Sleep Restriction: What Is It and What Are Its Benefits?

Sleeping is complex because you seem to have little control over it. When you sleep poorly, you might worry, which actually makes your sleep worse. In short, sleep restriction is a method in which you avoid sleeping during the hours you normally spend awake . This article explains sleep restriction: what are its benefits and how it works.

When you restrict sleep, you spend less time in bed. If you sleep poorly, you might be used to spending a large portion of your time in bed awake.

You'll unlearn this by restricting your sleep and thus reducing the association between bed and insomnia. When you spend less time in bed, you'll actually sleep relatively more hours in bed. This actually trains your body's association between bed and sleep.

Sleep restriction has been shown in research to be effective for people with primary insomnia and no serious conditions[ 1 ]. If other insomnia tips don't work, you can try this.

There are several benefits to sleep restriction, with the major overarching benefit being that you will sleep better again.

Sleep restriction increases your sleep pressure. Think of this as your body's need to sleep. When you're allowed to spend fewer hours in bed, you might initially get fewer hours of sleep. This increases sleep pressure, or your body's need for sleep the following night.

Spending less time in bed also makes you more active. This also increases sleep pressure. The more active you are, the more tired you become during the day. This increases your sleep pressure at the end of the day.

As mentioned earlier, sleep restriction teaches your body a different association with your bed. While your bed might remind you of not sleeping and lying awake during sleepless periods, this association will likely diminish during sleep restriction.

You spend your waking hours outside of your bed, and those few hours of sleep inside your bed. This helps you develop a positive association between bed and sleep.

With sleep restriction, you always get up at the same time. You don't stay in bed longer or go to bed earlier than necessary. This will hopefully help you get into a routine, which will benefit your sleep schedule.

If you're considering giving sleep restriction a try, you can follow these steps[ 2 ]. If you're experiencing severe sleep problems, consult a doctor first.

During the first week, you'll keep a sleep diary. In it, you'll record how long you spent in bed and which hours you slept, and which hours you didn't.

In the second week, you'll apply this data to your sleep time. This week, you won't sleep in bed more than half an hour longer than you actually slept in the previous week.

So if you spent an average of 9 hours in bed last week, but only slept 6.5 hours, you'll now spend 7 hours in bed every night. Regardless of whether you sleep or not. It's important, however, that you never spend less than 5 hours in bed.

Maintain the same wake-up time throughout the entire sleep restriction period, for example, 8:00 AM. If you start going to bed at 7:00 AM, then don't actually go to bed until 1:00 AM.

If you then increase your sleep time by fifteen minutes, add this to the beginning of the night. So you'll go to bed at a quarter to one, and you'll still get up at 7 a.m.

You also try to loosen your control over your sleep. You stay in bed for a set number of hours, and stick to it. Every night, you go to bed at a certain time and get up at a certain time. You surrender to this, whether you're asleep or not. You also don't constantly check the clock during the night.

Do this for a week and then take stock. Keep in mind that sleeping 80% of the time you spend in bed is already good enough.

• Are you sleeping less than 80% of the time? Continue with the shorter sleep times for a while and then reassess.
• Are you sleeping about 80% of the time? Try extending your bedtime a bit. For example, gradually extend your bedtime by fifteen minutes.
• Are you sleeping more than 80% of the time? That's perfectly fine! You can also gradually increase your bedtime by fifteen minutes.

If staying in bed for a shorter period has no effect at all, discuss this with your doctor.

Some more tips when implementing sleep restriction:

• Don't give up immediately - Initially, you'll probably feel tired during the day and think it's not working. However, it might take some time to get through this, and afterward, it will help you sleep better, which will actually make you feel more refreshed.
• Don't give in to fatigue - Don't take naps, don't sleep in, and don't go to bed extra early. This disrupts your rhythm and can cause your brain to associate bed with not sleeping or difficulty sleeping.
• Measuring is knowing - Keep track of how many hours you're in bed and how many you're sleeping. This will help you determine whether your condition is improving or if it's having little effect.
• Start the day actively - It's tempting to snooze, but to signal to your body that the day has begun and to get into a good rhythm, actively getting up is important. So get up immediately, go outside, or take a shower.
• Work on your rhythm - For example, read more tips to improve your day and night rhythm!

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