Do you happen to open your eyes at four o’clock, in total silence, and realize that sleep is gone? It’s a more common scene than you might think. According to a review published in Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicinenocturnal awakenings affect up to 40% of adults over 30. It’s not just a nuisance: it disrupts deep sleep cycles, reduces next-day energy and, in the long run, increases stress, irritability and the risk of chronic insomnia.
The good news is that you don’t need yet another app or screen light to go back to sleep. All it takes is two minutes of a targeted routine, done well, without opening your phone and without getting out of bed.
Why it happens and why picking up the phone is a mistake
There are many causes: stress, noise, coffee, alcohol, awkward schedules. But the gesture that ruins everything comes immediately afterwards: taking the phone. The screen emits blue light which suppresses melatonin, the sleep hormone.
A study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology showed that exposure to blue LED light, even for short periods, suppresses melatonin production in a manner proportional to the amount of light received, tricking the brain into thinking it’s daytime.
The two minute routine
As soon as you wake up, resist the temptation to pick up something. Stay still, breathe and follow this little sequence, tested by sleep hygiene experts from Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Close your eyes and take three deep, slow breaths. Inhale for a count of three, exhale for a count of four. It is a way to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, the one that lowers the heart rate and relaxes the muscles.
Then, shift your attention to your feet and release them.
Going up slowly, relax your legs, abdomen, shoulders, neck. It is a simple but effective technique, progressive muscle relaxation improves the quality of sleep after just a week.
Don’t look at the clock. Anyone who starts “counting the remaining hours” screws themselves: it creates performance anxiety, the worst enemy of sleep.
Because it works
The principle is simple: the body must receive a coherent, not mixed message. If you force him to stare at a screen, you tell him “wake up”; if instead you relax him and keep him in the dark, you remind him that it is still night.
There Sleep Foundation emphasizes that associating bed exclusively with sleep is one of the golden rules for maintaining a stable circadian rhythm.
This two-minute routine does just that: it eliminates stimuli, calms the body, stops thinking. It’s a quick reset.
It doesn’t work miracles, but it has an effect
If the problem is sporadic, it works. If, however, it happens to you every night, it is no longer a question of routine but of causes: anxiety, apnea, work shifts, alcohol, drugs. In that case you need to talk to a sleep doctor. Waking up too early can be a sign of physiological or psychological imbalance, not just bad habits.
But if your only “mistake” is opening Instagram at four in the morning, then yes, the solution is within reach — or rather, better said: away from your phone.
