From tips such as giving up caffeine and not going to bed on a full stomach, to investing in a comfortable bed and no blue lights, if you’ve struggled with sleep, you’ve no doubt given sleep hygiene tips a go. 

Are you ready for the uncomfortable truth? If you’re truly suffering with insomnia, no silk eye mask, relaxing bubble bath or winddown routine is going to fix the problem. 

Yes, if you’re already a good sleeper or have a few unhealthy habits you need to tweak, you might find they help. However, if you’re already living with an established issue with your sleep, it simply won’t work. 

By an established issue, we’re not talking the odd bad night here and there, perhaps when work’s a bit stressful or you have something exciting lined up for the next day. We’re talking chronic difficulty with falling asleep or staying asleep, over a number of weeks or months. 

So why won’t sleep hygiene help in this scenario? Think of it like this, mouthwash, dental floss and brushing your teeth all work to prevent tooth decay, but once the cavity is there, they’re not going to help.

So, if you are struggling with insomnia and sleep hygiene isn’t going to work, what can you do to help fix the problem?

1.       Build up your appetite for sleep – Getting back into a routine will help you do this. So, even if you’ve sleep badly, you should still get up nice and early. This will help you to build an ‘appetite’ for sleep, helping you get a better night’s sleep the next night.

2.       Spend less time in bed – Keep bed for sleep and sex only, and if you’re struggling to sleep, get up! This will help to avoid building a negative link with bed and sleep. If you can’t drift back off to sleep when you wake, simply get up and go to another room, read a book or do something you enjoy, and then when you’re feeling sleepy again, head back to bed.

3.       Get your work-life balance back – If you’re still working from home, make sure you have an end time to your working day and take an action to signify this. For example, go for a walk or do some exercise when your working day ends. Usually, a commute would work for this, but you need to find a way to help your body and mind distinguish the end of work and the start of your ‘me-time’.

4.       Manage anxiety – Anxiety is exhausting, so if you’re feeling tired it’s important to note that it is not just lack of sleep which makes us tired and affects our daytime functioning, but also our negative thoughts about lack of sleep and stress in general. I advise you to spend time writing down your negative thoughts, challenging them, then letting them go. Worrying about sleep won’t improve it but it will make you feel worse. If you wake up and begin your day with a negative sleep thought such as ‘the day is going to be miserable because I did not sleep well’, it is the combination of sleep loss and negative mood from this thought that then negatively impacts your daytime functioning.

5.       Don’t stress – Practicing relaxation techniques and mindfulness during the daytime will help you learn to regularly rest your mind and help combat stress. Using this time to relax and spend some time on yourself will help you to feel more refreshed, even if you are struggling to sleep well.