Sleep. We talk about it endlessly. We discuss and dissect methods to improve it, buy tech and tonics to perfect it. The one thing we don’t seem to do is actually, well, do it.
One study, looking at more than 160,000 UK Biobank participants, found that 29% reported insomnia while more than 60% of people worry about sleep on at least some nights, according to a survey published this year.
But while some people reach for wearable trackers or apps in the pursuit of a sound night’s sleep, Jane Seymour has a low-tech solution. ‘I’ll have a pad by the bed, and I’ll just write down what I’m worrying about. Once it’s out of my head and on a piece of paper, I can sleep,’ the 75-year-old actress has said. But does the science stack up?
The science supporting journaling for sleep
In a 2018 sleep-lab experiment published in the Journal Of Experimental Psychology: General, 57 healthy adults spent five minutes writing before bed. Those who wrote a detailed list of unfinished tasks fell asleep faster than those who wrote about tasks they had already completed.
‘Bedtime worry, including worrying about incomplete future tasks, is a significant contributor to difficulty falling asleep,’ the researchers explained. ‘The more specifically participants wrote their to-do list, the faster they subsequently fell asleep,’ they explained. ‘Therefore, to facilitate falling asleep, individuals may derive benefit from writing a very specific to-do list for five minutes at bedtime rather than journaling about completed activities.’
The screen-free added benefit
Keeping a notebook and pencil by your bed also stops you from grabbing your phone to note down (or, worse, Google) your concern. And this could really help, too. Last year, a Norwegian survey of more than 45,000 students found that those who spend more time looking at a screen in bed were also more likely to report insomnia and sleep loss.
In fact, each additional hour of screen time was linked to a 63% increase in insomnia risk and 24 minutes less sleep.
Jane’s other tip
‘I do have blackout curtains, I guess,’ Jane said. ‘But once I turn the switch in myself and say it's bedtime, I'm usually able just to go to sleep.’
There’s science to support this strategy, too. A 2024 observational study found that people exposed to more light while asleep tended to have more nighttime waking, less total sleep and poorer sleep efficiency. But there’s an important qualification here.
Darkness is useful at night, but once you’re awake you really need to prioritise daylight. Morning light is one of the strongest cues for setting the body clock and UK population data link more daylight exposure both with easier waking and fewer insomnia symptoms.
So keep a notebook on your bedside table, keep the bedroom dark overnight, but throw the curtains open in the morning and get outside.