Sleep
Complete Better Sleep Course
The full sleep reset: diary, sleep efficiency calculator and bedroom checklist, with clear signs for when to talk to your GP.
NZ$47.99Buy
Sleep courses for better nights, one habit at a time
Find out how you really sleep, learn which everyday habits make the biggest difference, and know when a sleep problem is worth taking to your GP.
- 4 courses
- Tools in every course
- Certificate included
Almost everyone has a run of bad nights now and then, often during a stressful patch, a heatwave or the week the clocks go forward in late September. Sleep usually settles again once the cause passes. When it does not, the first things to look at are everyday habits: going to bed and getting up at similar times, getting daylight in the morning, staying active, keeping the bedroom dark, quiet and comfortably cool, and easing off caffeine, alcohol and screens later in the evening.
New Zealand's official sleep-hour guidelines are written for children and young people; there is no government figure for adults, and needs vary from person to person. That is why our courses start with a two-week sleep diary rather than a target. The diary shows patterns that are easy to miss and gives your GP something concrete to look at. For long-lasting insomnia, a GP may talk with you about a structured approach called cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I).
Dr Aqsa Mukhtiar, PhD in Nutrition, wrote these courses to show how sleep habits work and how to fit them around real life, including shift work, whānau commitments and the night-time changes that can come with menopause. They are educational and do not diagnose sleep disorders.
All sleep courses
Sleep
Complete Better Sleep Course
The full sleep reset: diary, sleep efficiency calculator and bedroom checklist, with clear signs for when to talk to your GP.
NZ$47.99Buy
Sleep
Sleep and Menopause
Better nights in perimenopause and beyond, with a wind-down plan built around hot flushes and early waking.
NZ$29.99Buy
Sleep
Sleep and Menopause
Better nights in perimenopause and beyond, with a wind-down plan built around hot flushes and early waking.
NZ$29.99Buy
Choosing a sleep course
- Complete Better Sleep Course is the full programme: a fortnight of diary entries, your own sleep efficiency score, an evening routine you design yourself, a room-by-room bedroom review, a guided audio for switching off and a checklist of signs worth raising with a GP.
- Sleep and Menopause is for women whose nights have changed in midlife, with ways to stay cool, cope with early waking and night-time toilet trips, and a prep sheet for talking to a GP.
What the sleep tools do
- Two-week sleep diary: bedtime, wake time, night waking, naps, caffeine and alcohol in one place.
- Sleep efficiency calculator: the share of your time in bed that you actually spend asleep.
- Wind-down routine planner: a 30 to 60 minute routine that starts at the same time each evening.
- Bedroom checklist: light, noise, temperature, bedding and devices, one at a time.
- Caffeine and screen tracker: see how late coffee, energy drinks or scrolling line up with your nights.
- Night symptom diary and GP checker: note what wakes you and which signs are worth raising with a GP.
When to see a GP about sleep
See your GP if:
- you have slept badly for several months even after working on your habits
- daytime tiredness is getting in the way of work, driving, mood or relationships
- a partner or whānau member says you snore heavily, or seem to pause breathing or choke while asleep
- restless, uncomfortable legs keep you awake, or you nod off suddenly in the daytime
If you feel sleepy while driving, pull over somewhere safe and rest; your GP can advise whether a sleep problem affects your driving. If worry or low mood is keeping you awake, free call or text 1737 at any time.
Sleep courses: your questions
How much sleep do adults need?
Needs vary, and New Zealand has no official sleep-hour figure for adults. A better guide is how you feel: if you usually wake fairly refreshed and stay alert through the afternoon, you are probably getting enough. The diary helps you check.
Can a sleep course fix insomnia?
The course teaches the habits and techniques commonly recommended for better sleep, but it is not a treatment for insomnia. When sleeplessness has gone on for around three months or longer, a GP appointment is the next step, and CBT for insomnia is one of the approaches they may discuss.
Are sleeping tablets or melatonin a good idea?
That is a question for your GP or pharmacist, who know your health and other medicines. Our courses stay with habits and routines and never suggest a sleep medicine or supplement.
How is sleep efficiency worked out?
Divide the time you were actually asleep by the time you spent in bed, then multiply by 100. Seven hours of sleep across nine hours in bed gives about 78%. The calculator does the maths from your diary.
I work shifts. Will the course still help?
Yes. Shift workers get their own lessons on keeping one anchor sleep time, using bright light and blackout curtains, and fitting naps around rosters, and the diary handles split sleep.
Official sources
Fill in your first diary entry tonight
One line before bed and one when you wake; in two weeks you will see your own pattern clearly.