Tired of Being Tired? 7 Science-Backed Ways to Sleep Better

From wordinblack.com

By Jennifer Porter Gore

From changing your caffeine cut-off time to lowering your bedroom temperature, small tweaks can make a big difference in how well you rest 

Daylight saving time starts in a few weeks, ushering in the longer nights and shorter days associated with winter. But for many people, the extra hours of darkness aren’t necessarily more restful. 

Experts say sleep deprivation is on the rise in the U.S. And the combination of stress, shift work and the false bravado of “toughing it out” isn’t helping. 

A 2024 Gallup poll found that only 42% of adults said they get as much sleep as they need, while 57% said they would feel better if they got more sleep. Researchers at Yale University have found a greater number of U.S. adults sleeping less than the recommended seven hours per night, with Black adults missing out on sleep even more. 

Disparities were greatest among Black women, Black adults with middle or high incomes, and young and middle-aged Black adults. Work schedules and employment conditions, particularly shift work, were likely contributors.

Beginning the day with a gentle stretch in a comfortable bedroom, can boost wellness, relaxation, and energy.

“As an ER physician, I had to learn to value sleep differently,” says Dr. Pamela Buchanan, a board-certified emergency physician, founder of Strong Medicine and a healthcare influencer. “For years, working nights was simply part of the job. We almost wear sleep deprivation like a badge of honor in medicine.” 

As she aged, “I began watching what chronic sleep disruption was doing to people around me — and to my own health,” Buchanan says. “I had colleagues and friends develop serious health problems while living on chronically inadequate sleep. Eventually, I had to ask myself: ‘Why am I sacrificing my health to take care of everyone else’s?’”

Sleep is also deeply connected to mental health. A 2024 meta-analysis involving more than 5,700 participants found that sleep loss increased anxiety symptoms and reduced positive emotions. Another analysis found that improving sleep also improved symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. 

“When I talk to people about protecting their mental health, sleep is not an afterthought. It is part of the treatment plan,” Dr. Buchanan added.

Improve Your Sleep, Starting Tonight

DISCLAIMER: This guide is informational and is not medical advice. If you have persistent trouble falling or staying asleep, talk with a healthcare provider. 

1. Keep a consistent sleep–wake schedule

• Go to bed wake up within roughly the same 30- to 60-minute window every day, including weekends.
• Set a fixed wake-up time first; bedtime tends to follow
• Avoid trying to play catch-up on weekends, which only shifts your body clock.
• Give your stress a place to land before bedtime.
• Don’t lie in bed fighting for sleep.

“Stress isn’t the enemy of sleep. Unprocessed stress is,” Dr. Buchanan said., adding that it can be helpful to write d “Take five minutes before bed to write down what’s on your mind and tomorrow’s to-do list. When it’s on paper, your brain can stop rehearsing it at 2 a.m. Then dim the lights and put the phone away. You’re signaling to your nervous system that the shift is over.”

If sleep doesn’t come, however, and “you’ve been awake for about 20 minutes, get up,” Dr. Buchanan says. “Go to another room, keep the lights low and do something calm until you feel sleepy. Lying there frustrated teaches your brain that the bed is a place for worry. Protect the bed for sleep.”

2. Get bright daylight during the day

Light is the main signal that sets the circadian clock. A study of almost 90,000 adults found that greater daytime light exposure was associated with lower risk of depression, PTSD, psychosis, and self-harm.

• Spend time outdoors soon after waking. Even on cloudy days, outdoor light is far brighter than indoor lighting.
• Take walks, calls or breaks outside during the day.
• Work near a window when possible.

FOR NIGHT-SHIFT WORKERS

• Recreate nighttime, even at noon.
• Treat daytime sleep as optional.

“Wear sunglasses on the drive home so morning light doesn’t flip your internal ‘wake up’ switch,” Dr. Buchanan advised. “Then make your bedroom a cave: Blackout curtains, an eye mask, a cool room and a fan or white noise to drown out the daytime world. Put your phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’ and let your household know that your sleep hours are protected time.”

3. Sleep in a dark bedroom

A controlled laboratory study found sleeping in a room with too much light kept the nervous system more alert and reduced the participants’ deep sleep. The results also found links to increased insulin resistance the next morning compared with sleeping in dim light.

