Sleep Efforts: What Are They and How Do They Worsen Insomnia?
What Are Sleep Efforts?
If you’ve ever struggled with sleep, chances are you’ve tried a ton of remedies. It’s natural to search for quick fixes, like supplements, routines, and tips. But, there’s a downside: all these so-called solutions can fall into a category called "sleep efforts," a term I picked up from physician-turned-insomnia-specialist Daniel Erichsen. Sleep efforts are simply anything we do to force sleep to happen.
They might seem harmless and the zeitgeist of our times is partly to blame. Arguably, we live in a world that pushes a ‘fix it’ mentality. Mainstream insomnia advice tells us to try melatonin, stick to strict routines, and avoid screens before bed. On the surface, it sounds logical, doesn’t it?
Sleep efforts can be tricky though, because they shift the power to external things—like supplements or routines. This subtly send the message that your ability to sleep depends on them.
Types of Sleep Efforts: What You Add & Avoid to Fix Insomnia
Sleep efforts tend to fall into two categories: adding or avoiding.
Adding entails things like sleep trackers, supplements, gadgets or rigid routines. But, these additions often feel either more like burdensome chores than solutions, or they have the effect of creating more pressure to sleep. For instance, if you really don’t want to get outside to catch daylight every morning, it’s going to feel like a nuisance. You might then also put more pressure on yourself to do this every morning, then worry that if you don’t, it will negatively impact your sleep.
Other efforts revolve around avoidance. Maybe you’ve cut out coffee, skipped evening workouts, or avoided screens at night. Often, these are things you actually enjoy. Giving them up can feel like a loss, making the insomnia process feel even more arduous than it already is.
Over time, these actions send a potent yet unhelpful message to your brain: “Sleep is hard work, and I need to control it.” In reality, sleep isn’t something we can force. It’s a passive, natural process that happens when your body feels safe enough to drop out of survival mode. But, by continuing to engage in sleep efforts, we give insomnia more power, while reducing our confidence in our body’s innate ability to sleep.
My Personal Experience With Sleep Efforts
When I was struggling with insomnia, I became bound by sleep efforts that dictated many aspect of my daily life. There were the things I had stopped doing - drinking coffee (which I loved), socializing when I didn’t feel energetic (leading to isolation), watching TV too late (something I also really enjoy) and traveling. I even missed one of my closest friend’s wedding - a decision I regret to this day.
Then there was everything I added or modified in an effort to induce sleep: a store’s worth of supplements, a rigid meditation routine, exercising earlier in the day instead of later, getting morning light to reset my circadian rhythms, and getting out of bed if I couldn’t fall asleep within 20 minutes.
As you can probably guess, this approach didn’t help me sleep. In fact, it backfired, reinforcing the insomnia even more. I’d created a militant regimen while cutting out much of the joy in my life.
My brain was in survival mode trying to cling onto control, thinking that I could ‘effort’ my way out of insomnia. It was misguided, and led to revolving my life around insomnia rather than healing from it. If I was able to time travel and speak to my former self, I would have told her :"You’ve got it all backwards. Let me show you the way out of this miserable cycle."
The key takeaway: sleep efforts often stem from fear and a desire to ‘fix’ things. They feel rigid and unenjoyable, which can make insomnia worse.
Shifting from Sleep Efforts to Nervous System Supports
This does not mean that you have to give up your meditation practice or your supplements though.
It’s about the intention behind these actions. Here’s how my intentions have changed since recovering from insomnia.
I don’t follow a specific routine every night. I take supplements for my general well-being. I exercise often because I enjoy it and it significantly improves my mental health. I watch TV before bed when I feel like it, and I meditate (almost) daily for my mental well-being.
Did you notice how at no point I wrote that I do anything specifically to sleep?
