If you are unable to fall asleep, get out of bed to engage in a relaxing activity and only return to bed when sleepiness sets in, so as to avoid associating your bed with frustration and wakefulness.

noli's read

This advice is based on stimulus control therapy, a pillar of behavioral sleep approaches that aims to restore a positive association between the bed and relaxation. A meta-analysis published in the Journal of Sleep Research (2023) confirms that this stimulus control technique significantly reduces the time required to fall asleep. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, in its 2021 recommendations based on expert consensus, also supports this practice to optimize sleep quality. By leaving the bed in the event of an inability to sleep, one breaks the vicious cycle of frustration to preserve the serenity of the bedroom. The creator's explanation regarding mental pressure is entirely accurate: the active effort to fall asleep stimulates alertness, which naturally delays the moment of drifting off to sleep. This lifestyle strategy therefore proves to be particularly robust for anyone wishing to regain peaceful nights.

the sources

No named source held this one up — that absence is part of the verdict.