• Turn off overhead lights and lamps before sleep; use blackout curtains or an eye mask if outdoor light enters.
• Cover or remove glowing electronics and clocks.
• If you need a night light, keep it dim, low to the floor and use amber or red light rather than white or blue.

4. Set a caffeine cut-off time

Caffeine has been found to increase the time it takes to fall asleep and, once asleep, to decrease total sleep time by about 45 minutes. 

• For a 10:30 p.m. bedtime, finish your last 8-oz. coffee by about 1:30 to 2 p.m.
• Remember hidden sources of caffeine: Energy drinks, pre-workout powders, some teas, sodas and chocolate.
• Caffeinated beverages larger than 8-10-oz. need an even earlier cut-off.

5. Limit alcohol, especially close to bedtime

Avoid the temptation to have a “nightcap” before bed. Just two standard-sized drinks, which vary by type of alcohol, have been found to reduce REM sleep. While a greater amount of alcohol may shorten the time needed to fall asleep, it can interrupt deep sleep.

• Treat alcohol as a sleep disruptor, not a sleep aid.
• If you drink, keep it to small amounts and finish well before bedtime.
• Notice how you feel after alcohol-free nights versus nights with a drink.
• Don’t use a glass of wine to wind down.

“Alcohol may help you fall asleep, but it fragments your sleep later in the night,” Dr. Buchanan said. “You wake up feeling like you never really rested.”

6. Exercise regularly — and finish vigorous workouts at least two hours before bed

Exercising intensely less than two hours before bedtime has been linked to trouble falling asleep and shorter periods of sleep. Exercising for 30- to 60 minutes, and more than two hours before bedtime, was associated with the best outcomes.

• Build regular physical activity into most days; morning, afternoon and early evening all work.
• Schedule hard workouts (running, HIIT, heavy lifting) to end at least two hours before bed.
• Keep your exercise schedule consistent from day to day.

7. Create a screen-free wind-down before bed

Using electronic media too close to bedtime has been consistently linked to poorer sleep quality.

• Stop scrolling, gaming and emailing 30- to 60 minutes before lights out.
• Charge your phone outside the bedroom or set it to “Do Not Disturb.”
• Replace screens with a calming routine such as reading a paper book, stretching, a warm shower or journaling.

FOR WOMEN IN MENOPAUSE:

• Cool the room and your body.

“Hot flashes and night sweats are among the biggest sleep thieves in midlife. Keep the bedroom cool, around 65 degrees. Layer your bedding so you can adjust it during the night and choose moisture-wicking sleepwear. Cut back on alcohol and late-day caffeine, because both can trigger symptoms,” Dr. Buchanan adds.

• Don’t suffer in silence.

“Poor sleep [during] menopause is common, but you don’t have to accept it as normal. Talk to your doctor. Hormone therapy, non-hormonal medications and cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, called a CBT-I, all help. Ask about sleep apnoea, too. A woman’s risk rises after menopause, and it often goes undiagnosed because the symptoms don’t look like the textbook,” Buchanan notes. 

https://wordinblack.com/2026/10/tired-of-being-tired-7-science-backed-ways-to-sleep-better/

Fool-proof 5-minute method to falling asleep

From thestandard.com.hk

Modern life is fast-paced and stressful, causing long-term overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system—one of the causes of insomnia. Chronic lack of quality sleep not only affects mental state but can also weaken the immune system and increase psychological burden. The Disaster Response Division of the Security Bureau of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department recently shared a super simple "anti-insomnia tip" that garnered over 3,000 reposts and 9,000 likes, attracting widespread attention and discussion.

The 5-minute pre-sleep relaxation method shared by the Disaster Response Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department on X uses active muscle tension followed by release to guide the autonomic nervous system into relaxation. It is especially suitable for those who toss and turn due to tension or anxiety. Here's how to do it:

5-Minute Pre-Sleep Relaxation Method

Get into bed.

Tense your whole body tightly for 5–10 seconds.

Completely relax.

Take a deep breath.

Repeat steps 2 to 4 several times.

