He Moved One Lamp And Finally Started Sleeping Through The Night

After two years of waking at three in the morning, the change that worked had nothing to do with a pill.

For about two years, Daniel woke up at roughly three in the morning, every night. He would lie there doing arithmetic about how many hours were left, which he now knows is the worst possible thing to do.

He tried the obvious things first. Less coffee, earlier dinner, a heavier blanket. Some helped a little. None of them moved the three o'clock wake-up.

The thing that finally shifted it was dull: he moved the lamp. The overhead light in his bedroom was bright and blue-white, and it was the last thing he looked at every night. He replaced it with a small warm lamp on the dresser.

The rest of what he changed

• Overhead light off after nine, one warm lamp on instead.
• Phone charging in the kitchen, not on the nightstand.
• Same wake-up time on weekends, which he hated at first.
• Curtains open a crack so morning light comes in on its own.
• A notebook by the bed for the arithmetic, so it leaves his head.

What actually changed

Daniel still wakes up some nights. The difference, he says, is that he falls back asleep instead of starting a conversation with himself about it.

He read a fair amount about sleep while trying to fix this, and the book below is the one he actually finished.

The content on this page is for general information and personal reading only. It is not medical advice and does not replace a conversation with a qualified professional. Names have been changed for privacy.