Science explains why you wake up at 3 a.m., and how to go back to sleep

What should you do if you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back asleep? This is one of the most common—and frustrating—forms of insomnia. It turns out there’s a biological reason for it. And there are things you can do that may help you drop off again quickly.

If you’re an entrepreneur or business leader, this may have happened to you more than once. Starting a business and being responsible for a team of employees means you may have a lot to worry about. In the middle of the night, those worries seem to grow more powerful and harder to set aside or ignore. You find yourself stuck going round and round in an endless cycle of negativity. Pretty soon, it’s morning, and you have to face the day feeling exhausted.

Middle-of-the-night insomnia.

Middle-of-the-night insomnia affects about one out of every five people. It’s even more common than having trouble falling asleep in the first place. And there’s a biological explanation, according to psychologist and sleep expert Michael Breus. In a recent Washington Post interview, he explained: “Every person on earth wakes up between 1 and 3 o’clock in the morning.” This is because our body temperature naturally starts falling around 10 p.m. That sets off melatonin production and signals our bodies that we should start heading for sleep. Between 1 and 3 a.m., our temperature naturally starts to rise again, and we shift into a lighter stage of sleep. Often, we wake up, but most of us are barely aware of it. We shift positions and go back to sleep.

Except, sometimes we don’t. Some of us have a lot more trouble falling back asleep, a problem that may be worsened if we have a lot on our minds. We wind up, mentally spinning our wheels, and sleep becomes that much harder.

If this happens to you, here’s what to do.

1. Resist temptation

Your hardest assignment for falling back to sleep might be not doing most of the things you instinctively want to do. For example: Do not pick up your phone or other mobile device, or even an e-book. Many studies have shown that looking at screens interferes with falling asleep, even if what you’re looking at is something relaxing, such as a puzzle or light reading. You may really, really want to break this rule. Don’t.

You might also be tempted to get out of bed, especially to go to the bathroom. But standing up and walking will raise your heart rate, making it harder to fall back asleep, Breus said. And, he added, sleeping on your side can create the false sense that you need to pee. So he recommends lying on your back and counting to 30. If you still need to go to the bathroom, then go.

Finally, and perhaps most frustrating, do not look at the time. A sleep expert told me this years ago and I find it a hard instruction to follow. But I can attest that if I resist the urge to see what time it is, I do fall back asleep more quickly. Looking at the time throws your brain into planning mode, and that’s not what you want.

2. Do some controlled breathing

Breus recommends 4-7-8 breathing, in which you inhale for a count of four, hold your breath for a count of seven, and then exhale to a count of eight. I’ve used this method many times myself to fall asleep and it really does work. Anahad O’Connor, the Washington Post health columnist who interviewed Breus, writes that it’s made a huge difference to his own chronic middle-of-the-night insomnia.

The reason this breathing technique is so effective is that it affects your vagus nerve, the longest nerve in your body. When you slow your breathing and make your exhalations longer than your inhalations, it slows your heart rate and sends a message to your body to relax. This means that any breathing technique that makes your exhalations longer than your inhalations may help you fall asleep faster. Even something very simple, such as counting to four on your inhalation and six on your exhalation, can work. In yoga, techniques like these are called pranayama, or controlled breathing. They are a powerful way to help yourself relax.

3. Stop your worries from overwhelming you

I’ll admit that it was much easier for me to write that sentence than it is for any of us to actually master our worries. But you can be certain that, whatever troubles you may be facing, sleep deprivation will only make them worse. So it’s worth making the effort.

Meditation is one very effective way to conquer your worries and help yourself sleep—and you can do it while lying in bed. Breus suggests tensing and then releasing one part of your body after another—for instance, starting with your toes and working your way up your legs. This is similar to a form of meditation called a body scan and can help you calm down and fall asleep.

O’Connor also recommends cognitive shuffling, which is a clever way to introduce completely random images into your mind. This mimics the way our minds tend to wander just as we’re dropping off, and it provides a good distraction from whatever we’re fretting about. Whichever technique you try, the more you can do to pull your mind away from whatever’s bothering you, the higher your chances of dropping off quickly and winding up with a good night of sleep.

There’s a growing audience of Inc.com readers who receive a daily text from me with a self-care or motivational micro-challenge or tip. (Want to learn more? Here’s some information about the texts and a special invitation to a two-month free trial.) Often, they text me back about their thoughts and experiences and we get into a conversation.

Many of my subscribers are solopreneurs or run small businesses, and some of them struggle with middle-of-the-night insomnia themselves. Trying some of these techniques might help them—and you—finally get a better night’s rest.

—Minda Zeitlin

This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister website, Inc.com. 

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