The division notes that by focusing on the feeling of your body relaxing and warming up, combined with deep breathing, repeating this process will calm your thoughts and make it easier to fall asleep. This technique is also effective when feelings of anxiety and tension persist.

A Netizen's Tip: Side Sleeping, Especially on the Left, May Help

Some netizens also shared their own methods for relieving insomnia. They noted that sleeping on your side—especially on the left—can help you fall asleep. Side sleeping aligns with the weight of the liver, maintaining better body balance. For women, side sleeping can reduce pressure from the breasts. For larger-built men, side sleeping is also suitable—it reduces airway pressure, makes breathing smoother, and effectively prevents snoring.

https://www.thestandard.com.hk/wellness/article/342598/Fool-proof-5-minute-method-to-falling-asleep

How Our Skin Reveals the Link Between Insomnia and Fear

From nautil.us

By Jake Currie

It’s an exhausting cycle 

Every Dune fan knows fear is the mind killer, but it might also be the sleep killer. 

Fear and sleep share a close bond, according to research, with insomnia increasing the risk of developing fear and anxiety disorders and fear and anxiety disorders robbing people of a good night’s sleep. Additionally, insomniacs live in a state of chronic hyperarousal, with their fight-or-flight systems humming away in the background even when there’s no threat. 

Simply put, it’s an exhausting cycle. Now a new study published in PLOS Mental Health might give researchers a better way to understand the relationship between fear and sleep. 

Image: New Africa / Shutterstock

Our brains overcome fear through a process called “fear extinction.” During fear extinction, we form a new inhibitory “safety memory” that combats our existing fear memory, essentially learning that a fear-causing stimulus isn’t a real threat (this is the basis of exposure therapy). Because sleep helps consolidate learning and regulate our emotions, insomnia likely gums up the works.

To find out, psychologists recruited 24 insomniacs and 24 good sleepers and put them through a classic fear conditioning process. They showed participants colored images while zapping them with a mild electric shock to cultivate a fear response. They then showed them the images without shocking them, so they could learn there was no threat. During the process, the team recorded the electrical conductance of their skin, which directly measures tiny fluctuations in sweat as a proxy for arousal. According to their findings, those with insomnia not only had stronger reactions to the conditioning they also struggled with fear extinction.      

In this new investigation, a group of researchers (including some from the previous study) developed fresh statistical models based on the old data. One model estimated stress and arousal using only the isolated spikes in their skin conductance, while the other model incorporated background levels in conductance to account for hyperarousal. 

They found that only the background model detected significant differences between the groups. The “high arousal index” they developed increased in those with insomnia but slightly decreased in good sleepers. “In our study, people with insomnia, compared to their good sleeping peers, became more aroused once the danger was taken away,” study author Ryan Bottary of Harvard Medical School explained in a statement. “For patients, this may help explain why the fear that ‘a bad night will ruin tomorrow’ survives so many tomorrows that turn out just fine.”

If only losing sleep wasn’t something to lose sleep over.

https://nautil.us/how-our-skin-reveals-the-link-between-insomnia-and-fear-1285862

Insufficient evidence to back medical cannabis for insomnia

From medicalxpress.com

A new Cochrane review finds that existing evidence is too uncertain to determine whether medical cannabis improves sleep or daytime functioning in people with insomnia.

Insomnia is a common sleep disorder that makes it hard to fall asleep or stay asleep and can leave people feeling unrefreshed when they wake up. It can have a severe impact on a person's quality of life and make them much more vulnerable to developing anxiety or depression over time.

Existing treatment options include cognitive behavioural therapy and drugs, including antidepressants and antipsychotics, but their effectiveness varies.

In recent years, there has been growing interest in medical cannabis as an alternative treatment for insomnia because of its reported benefits in improving sleep. In clinical settings, this typically involves controlled, tested ratios of THC and CBD in the form of tablets, sprays or oils. However, the use of medical cannabis for insomnia remains contentious, and evidence is limited.

No clear evidence that medical cannabis helps

Led by researchers from The Cochrane Associate Centre at the Universidad Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires and the University of Manitoba, the review included nine studies involving 537 adults ages 18 to 76 who were treated for insomnia. Most studies focused on people with primary insomnia rather than insomnia linked to other health conditions. Eight of the nine trials compared regulated medical cannabis with a placebo; one compared it with the antidepressant amitriptyline.

