Dr. Rebecca Robbins Shares 11 Sleep Tips, Says Healthy Sleep Can Take 20 Minutes

Q: Why might the common instinct to stay in bed when you cannot sleep actually destroy your rest?

Staying in bed when you cannot sleep can make insomnia worse because it teaches the brain to link the bed with wakefulness, frustration, and anxiety instead of sleep. Sleep specialists call this conditioned arousal: after enough nights of tossing, turning, and worrying, the bedroom itself can become a cue to stay alert. That is why experts such as Dr. Rebecca Robbins and behavioral sleep medicine clinicians recommend getting out of bed if sleep does not come after roughly 20 minutes, or when you notice rising frustration. The goal is not to “try harder.” As insomnia specialists often put it, effort is the enemy of sleep. Remaining in bed while monitoring the clock, chasing sleep, or spiraling about the next day raises mental and physical arousal, which pushes sleep farther away. Leaving the bed briefly helps protect the bed-sleep connection. In another room, a calm, low-stimulation activity such as reading a physical book, quiet music, or writing down racing thoughts can lower stress until real sleepiness returns. Then you go back to bed. This approach is a core part of stimulus control therapy, one of the most evidence-backed elements of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. Experts also stress that falling asleep is not supposed to be instant. Healthy sleepers often take 15 to 20 minutes. The problem begins when a normal delay turns into a struggle that retrains the brain to expect wakefulness in bed.

3 articles · Updated · GQ · Aug 8

11 tips from Harvard sleep specialist Rebecca Robbins center on falling asleep faster by building repeatable habits and reshaping the bedroom environment, rather than expecting instant sleep.
15 to 20 minutes is still normal for a healthy sleeper, Robbins said; taking longer may signal behaviors or conditions worth reviewing instead of fueling anxiety about being awake.
65 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, blackout curtains or eye masks, neutral colors, a better mattress, and white noise can reduce heat, light, and intermittent noise that disrupt sleep.
30 tech-free minutes, a fixed sleep schedule, a pre-bed ritual, and a five-minute “brain dump” aim to calm an overstimulated mind; if sleep does not come, Robbins advises getting out of bed and restarting.