That’s the difference between a sleep effort and what I like to call a nervous system support. For example, I still love my weighted blanket and use it almost nightly. But, I know that it doesn’t wield magical sleep-inducing properties; I simply find it comforting and relaxing. So, it’s an object I have that supports me at night, but I know that it doesn’t make me sleep. When life is feeling a little more chaotic, I take a supplement that helps regulate my stress hormones. It is not an insomnia cure in a bottle and it does not induce sleep, but it is part of my nervous system support plan when life gets hectic.
Nervous system supports are behaviours, objects or routines that you find enjoyable or beneficial for your overall well-being, without the expectation of better sleep. In other words, you would continue them whether they improve your sleep or not.
Flexibility Matters For Insomnia Recovery
Your insomnia recovery process isn’t black and white - you don’t have to give up everything immediately that might seem loosely associated with promoting sleep.
I’m not a medical doctor, and if you’re taking medications or supplements prescribed by a doctor or healthcare practitioner, I’m not suggesting stopping those. Instead, I encourage you to reframe your medication as part of your support plan, knowing it’s not solely responsible for helping you sleep, and that tapering off is an option if you wish to do so in the future.
I also don’t think sleep hygiene is inherently bad. Again, it’s all about the intention behind it. If you follow traditional sleep hygiene advice though, it often means adhering to rigid rules, such as:
Only using your bed for sleep and intimacy
No screen time at bedtime
Go to bed at the same time every night
Have a relaxing bedtime routine
Do you see how this can backfire?
These rules can feel limiting and effortful, which can increase the pressure and fear of ‘doing it wrong.’ The nervous system and brain are already in fight or flight mode with chronic insomnia - you don’t need more to obsess over.
it’s easy to get hyper-fixated on these rules, and wonder to yourself, ‘Have I been laying in my bed for longer than 20 minutes?’ ‘Did I watch TV too late last night?’
These may sound like silly questions to ask. Someone without insomnia would tell you that of course watching TV before bed won’t make you stay up all night. But, the insomnia brain is hypervigilant for threats. So, it’s on the lookout, looking for things to worry about that it thinks could impact sleep negatively.
It’s about finding a reasonable balance. There is nothing wrong with making your sleep environment comfortable - this may include things like blackout curtains ( I have them). And, there is nothing wrong with supporting your nervous system with guided meditations, weighted blankets or herbal teas and supplements.
The problem arises when these actions feel obsessive and effortful.
Let Go of Sleep Efforts to Help Heal Insomnia
A question I ask all my clients with insomnia is: Do you find this activity, routine or device (like a weighted blanket) enjoyable?
This basic question reveals a lot. I won’t know the answer based on the behaviour because I don’t know the intention behind it until they tell me. They might say, "Yes, I actually look forward to my daily meditation, and I would continue it whether it helped with sleep or not." Or, they might say, "No, I hate it. I’m just doing it because someone told me it would help with sleep."
Both responses are completely valid. If it’s a ‘yes,’ we keep it in the routine. If not, they are welcome to let it go.
If a client feels neutral about an activity, I ask: Does it feel effortful and fear-driven?
I like to do a full inventory of all potential sleep efforts to tailor a client’s treatment plan. You can do the same for yourself—take inventory of your sleep efforts and see where fear might be driving your actions. Once you’ve identified those, you can adjust accordingly, often by inviting more flexibility into your approach.
The hopeful part of this process is that there are usually at least a few sleep efforts that are actively working against you. Removing or replacing these efforts also removes some of the power of the fear, because you are no longer behaving in accordance with it.
Sleep efforts are motivated by fear, and they focus on trying to control sleep. But sleep is a natural process, one that cannot be controlled by external forces. By shifting towards nervous system supports, you acknowledge this truth. Once you start letting go of the controlled efforts and fixating on the outcome of more sleep, you are well on your way to healing insomnia.
It is a simple concept but it can require some nuanced understanding - if you feel that you need personalized support don’t hesitate to reach out. Or, you can sign up for my free 5-day insomnia course below.