Medical cannabis showed little to no clinically meaningful improvement in sleep quality and satisfaction, total sleep time or daytime functioning compared with placebo.

Participants taking medical cannabis were substantially more likely to experience mild adverse events, such as dry mouth and dizziness, than those on placebo, but this finding was based on a small pool of studies.

Medical cannabis somewhat improved quality of life, but the certainty of the evidence is very low, and pooled results were compatible with anything from a slight worsening to a large improvement.

"The main message is that the research currently available is not sufficient to reliably answer whether medical cannabis helps people with insomnia," says Dr. Lucia Varela, lead author of the study from the University of Manitoba, Canada. "This does not mean that medical cannabis is ineffective. It means that, based on the evidence we have, we cannot draw reliable conclusions about its effectiveness for insomnia in the general population."

Credit: Terrance Barksdale from Pexels

Poor trials downgrade the evidence

The overall quality and certainty of the evidence were rated very low to low, largely due to risk of bias in the underlying studies, inconsistent results between trials and small sample sizes.

Studies varied a lot in the type of cannabis product used, which limited comparability, and the longest study followed participants for only 12 weeks. This means we can't say much about the long-term effects.

The available data were also not very representative of broader patient groups. The data were heavily skewed toward younger people and women (72.66% of participants). Therefore, the findings may not be as applicable to men, older adults and those with comorbidities.

The authors conclude that the evidence remains weak and uncertain, highlighting the need for higher-quality research before medical cannabis can be recommended for insomnia.

"The evidence is too weak and uncertain to draw firm conclusions about the use of medical cannabis for insomnia," says Dr. Luis Garegnani, senior author from Universidad Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Argentina. "Rather than viewing the findings as either an endorsement or a rejection of medical cannabis, clinicians and patients should recognize the uncertainty and consider individual circumstances while better evidence is generated."

Publication details

Medical cannabis for the treatment of insomnia, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2026). DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD016216.pub2

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-insufficient-evidence-medical-cannabis-insomnia.html 

I hit 40 and suddenly started waking up at 3 a.m. every night — sleep doctors explains why, plus how to fix it

From tomsguide.com

By Nicola Appleton

Midlife insomnia has hit me hard, but two sleep experts have identified the likely cause

I used to be a great sleeper, nodding off at the drop of a hat and clocking my full eight hours every night. But then I hit 40 and suddenly I’m finding it difficult to fall asleep, stay asleep and am often wide awake at 3 a.m.

Throughout my teens and twenties, sleeping was easy. It didn’t matter if I was on my friend’s couch, a plane or with my face pressed up against a bus window. My thirties were punctuated with raising young children, and sleepless nights were part of the gig.

But now that I’m 40+ and my kids no longer disrupt my rest, sleep is something I’m still struggling with. To find out why and what I can do to get the rest I need, I spoke to Dr. Chris Winter, a double boarded sleep specialist and Dr. Shelby Harris, board-certified clinical psychologist at Better Sleep.

How turning 40 impacted my sleep

(Image credit: Getty Images)

As a sleep writer and product tester, I have everything I need for a great night’s rest. I’m sleeping on the best mattress for my body type, I have a silk eye mask to block out ambient light and I pop in my sleepbuds every time noise threatens to disrupt my peaceful sleep sanctuary.

And yet, sleep is elusive. Instead of feeling relaxed and ready for rest, anxiety often washes over me and I’m alert, with my heart pounding. On the nights that I do drop off quickly, it’s common for me to then be wide awake at 3 a.m., feeling haunted by some vague worry. It's a problem that's only developed in recent years.

I’m exhausted, frustrated and ready for answers.

4 common causes of sleep disturbances for those aged 40+

"There is no switch that suddenly flips at age 40, but several biological and lifestyle factors can begin converging during this stage of life," explains Dr. Winter, a board certified neurologist with over 30 years of clinical experience.

