The following procedure is recommended
- only go to bed when you feel tired,
- halve waking periods of more than 60 minutes during the night,
- stay up longer for the time gained and engage in a pleasant activity.
If the length of the waking phase does not decrease after 1 week, extend the procedure by a further week. You can find out how much sleep you personally need.
Important note
Sleep problems should not be the result of the consumption of nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, other psychoactive substances or organic sleep disorders.
Shortening longer periods of wakefulness during the night helps to adapt bedtime to your personal sleep needs.
Example 1 - Going to bed “on time” promotes waking phases
Sleep was very important to him and he wanted to plan enough time for his sleep. He therefore went to bed on time whenever possible. He based this on the word “on time” and not on whether he was already tired. Being tired means feeling sleep pressure, i.e. a clear tiredness. As a result, he regularly went to bed too early and woke up again and again.
Practical application
If he added up the time until he was finally able to fall asleep, he was sure to get 60 minutes. So he divided the 60 minutes by two and came up with 30 minutes, which he then stayed up longer the next day watching TV. When he still didn’t fall asleep any quicker after this week, he only went to bed the following week when he was clearly tired.
Example 2 - longer waking phases during the night
She woke up at least three times a night and then went through various problems in her mind. By looking at the alarm clock, she knew that she spent about 140 minutes a night desperately trying to get back to sleep.
Practical application
So she divided 140 by two and decided to go to bed 70 minutes later next time. She wanted to find out her natural need for sleep. Sometimes she read a book sitting next to her bed, other times she stayed longer with her friend. She would come up with something.
You can also use
PIRKA® relaxONnaming® surrounding to fall asleep
PIRKA® relaxONnaming® body sensations to fall asleep
PIRKA® Improve falling asleep and staying asleep
PIRKA® Fall asleep more easily
© 2024 PIRKA® Wolfgang Smidt. The content provided on this website is protected by copyright. Any use requires the prior written consent of the author. The information and advice provided has been compiled to the best of our knowledge and carefully checked. However, it is no substitute for expert psychological and medical advice in individual cases.
Try it out!
PIRKA wishes you every success with the application.
Literature
Backhaus, J. & Riemann, D. (1999). Schlafstörungen. Fortschritte der Psychotherapie. Göttingen: Hogrefe.
Crönlein, T. (2013). Primäre Insomnie. Ein Gruppentherapieprogramm für den stationären Bereich. Göttingen: Hogrefe.
Gerrig, R.J., Dörfler, T. & Roos, J. (Hrsg.) (2018). Psychologie. München: Pearson.
Hertenstein, E., Nissen, C. & Riemann, D. (2017). Insomnie. In Brakemeier, E.-L. & Jacobi, F. (Hrsg.). Verhaltenstherapie in der Praxis. Weinheim: Beltz.
Riemann, D. (2004). Ratgeber Schlafstörungen. Göttingen: Hogrefe.
Riemann, D. (2011). Schlafstörungen. In Linden, M. & Hautzinger, M. (Hrsg.). Verhaltenstherapiemanual. Heidelberg: Springer.
Scharfenstein, A. & Basler, H. D. (2004). Schlafstörungen. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.