seems to switch my mind off from worrying, and I rarely make it past J.'
There is a school of thought that says having your phone by your bed is a disaster for sleep hygiene, but listening to something on it that distracts your mind can be useful. Julie Hassall from Plymouth listens to exactly the same audiobook every night: Pride and Prejudice on the BBC Sounds app. 'The point in listening to the same text,' she explains, 'is that you don't concentrate on it – you don't need to because you know the story inside out – but the rhythm of the narration stops you thinking about random stuff (what colour to paint the bathroom, cringing over that incident in a nightclub 35 years ago, worrying about an upcoming work presentation) and you will eventually fall asleep. Sometimes it's a bit weird – if I'm dreaming, the characters in my dream can start quoting the text. But as someone who has never slept well, I find it an invaluable way of getting a little more shut-eye.'
Russell Foster, a professor of circadian neuroscience at Oxford University and the author of Life Time: The New Science of the Body Clock, is a nocturnal fan of BBC Radio 4, and in particular, 'In Our Time, as it is really gentle. You are away within five minutes. The history of Chinese porcelain will do it for me every time.'
White noise is another popular choice for zoning out, and can be as niche as you like. Michael Mobley from Colorado says, 'I prefer lower-frequency, almost rumbling static with very little high-end hiss, played through a nice bluetooth speaker with good bass response, on a continual one-hour loop all night.'
If you don't want to reach for your phone, you can try recounting a familiar story, like Carol Kolb in Los Angeles does: 'I go through the plot of a book I know well in my head, trying to include as much detail as possible. When my mind wanders off to other things I force myself to go back to where I left off in the book. This month it is David Copperfield, but often I use my favourite book of all time, Kazuo Ishiguro's The Unconsoled, a winding, dreamlike novel I have been lulling myself to sleep with for years.'
When you wake up, the instinctive thing is to look at the clock, says Mahmoudzadeh. 'Then you start to worry about how much sleep you haven't had, and do some mental maths about what time you have to get up. The brain goes round and round in circles, which is really unhelpful for getting back to sleep.' He recommends 'removing all visible clock faces from the bedroom. You don't need to know whether it is 2am or 6am; your alarm will go off when you need to get up. It does not help your situation at all, and it can only do harm.' Rori Reber from California uses this tactic: 'I purposefully do not look at the clock. That is very important.' And no glancing at your phone beyond turning on a podcast. 'Every fibre of your being has got to stop you from doomscrolling,' says Foster, which he concedes can be hard to resist.
'Ideally, for most people, bedrooms shouldn't be warmer than about 18C,' says Foster. 'The logic is that as you go to sleep, core body temperature drops. If you prevent that drop in temperature, it is more difficult to get to sleep. But under certain circumstances – if you are perimenopausal, menopausal or at a certain phase of the menstrual cycle – hormonal changes can increase core body temperature, and that might make you more likely to wake up.'
'If you are waking up with a hot flush, try to cool your body down,' says Dr Zoe Schaedel, a Brighton GP who specialises in menopause and sleep. 'Stand on a cool bathroom floor or near a fan and have a drink.' She adds that it is really important to get help for menopause-related night sweats, and there are hormonal and non-hormonal treatments available.
'My trick is to get cold then get warm again,' says Caitlin from Liverpool. 'I kick off the covers and just when I'm getting uncomfortably chilly, I cover up again. As I get warm, my body and mind are then able to relax and this causes me to fall asleep. It is like a reboot. Works every time.'
'There is good evidence that meditation techniques can help people fall back to sleep quicker by down-regulating your stress response,' says Mahmoudzadeh. Breathing exercises that are recommended for insomnia, says Schaedel, include box breathing (breathe in for four, hold for four, breathe out for four, hold for four) and '4-7-8' (breathe in for four, hold for seven, breathe out for eight). 'They are really good at reducing the level of alertness,' she says. She also suggests trying a visualisation, where you think of a very detailed experience and try to focus on that, which 'shifts the focus off trying to go to sleep'. You can find inspiration on the Headspace and Calm apps, she says.
Jonathan Guest from Cardiff runs through a 5K running route in his head: 'I try to remember in detail everything I could see or hear and the feelings it gave me at each step or stage around the course. I rarely get more than a couple of miles before I'm asleep.' Flora from Sweden opts for a strategy she heard was used by the military: 'Focus on your breathing, and starting at the very top of your head, imagine your body turning into lead or something very heavy. You then imagine this heaviness spreading down your neck, chest, along your arms and keep going. Any time you get distracted and start thinking about work or personal dramas, start again from the top of the head.'
Chris Hales from Dorset follows advice he received from a doctor about adding a second activity to breathing exercises. 'Slowly tapping a finger works for me. Giving the brain two things to focus on at once makes it difficult for the mind to wander and perform other tasks. I found that alternately tapping two different fingers was optimal – easy to do, but complex enough to keep the brain occupied.'
This is easier said than done, but worrying about being awake is the No 1 enemy of getting off to sleep, so try to suppress such thoughts. 'When you wake in the night, the key is to give yourself permission to be awake,' says Dr Guy Meadows, a sleep physiologist and founder of The Sleep School. 'The more you fight wakefulness, the more alert you become.'