1. Sleep becomes lighter

"Sleep naturally becomes somewhat lighter and more fragmented as we age, making us more susceptible to being awakened by noise, temperature changes or physical discomfort," explains Dr. Winter, who is a member of Natrol Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Harris also highlights the biological shift that occurs as we get older, leaving us more susceptible to night-time awakenings.

"As we age, we spend less time in deep sleep and more time in lighter stages, making us more likely to notice brief awakenings," explains Dr. Harris, who specializes in behavioural sleep medicine.

Dr. Winter points out that most people wake briefly several times during the night, perhaps without even remembering. "More meaningful considerations are how long someone remains awake, how distressed they feel about the awakening and whether it affects how they function the following day," he explains.

"The key is to look at what is happening around that 3 a.m. wake-up, like temperature, stress, alcohol, medications, snoring, or other symptoms, rather than assuming the clock time itself points to a particular cause," advises Dr. Harris.

2. Hormonal fluctuations

As a 42 year old woman, I can't ignore the hormonal shifts that could be contributing to my sleep disturbances. "As we move into our 40s, several factors can begin to disrupt sleep that may not have been an issue earlier in life," explains Dr. Harris.

"One of the biggest is hormonal change, particularly the fluctuations in oestrogen and progesterone that occur during perimenopause and menopause, which can contribute to night sweats, temperature changes, anxiety, and more fragmented sleep," the psychologist adds.

For me, nighttime anxiety has become a significant cause of my sleep disruptions. Knowing that hormonal fluctuations could be behind that shift in my mental health gives me hope that this feeling is temporary.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

3. Daily stressors

Those in the 40+ age category are often part of the sandwich generation; we're raising children and caring for ageing parents. Throw in money worries and work pressures and we've created a perfect storm of stress — and that has a knock-on effect on our sleep.

"We tend to become more sensitive to stress as responsibilities around work, family, and caregiving accumulate," agrees Dr. Harris.

Stress can trigger the production of the 'stress' hormone cortisol. Levels of cortisol naturally begin to rise around 3 a.m. as part of our Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR), before peaking when we wake up. However, a higher baseline level of cortisol can lead to a stronger CAR, waking you up prematurely.

4. More susceptible to sleep disorders

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Studies suggest that as we age, our risk of developing common sleep disorders such as restless legs syndrome, sleep apnoea and nocturia increase.

Dr. Winter concurs with this. He notes that "restless legs syndrome and sleep apnoea, the risk of which can increase as we age" are among contributors to disturbed sleep for people in the 40+ age group.

Regardless of your age or stage in life, if you have developed new symptoms that prevent you from getting the sleep you need it's important to discuss this with your doctor.

How to sleep better throughout midlife and beyond

Great sleep can be harder to come by as we advance in years. However, Dr. Winter and Dr. Harris share their top tips for managing age-related sleep disturbances, so you can get the rest you deserve.

• Don't panic: "Don't panic about an occasional bad night; worrying about sleep can actually make the problem worse," says Dr. Harris.
• Stick to a consistent sleep schedule: "Maintaining a consistent wake time each day, even after a difficult night, can help anchor the body’s internal clock," says Dr. Winter.
• Get plenty of morning sunlight: Like a consistent sleep schedule, natural sunlight can anchor your circadian rhythm, helping you to feel tired and alert at the right times.
• Keep a sleep diary: "Keeping a sleep diary for a week or two can help identify patterns involving stress, food, alcohol, exercise, medications or physical symptoms," advises Dr. Winter.
• Optimize your bedroom for sleep: Sleep becomes lighter as we age, which means we're more susceptible to light, sound and temperature-related disturbances, so keep your bedroom cool, dark and quiet.

https://www.tomsguide.com/wellness/sleep/i-hit-40-and-suddenly-started-waking-up-at-3-a-m-every-night-sleep-doctors-explains-why-plus-how-to-fix-it

What you should know before taking melatonin to help you sleep

From the-independent.com 

Whether you’re struggling with jet lag, are a shift worker who sleeps during the day, or someone with more severe insomnia, you might have wondered if melatonin can help you get a better sleep.

Melatonin is a hormone made in the brain to regulate your daily sleep-wake cycle. It tells your internal body clock to get sleepy when it’s dark.

Melatonin supplements are a synthetic version of this hormone that people can take to help them sleep.

