Should You Get Out of Bed If You Can't Sleep?

Yes. If you have been lying awake for what feels like 15 to 20 minutes, the evidence-based advice is to get out of bed, do something relaxing somewhere else, and come back only when you feel sleepy ^[4][5]. It sounds backwards, but staying put and trying harder tends to make the next night worse too. The technique is called stimulus control, and an AASM review of the evidence rated it an effective treatment for chronic insomnia ^[1].

Get up after about 20 minutes, without watching the clock

Picture it: it is 11:40, you went to bed at 11, and you are now drafting tomorrow's emails in your head. That is your cue. Programs differ a little on the number. Cleveland Clinic's CBT-I guidance says 15 to 20 minutes ^[4], while the Sleep Foundation suggests getting up if you can't fall asleep within 20 to 30 ^[5].

Don't set a timer or keep checking your phone to see whether the time is up. The point is to notice when you have slid from drowsy into alert and annoyed. If the clock keeps catching your eye, turn it to face the wall.

Why it works: your brain learns that bed means awake

Your brain is forever pairing places with states. The kitchen means food, the desk means work. After enough nights of tossing and turning, the bed itself can start to mean "be alert and worried". Stimulus control is built to undo that. It pairs the bed and darkness with sleep and moves the things you associate with being awake out of the bedroom ^[4], so that over time your brain links the bed with sleeping instead of with frustration or worry ^[4].

The method has a long track record. Besides the AASM review that rated it effective on its own ^[1], the AASM's 2021 guideline still suggests stimulus control as a single-component therapy for chronic insomnia ^[2]. If you can doze off anywhere except your own bed, that learned link is the likely reason, and we unpack it in why you might sleep better on the couch.

Getting up is one of five habits that make up stimulus control, as Cleveland Clinic lists them ^[4]:

1. Lie down to sleep only when you are sleepy.
2. Use the bed only for sleep and sex.
3. Get out of bed if you can't fall asleep within about 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Get up at the same time every day.
5. Avoid napping during the day.

What to do once you are up

You are not getting up to be productive. You are getting up to wait for sleepiness somewhere other than your bed, so the best choices are low-key and a little boring:

• Read something familiar on paper under a small lamp.
• Listen to quiet music or a calm audiobook.
• Do some slow breathing or gentle stretching.
• Fold laundry or sort a drawer, anything repetitive.

Keep the lights low and leave the phone alone. Bright artificial light late in the evening, including the glow of a TV or smartphone, can hold back melatonin and make it harder to fall asleep ^[8]. Skip work, email, bills and the news, which switch your thinking brain back on. Skip the kitchen too: the NHS advises against alcohol, tea or coffee within 6 hours of bed and against big late meals ^[6], and 2 a.m. counts. And don't stretch out on the sofa until you fall asleep there. It may work tonight, but it does nothing to repair your bed's reputation.

When to go back to bed

Go back when you feel sleepy: heavy eyelids, yawning, reading the same line twice. Feeling tired is not quite the same thing. If sleep still doesn't come, get up again and repeat as often as you need. On a bad night that can mean several rounds, and the first nights of a new routine are often the hardest.

The next morning matters as much as the night. Get up at your usual time, even after a poor night, and resist the nap ^[4]. The NHS says the same: don't sleep in after a bad night, and stick to your regular hours ^[6]. That keeps your drive for sleep building toward the next bedtime.

Does "resting in bed" count?

Plenty of people stay in bed because "at least I'm resting". Rest feels nicer than pacing the hallway, but it is not sleep, and long stretches of lying awake are exactly what strengthen the bed-means-awake habit. People with insomnia also tend to go to bed earlier, sleep in or nap to make up for lost sleep, which widens the gap between how long they spend in bed and how long they actually sleep ^[4].

That gap is measurable. Divide the time you spend asleep by the time you spend in bed and you get your sleep efficiency. Our sleep efficiency calculator works it out from a few nights of rough estimates.

How this fits into CBT-I

Getting out of bed is one tool inside cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, CBT-I. A full program combines stimulus control with sleep restriction (temporarily limiting time in bed to build a stronger sleep drive), sleep education and work on unhelpful thoughts about sleep ^[4]. The American College of Physicians recommends CBT-I as the initial treatment for all adults with chronic insomnia ^[3], and the AASM strongly recommends multicomponent CBT-I ^[2].

Most people complete it in four to eight sessions and notice improvement within six to eight weeks of starting ^[4]. It takes effort, and you may feel more tired at first ^[4]. The payoff is staying power: its effects tend to last, while sleep medicines are generally meant for short-term use ^[4].

When to get professional help

An occasional sleepless night doesn't need treatment. Talk to a doctor or a sleep specialist if trouble sleeping happens at least three nights a week and has gone on for three months or more ^[7], if changing your habits hasn't helped, or if poor sleep is making daily life hard to cope with ^[6]. Loud snoring or pauses in your breathing at night are worth raising too, since they can point to sleep apnea rather than insomnia ^[6].

If you mostly wake in the early hours rather than struggling at bedtime, our guide to waking up at 3 a.m. covers the causes.