Try sleep restriction therapy to consolidate sleep

What to Do

Limit your time in bed to match your actual sleep time. If you sleep 5 hours but spend 8 in bed, restrict your window to 5 hours (e.g., 1 AM - 6 AM). When sleep efficiency exceeds 85% for a week, extend the window by 15 minutes. Repeat until you reach your target duration.

Why It Works

Sleep restriction is the most counterintuitive but most effective component of CBT-I. By compressing time in bed, you increase homeostatic sleep drive (adenosine pressure), consolidating fragmented sleep into a solid block. Over weeks, the window expands as efficiency improves.

Tips

• Expect worse sleep deprivation in the first week — this is temporary and part of the process
• Never restrict below 5 hours to maintain safety
• Keep a sleep diary to track time in bed vs. time asleep
• This technique has the strongest effect size of any CBT-I component in clinical trials