But they won’t work for all sleep conditions. So what can you take it for?

First, how does melatonin work?

Melatonin works by slowing or stopping neuron firing in the area of the brain called the hypothalamus. This is the brain’s master biological clock.

Your eyes detect when darkness falls, triggering the brain to produce melatonin.

Melatonin gummies for children can look and taste like sweets (Getty/iStock)

Because you need lower light levels, or darkness, to trigger melatonin release, sleep can be a problem for people living at very high or low latitudes. In summer the sun may not set, or it is only dark for a few hours per day, and that affects melatonin production. And in winter the sun may never come up, or you get only a few hours of sunlight.

For those in the rest of the world, if you suffer from low levels of melatonin – which can happen as you age – it can make it harder to sleep.

When can melatonin help you sleep better?

There are several diseases and conditions that affect sleep, but only two have evidence that they are treatable with melatonin supplements.

Melatonin has been shown to be effective in reducing and preventing jet lag. It’s of most benefit if you fly across more than five time zones. This includes from Europe back to Australia and flying to the Americas from Australia. To be most effective, the melatonin should be taken as close to when you want to go to sleep as possible.

There appears to be some benefit to taking melatonin for those who have difficulty sleeping during the day due to shift work. It has been shown to improve the duration of your sleep after a night shift, but it doesn’t appear to improve other aspects of quality sleep, such as alertness, sleepiness, or fatigue at work.

Insomnia is when you regularly struggle to fall asleep, stay asleep, or when you often wake too early (Getty/iStock)

General, or chronic, insomnia is when you regularly struggle to fall asleep, stay asleep, or when you often wake too early. Unfortunately, if you suffer from chronic insomnia, the evidence indicates melatonin supplements are unlikely to work.

The pain and discomfort of chronic kidney disease and cancer, and its treatment, can make it more difficult to sleep. But the science is unclear whether melatonin can help with sleep due to those conditions. So for either, it is best for you to speak with your doctor before trying a supplement.

People with dementia can have difficulty sleeping due to the disease’s ability to damage the brain’s internal clock. However, the science indicates that melatonin is not effective for this condition.

How to access the medicine

Melatonin is available in different doses and formulations in Australia.

While homeopathic products are available in Australia, they either do not contain melatonin or have a dose so low that they are ineffective. Any benefit will be from a placebo effect.

Pharmacists can supply controlled-release tablets that contain 2mg or less of melatonin for the short-term treatment of sleep problems for people aged 55 or over. These are available over the counter as a pharmacist-only medicine.

Controlled-release melatonin formulations release melatonin slowly and steadily in the body throughout the eight-hour sleep period. This is more suited for managing age-related sleep issues caused by reduced natural melatonin production as we get older.

Immediate-release products that contain 5mg or less of melatonin are also available. The short-lived peak of melatonin that comes from this formulation is more suitable for managing jet lag. Pharmacists can supply these to adults 18 years and older for jet lag.

All other formulations above these dosages are prescription-only. They are used for the short-term management of other types of sleep problems, including those that occur alongside neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.

What are the side effects?

Melatonin is generally well-tolerated. The side effects are generally minor and short-lived and include daytime sleepiness, headaches, nausea and dizziness.

Avoid taking melatonin before driving, as it may affect your attention and reaction time.

A study has found that daily 1,000 to 6,600mg doses of melatonin may cause a loss of sleep and weight loss in people with depression and Huntington’s disease.

There is little research, and inconsistent results, about the side effects of longer-term melatonin use (greater than six months).

What else can help with sleep?

Other than taking melatonin, there are a few techniques that can be used to help with sleep. The first is to keep a regular bed and wake-up time, including on weekends. This can help to regulate your body clock.

If you’re unable to fall asleep after 20 minutes, get up and do something relaxing, then return to bed when you feel sleepy.

Avoid exposure to bright light from computers, televisions and phone screens one to two hours before bed, as this can prevent your body from releasing natural melatonin.

It’s also important to create a good sleeping environment. Make sure your bedroom temperature is cool, and the room is comfortable, quiet and dark enough.

https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/health-and-families/melatonin-tablets-sleep-side-effects-b3063421.html