CBT for Sleep: Free Guide + Interactive Sleep Diary

CBT-I (CBT for Insomnia) is the first-line treatment for chronic insomnia. It works better than sleep medication in long-term studies, with no dependency risk. Below are 5 core techniques plus a free interactive sleep diary you can use right now.

1. Sleep Restriction

Counterintuitive: reduce your time in bed to match your actual sleep time. If you sleep 5 hours but spend 8 in bed, limit yourself to 5.5 hours initially. Sleep pressure builds up, you fall asleep faster, and fragmented sleep consolidates.

Extend by 15 min per week once sleep efficiency exceeds 85%.

2. Stimulus Control

Your brain has learned to associate bed with "lie awake frustrated." Break that:

• Bed = sleep and sex only. No phone, no reading, no thinking.
• If not asleep in 20 min, leave the room. Return when sleepy.
• Fixed wake time every day, including weekends.

3. Cognitive Restructuring for Sleep Thoughts

The thoughts that keep you awake are usually cognitive distortions:

4. The 3-3-3 Wind-Down

30 min before bed:

• 3 min: write tomorrow's to-do list (offloads mental RAM)
• 3 min: write each worry + one concrete action step
• 3 min: 4-7-8 breathing (inhale 4, hold 7, exhale 8)

Then lights out.

5. Sleep Diary (Interactive Tool Below)

Track for 2 weeks: bedtime, wake time, estimated sleep, awakenings, caffeine, exercise. Patterns emerge. "I sleep worse when I nap after 3 PM" is actionable. "I sleep badly" is not.