What should you do when you can't fall asleep?
When you cannot fall asleep, the most widely recommended step is to stop trying in bed. After about 20 minutes awake, get up, go somewhere with low light, and do something quiet and screen-free until you feel sleepy, then go back to bed.
That advice comes straight from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine's healthy sleep habits: do not go to bed unless you are sleepy, and if you do not fall asleep after 20 minutes, get out of bed and do a quiet activity without a lot of light, especially avoiding electronics. The idea is to keep your bed linked with sleep, not with lying awake and frustrated.
A related technique, called stimulus control, is one of several approaches that sleep clinicians use for chronic insomnia. In its 2021 clinical practice guideline, the AASM gave a conditional recommendation for stimulus control as a single-component therapy, and a strong recommendation for multicomponent cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). That guideline is for clinicians treating a diagnosed disorder. This page covers only the everyday habit of what to do on a restless night.
Why 20 minutes?
It is a practical rule of thumb, not a precise cutoff. You do not need to watch the clock. If it feels like you have been awake a while and you are getting more alert rather than less, that is your cue to get up.
What does a "can't sleep" plan look like?
The hardest part is deciding what to do at 1 a.m. So decide in daylight. Write a short night card and keep it by your bed.
Example night card
- If I have been awake for a while and feel alert, I get up.
- I go to the living room armchair. I switch on the small lamp, not the overhead light.
- I read my "night book," a printed book that is interesting but not gripping.
- No phone, no TV, no laptop. The phone stays on the hallway charger.
- When my eyes feel heavy, I go back to bed.
- If I am still awake after a while, I repeat.
- Tomorrow I get up at my usual time, whatever happened tonight.
Choosing your "up" activity
| Good options |
Why they fit |
Avoid |
| Printed book you have read before |
Calm, low effort, easy to put down |
Thrillers you cannot stop reading |
| Light stretching on the floor |
Quiet, no screen |
Vigorous exercise |
| Writing down what is on your mind |
Moves worries onto paper |
Planning your whole week |
| Folding laundry in lamp light |
Simple and repetitive |
Chores that need bright light |
| Listening to calm audio with the screen off |
Keeps eyes closed and light low |
Scrolling for something to listen to |
If worries keep you up, a short "park it" list in the evening can help. The journaling guide has simple formats, and the journal prompt finder can suggest a calm prompt.
A worked example
Morgan goes to bed at 11:00 and is still awake at what feels like 11:30, running through tomorrow's meeting. Morgan gets up, sits in the armchair with a lamp, and writes three lines about the meeting on a notepad. Then Morgan reads a familiar novel for a while. Around 12:10 Morgan yawns twice and goes back to bed.
The next morning Morgan gets up at the usual 6:45, even though it is hard. That evening Morgan starts the wind-down routine on time and does not go to bed early "to make up for it." That keeps the schedule steady instead of letting one bad night shift the next one.
What can you set up during the day to make these nights rarer?
The plan above handles the night itself. A few daytime and evening habits, all taken from official guidance, make restless nights less likely to be caused by your routine:
- Keep one wake time. The AASM advises getting up at the same time every day, even on weekends.
- Move caffeine earlier. The CDC advises avoiding caffeine in the afternoon or evening. See how long before bed to stop caffeine for the timing.
- Start a wind-down. Screens off at least 30 minutes before bed and lamps instead of overhead lights.
- Keep the bedroom for sleep. A quiet, cool, dark room, with work and scrolling done elsewhere.
None of these guarantees a good night. They remove common routine-related obstacles, so if you still struggle, you and a clinician can rule those out quickly.
When does the advice change?
If you wake in the middle of the night
The same approach applies. If you cannot get back to sleep after a while, get up and do something quiet in low light, then return when sleepy.
If you have a physical limitation or live in a small space
You may not be able to leave the bedroom easily. Sit up in bed or in a chair, switch on a small lamp, and do the same quiet activity. The goal is to stop lying there trying to sleep.
If you are tempted to nap the next day
A short nap can help you get through the day. NHLBI advises adults to nap for no more than 20 minutes. Long or late naps can make the next night harder.
If this happens most nights
Occasional bad nights are common. A persistent pattern is different. The AASM describes chronic insomnia as sleep trouble that occurs at least three times per week and lasts at least three months. If that sounds like you, or if you also have loud snoring, pauses in breathing, gasping, restless legs or heavy daytime sleepiness, talk with a doctor or other clinician, as the CDC also advises for regular sleep problems. CBT-I is available through sleep clinics and some digital programs, and a clinician can help you choose.
Next steps
Build the rest of the evening with the bedtime routine guide and the 30-day evening routine plan, which includes parking tomorrow's tasks on paper. If your bedtime might be too early for you, check what time you should go to bed. Browse the sleep hub or build your own plan.