If being awake in the middle of the night is a recurrent issue, Meadows suggests considering acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a technique that is used in his school's apps, which he says encourages a gentler approach, where you 'notice your thoughts without judgment, breathe, and let go of the struggle. You may not fall asleep instantly, but by accepting wakefulness, you're sowing the seeds of long-term healthier sleep – building a trusting, rather than fearful, relationship with sleep. Over time, this shift in mindset helps reduce nighttime anxiety and makes it easier for sleep to return naturally.'
'When all else fails,' says Julia Hankin from Newcastle upon Tyne, 'I remind myself that even on no sleep, I will survive. Yes, the day might be tough and very long, but I'll get through it. That seems to take the pressure off, and then I fall asleep.'
'I don't do it immediately, but if I've tried the usual yoga-ish savasana position (also known as corpse pose) and focusing on breathing and it doesn't work, I go upside down, taking my pillow to the bottom of the bed and sleeping that way round,' says Sarah from Lincolnshire. 'I have no idea why it works, and sometimes I wake up feeling a bit disorientated, as windows and doors aren't where they should be, but I've generally dropped off to sleep quite quickly.'
Likewise, if you are lying awake for more than 20 minutes (roughly speaking, no peeking at the clock), 'it is a good idea to get out of bed and go and do something else for a while to help your brain and body reset', says Browning. She suggests reading a book, doing some colouring or even (quietly) unloading the dishwasher before returning to bed when you feel sleepy again.
By having a break from trying to force yourself to sleep, you should find it easier to sleep when you get back into bed again, as you've had some time away from lying there feeling frustrated and anxious.' Wait until you feel genuinely sleepy, says Mahmoudzadeh, when 'your eyes are getting heavy and maybe your head is starting to nod, and at that point only, go back to bed and try to sleep. If you fall asleep, great; if not, repeat.'
Sheri DeWeerd from Wisconsin says she 'eats a little bit of protein, which has the magical ability to quiet my mind'. However, getting up for a snack isn't generally advised. 'The main concern with eating in the middle of the night is that your body is designed to rest during this time, not to digest food,' says Schaedel. 'Over time, it may become a habit – your body starts to expect food, which can then perpetuate the cycle of waking.'
'It's a much better idea, if you are waking in the middle of the night feeling hungry, to have a snack before going to bed.' says Browning. This way, you are less likely to wake up hungry. Ideal pre-bedtime snacks would be a bowl of porridge with milk, as whole rolled oats provide slow-release energy during the night and milk contains tryptophan, which we use to create melatonin [a sleep-inducing hormone]. A brown bread turkey, smoked salmon or peanut butter sandwich would also be a good choice.'
For some, it is a snoring or bed-hogging partner that hinders efforts to sleep. 'Often, the reason I'm awake is my husband's snoring,' says Kavita from Hove in East Sussex, adding that earplugs have helped. If this doesn't do the trick, sleep separately, says Foster. 'It is no great indictment of your relationship. So many people say, 'I couldn't possibly sleep in a separate room, it would be the end of our marriage.' Of course it wouldn't. It is the beginning of a new phase of one's marriage, because you'll be happier, brighter, have a better sense of humour, be less irritable, and therefore have more fun. Just get the sleep you need.'
'Healthy daytime habits set the foundation for better sleep at night, reducing the likelihood of unwanted awakenings,' says Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams. Walker emphasises the importance of limiting caffeine and alcohol in the afternoon and evening, and finishing dinner a few hours before bed.
'Another key strategy is to support your circadian rhythm: keep a consistent sleep schedule and get some bright light in the morning. Stay physically active – regular exercise is associated with deeper, more continuous sleep (just avoid intense workouts right before bedtime). If you nap, do it early and briefly, or consider skipping it if you suspect it's interfering with your night sleep. Finally, managing stress through the day and unwinding in the evening can help. Techniques such as relaxation exercises or a soothing pre-sleep routine will make it easier for your body to stay asleep.'
Aside from alcohol and caffeine, you should be careful not to drink too much in the evening, experts say, as needing to urinate can impact on wake-ups. 'It is really important to try to reduce your fluids in the evenings, if you're the kind of person who needs to get up and wee in the night,' says Schaedel. 'Don't have too much to drink for a few hours before you go to bed.'
Foster adds: 'Obviously, it's a balance between being hydrated and drinking too much, which will mean needing the toilet.'
'Morning daylight and regular wake times help your body clock promote solid sleep at night,' adds Walker, which means limiting weekend lie-ins, even if you feel desperately in need of catching up.
Foster rejects the 'magical eight hours' obsession and says a good night can be anything from 6-10 hours, as sleep is often biphasic: 'Waking up in the middle of the night is not necessarily the end of sleep.'
'Sometimes, insomnia is more powerful than all the tips in the world,' says Margery Diamand from East Sussex, who describes herself as a lifelong insomniac. 'Get up or stay in bed and do something nice, like watching a cheesy TV show or eating cereal. If you're going to be awake, you might as well enjoy yourself.'
Some names have been changed