Complete Better Sleep Course

What you will be able to do

• explain how sleep pressure and your body clock work together, and what a normal night looks like.
• keep a two-week sleep diary and calculate your sleep efficiency.
• set a fixed wake-up time and use light and darkness to steady your body clock.
• use the 'get up and reset' habit and keep your bed linked with sleep.
• build a wind-down routine and use worry time and relaxation to quieten a busy mind.
• set up your bedroom and adjust caffeine, alcohol, meals and screens to support sleep.
• recognise signs of insomnia, sleep apnoea and other sleep problems that need a GP.
• write and keep a personal sleep plan, and handle bad nights and setbacks calmly.

1. 1How sleep works

   Understand the two systems that control your sleep, what a normal night looks like, and how much sleep adults usually need.

   • Your two sleep systems: sleep pressure and body clock
   • Sleep cycles, stages and normal night waking
   • How much sleep do you need?
2. 2Your starting point: the two-week sleep diary

   Keep an honest two-week sleep diary, work out your sleep efficiency, and spot the patterns that show which habits will help you most.

   • Keeping a sleep diary that helps
   • Sleep efficiency: time in bed versus time asleep
   • Reading your diary: patterns to look for

   Two-week sleep diarySleep efficiency calculator

3. 3Setting your body clock

   Use a regular wake-up time, morning light and evening darkness to give your body clock clear signals, and manage weekends, shift work and travel.

   • Anchor your wake-up time
   • Light, darkness and your body clock
   • Weekends, shift work and travel

   Two-week sleep diary

4. 4Re-training the link between bed and sleep

   Learn why lying awake strengthens poor sleep, practise the 'get up and reset' habit, and understand how matching time in bed to your real sleep is used in CBT-I.

   • Why lying awake makes it worse
   • The 'get up and reset' habit
   • Matching your time in bed to your sleep

   Two-week sleep diarySleep efficiency calculator

5. 5Winding down and quietening a busy mind

   Build a calming hour before bed, park your worries before you go to bed, and practise relaxation and breathing techniques that help your body switch off.

   • Building a wind-down routine
   • Worry time and the bedtime brain-dump
   • Relaxation and breathing

   Wind-down routine planner10-minute guided wind-down

6. 6Your bedroom

   Make your bedroom dark, cool, quiet and comfortable, and handle the shared-bed issues of partners, snoring, children and pets.

   • Dark, cool and quiet
   • Partners, snoring, children and pets

   Bedroom sleep checklist

7. 7Caffeine, alcohol, food and screens

   Understand how caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, meals and screens affect your sleep, and use the tracker to find your own patterns.

   • Caffeine: the hidden half-life
   • Alcohol, nicotine and evening meals
   • Phones, screens and the 'just one more' trap

   Caffeine and screen tracker

8. 8Daytime habits that help your nights

   Use activity, daylight, smart napping and stress management during the day to build the sleep pressure and calm you need at night.

   • Movement and daylight
   • Naps, afternoon slumps and daytime tiredness
   • Stress, mood and sleep

   Two-week sleep diary

9. 9When it is more than habits

   Know the signs of insomnia, sleep apnoea, restless legs and other sleep problems, what your GP can offer, and how to get the most from a GP appointment.

   • Insomnia and what your GP can offer
   • Sleep apnoea, restless legs and other red flags
   • Getting the most from your GP appointment

   When to see a GP about sleep: checkerTwo-week sleep diary

10. 10Your sleep plan for life

    Bring everything together into a personal sleep plan, handle bad nights and setbacks calmly, and keep your new habits through life changes.

    • Putting your plan together
    • Bad nights, setbacks and life changes

    Wind-down routine plannerSleep efficiency calculatorCaffeine and screen tracker

• TrackerTwo-week sleep diaryRecord your sleep each morning and your day each evening for two weeks, so you can see your real pattern, work out your sleep efficiency and share it with your GP if needed.
• CalculatorSleep efficiency calculatorWork out how much of your time in bed you actually spend asleep, using a night or a weekly average from your sleep diary.
• PlannerWind-down routine plannerPlan a calm 60 to 90 minute wind-down for each night of the week, with your screens-off time, bedtime routine and fixed wake-up time.
• CheckerBedroom sleep checklistCheck how well your bedroom is set up for sleep and choose the easiest changes to make first.
• TrackerCaffeine and screen trackerTrack caffeine, alcohol and evening screen use alongside your sleep, so you can see which habits affect your nights.
• CheckerWhen to see a GP about sleep: checkerSome sleep problems need a health professional, not just better habits. Tick anything that applies to you to see whether to book an appointment.
• Guided audio10-minute guided wind-downA calm guided relaxation with slow breathing, a body scan and gentle imagery, to use as part of your wind-down or in your reset chair.