Consumer Reports reviews tips to help readers stay asleep throughout the entire night.
Try to go to bed and get up at about the same time each day to get your body used to a fixed sleep schedule. And make sure that you’re getting at least 150 minutes of exercise a week; regular physical activity has been linked to sounder sleep.
If your insomnia isn’t due to a medical condition, then the cause may be what’s called psychophysiological insomnia, says Krahn. This type of insomnia happens when you wake up and become so stressed about not falling back to sleep that your worry ends up keeping you awake.
The best way to cope if this happens is to stay exactly where you are. “A lot of my patients think that they’re supposed to go into another room and do something relaxing like reading until they feel sleepy again, but that really only works if you’re having trouble falling asleep,” explains Krahn. “I’ve found that just the act of getting up and moving around can send the body into wake-up mode.” Instead, she recommends listening to soothing music, or even a boring podcast, in the dark in your bed until you feel tired again.
