Re-associate your sleep environment with sleep
Your bed and bedroom are your sleep environment. When people are sleeping well, they tend to have positive associations with their sleep environment that are sleep enhancing.
When people have insomnia, they often develop negative associations with their sleep environment, such as tossing-and-turning, being frustrated, feeling anxious about not sleeping, and worrying about things. These negative associations tend to make people more anxious when in bed, and this anxiety can interfere with sleep. Even pleasant activities such as watching TV or reading in bed can come to associate the sleep environment with being awake, and this can increase the chances of insomnia.
To re-associate your sleep environment with sleep, do the following:
Use your bed only for sleep (sex is ok).
Go to bed only when you are sleepy (and not just merely fatigued). Fatigue is a state of low energy, physical or mental. Sleepiness is a state of having to struggle to stay awake.
Get out of bed if you are unable to fall asleep within 20 minutes. Go to another room and engage in quiet non-stimulating activities. Return to bed only when sleepy. Try not to fall asleep elsewhere. Repeat this step as many times as necessary throughout the night.
It can help to plan ahead by preparing a place to go and an activity to do. If you think you will be cold, have a blanket ready. Select a few activities that would be enjoyable but not overly stimulating and have them ready to go if needed.
Do not remain in bed if you are feeling anxious or frustrated.
Caution
Getting out of bed during the night may increase the chance of falls. A dim flashlight is recommended, and an amber-colored one is optimal. If you use a night light, use an amber-colored one. For examples of these products, see amber-colored flashlight and amber-colored night light.
Continue to Strategy 4: Effortless sleep (Refrain from engaging in sleep effort)