Sleep Myths That Might Be Sabotaging Your Rest
- Aidan
- Feb 23
- 5 min read
If you’ve ever checked the clock at 2:17am and started calculating how much sleep you’ve got left… you’re not alone.
Sleep has become something we try to optimise, track, perfect and control. And ironically, the harder we try, the more elusive it can feel.
A lot of what keeps sleep difficulties going isn’t broken sleep, it’s the beliefs we’ve picked up about how sleep should work.
Let’s examine a few of the most common sleep myths and maybe come up with a few ways of tackling them.
Sleep Myth 1: “You Must Get 8 Hours Every Night”
Eight hours is an average, not a biological rule.
Large-scale sleep research shows that adult sleep need varies considerably, typically somewhere between 6–9 hours (Hirshkowitz et al., 2015; National Sleep Foundation). Some people genuinely function best at seven. Others closer to nine. A small minority need less.
More importantly, sleep quality and continuity matter as much as duration.
I think we’ve all had short nights of sleep where we felt surprisingly good — and long nights where we woke feeling groggy and flat. That’s because how rested we feel is influenced by:
Sleep efficiency (how consolidated sleep was)
Where we woke in the sleep cycle
Stress levels
Expectation and mindset
Research on insomnia shows that sleep effort, trying to force or chase sleep, often increases arousal and backfires (Espie, 2002).
In Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), we often focus less on “getting 8 hours” and more on strengthening sleep drive and improving sleep efficiency.
Takeaway: Instead of tracking hours alone, ask: How am I functioning during the day? That’s usually the more meaningful metric.
If you want to know more about sleep needs, this post might be of interest
Sleep Myth 2: “If You Wake in the Night, Something’s Wrong”
Waking during the night is normal.
Sleep occurs in cycles of roughly 90 minutes, moving through lighter and deeper stages (Carskadon & Dement, 2011). Brief awakenings often happen at the end of these cycles, but most people forget them by morning.
The difference with insomnia isn’t the waking.
It’s:
Remembering it.
Reacting to it.
Attaching threat to it.
Once the brain labels night waking as a “problem”, arousal increases. The body releases stress hormones. Sleep becomes harder.
A Helpful Mindset Shift
Instead of:
“I’m awake. This is bad.”
Try:
“Ah, a normal sleep transition. My body’s just cycling.”
Or your preferred phrase to that effect.
A Practical Reset Strategy
After acknowledging this:
Gently adjust your position.
Take one slow, steady breath.
Let your eyes rest.
Allow your body to settle without trying to “make” sleep happen.
If you’re wide awake and alert for a prolonged period, getting up briefly and returning when sleepy can help protect the bed-sleep association (a core CBT-I principle).
Often, it’s not the waking that prolongs insomnia, it’s the struggle.
But maybe you're thinking about the past and the future, worrying and ruminating, then this post on worry vs rumination might be right up your street.
Sleep Myth 3: “If You’re Tired, Go to Bed Earlier”
This is one of the most understandable, and unhelpful, habits.
The key distinction here is between tiredness and sleepiness.
They are not the same.
Tiredness = low energy, mental fatigue, emotional depletion.
Sleepiness = physiological drive for sleep (heavy eyelids, yawning, head nodding, difficulty keeping eyes open).
Research into sleep regulation shows that two processes govern sleep:
Sleep pressure (adenosine build-up across the day)
Circadian rhythm (your internal body clock)(Borbély, 1982)
Going to bed when tired-but-not-sleepy often means you’re lying in bed without sufficient sleep pressure. This can fragment sleep and reduce sleep efficiency.
In CBT-I, we often help people identify reliable signs of sleepiness rather than just exhaustion.
A useful question:
“If I sat quietly in dim light right now, would I drift off?”
If the answer is no, it may be tiredness rather than sleepiness.
Waiting for genuine sleepiness can feel counterintuitive at first — but it strengthens the sleep system over time.
Sleep Myth 4: “A Bad Night Ruins the Next Day”
We tend to assess our night’s sleep in the first five minutes after waking, often during sleep inertia.
What is Sleep Inertia?
Sleep inertia is the temporary grogginess and slowed thinking that occurs upon waking, especially from deeper sleep stages (Tassi & Muzet, 2000). It can last anywhere from a few minutes to over half an hour.
Judging your entire night during that window is like reviewing a film during the closing credits.
Research consistently shows that people are more resilient to short-term sleep loss than they predict (Pilcher & Huffcutt, 1996). Performance often declines less than expected, especially when anxiety isn’t layered on top.
A More Balanced Approach
Instead of immediately concluding:
“That was awful. Today will be a write-off.”
Try:
Get up.
Move around.
Let sleep inertia pass.
Re-evaluate mid-morning.
Ask:
“How am I actually functioning?”
Often, the day is more manageable than anticipated.
Catastrophic predictions about the day ahead are one of the biggest drivers of ongoing sleep anxiety.
Humans are remarkably adaptable.
Sleep Myth 5: “You Need the Perfect Wind-Down Routine”
Wind-down routines can be helpful.
But they are not magical sleep switches.
Research shows that reducing cognitive and physiological arousal before bed supports sleep onset (Harvey, 2002). However, perfectionism around routines can create new pressure.
A helpful wind-down is less about aesthetic rituals and more about staged de-escalation:
Move from problem-solving to lighter tasks.
Shift from bright light to softer light.
Gradually reduce stimulation.
Avoid emotionally activating content.
Passive scrolling often feels restful, but mentally it’s still engaging.
Consistency matters more than complexity.
A simple, repeatable routine you can actually sustain is more powerful than an elaborate one you abandon after a week.
A Final Thought
Sleep is a biological process.
It is not a performance.
Very often, sleep improves not when we try harder but when we reduce fear, loosen rigid rules, and allow the system to work as it’s designed to.
If you’re struggling with ongoing sleep difficulties, evidence-based approaches like CBT-I can help untangle unhelpful sleep beliefs and restore trust in your natural sleep rhythm.
If you’d like support with that, you’re welcome to explore working together or get in touch for a conversation about how I approach sleep difficulties.
Sleep rarely needs perfection.
It usually just needs less pressure.
References
Borbély, A. A. (1982). A two process model of sleep regulation. Human Neurobiology.
Carskadon, M. A., & Dement, W. C. (2011). Normal human sleep.
Espie, C. A. (2002). Insomnia: Conceptual issues in the development, persistence and treatment of sleep disorder.
Harvey, A. G. (2002). A cognitive model of insomnia.
Hirshkowitz, M. et al. (2015). National Sleep Foundation’s sleep duration recommendations.
Pilcher, J. J., & Huffcutt, A. I. (1996). Effects of sleep deprivation on performance.
Tassi, P., & Muzet, A. (2000). Sleep inertia.
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