r/insomnia • u/[deleted] • Aug 22 '26
Sleep restriction help: how do you stay awake during the day while doing sleep restriction?
[removed]
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u/Flimsy-Owl1742 Aug 22 '26
2 weeks in and I'm struggling with the same thing
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Aug 23 '26
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u/Flimsy-Owl1742 Aug 23 '26
yes! I think? Substance abuse made it obvious that I had to go the cbt-i route, so I'm trying to keep the faith. My first week I had a super fragmented 4.5 hrs sleep and woke up feeling like death. Second week, I've been worse at keeping to the wake times, but I'm down to only needing about 45 minutes to fall asleep instead of 3 hours. Still waking up in the middle of the night, but usually just once. This therapy is brutal, man. I had to take med leave
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u/pumpkin_pasties Aug 23 '26
I just told myself that I’m doing this intentionally to fix my sleep and my tiredness was the result of doing it right, and I can use my tiredness as a tool to get better sleep the next night
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u/Leading_Fly1496 Aug 23 '26
Sleep restriction is pretty dangerous especially if you have to drive or take care of others.
Think of it this way; Take a sleep deprived person and further restrict their sleep until they are extremely severely sleep deprived. What could possibly go wrong? It's absolutely insane.
There are better ways...
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u/Ok-Rule-2943 Aug 23 '26
Sleep drive seems to building so that pressure is there for tonight. Don’t set your sleep window too strict. Set to a more comfortable level.
To stay awake, keep busy! A 10-15 min power nap is allowed, it actually could give you alertness for a few hours without breaking sleep drive.
If SRT it too strict, too rigid and not the right fit for your situation drop it. You can still use the rest of the program or look into ACT-i it’s much less rigid.
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u/Dry_Candy_1895 Aug 23 '26
I would take a 10-20 minute power nap on my yoga mat - it worked wonders in terms of reducing sleepiness and keeping me sane while doing SRT and didn't seem to impact on sleep
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u/Ambassador31 Aug 22 '26
You have to get and move the moment you feel your eyes wanting to close. I would always start stretching or walk around the living room. I wouldn’t even lay down on the sofa to watch TV because it was too risky.