But if you use this brief wake-up window to turn on the bathroom light, start thinking about your to-do list, or check the time on your phone, it really won’t be conducive to falling back asleep. “[When] we flip on the bathroom light, we get all this light exposure into our eyes, suppressing our melatonin,” she explains. Taking a look at our tech will have the same effect.
So instead of doing any of those things, Vora suggests, you’ll just want to shuffle to the bathroom (sans lights if you can!), take a sip of water, and lie back down with your eyes closed. “Trust that you’re going to fall back asleep—it might take five or 10 or 20 or 30 minutes, but reassure yourself that this is a normal wake-up and you’re going to fall back asleep,” she says. Then, prepare to drift back into dreamland once again.
