Waking up at 3 AM? Here's what to do about it.

None of us has escaped the dreaded 3 AM wake-up, where, for no apparent reason, our brain leaps from slumber, and our mind is off to the races. I had this very experience this morning.

Through my sleep coaching certification, I learned some strategies to calm my nervous system and invite sleep to return, one of which is to avoid looking at the clock. Checking the time begins the cycle of “If I fall asleep now, I can still get X hours,” which only creates anxiety.

Then I’ll begin counting backward from 1000 by every third number—1000, 997, 994, etc. There are times I haven’t made it out of the 900s before nodding off. Unfortunately, this strategy isn’t guaranteed to work, as was the case this morning.

It’s ironic and timely that a video came up in my YouTube feed about how to handle 3 AM wake-ups from “The Sleep Doctor,” Michael Breus.

In this video, Dr. Breus explains why these unwelcome wake-ups occur and several strategies for getting back to sleep quickly, including Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Cognitive Shuffling.

Do you have effective ways of keeping your overnight wake-ups short, and do any of these from the Sleep Doctor sound worthwhile?