Tag Archives: Dr. Michael Breus

Up all night

I was a bit under the weather Friday and slept about 30 minutes the entire night. It was agony.

How do people who suffer from chronic insomnia deal?

I was doing a bit of reading on the subject online and discovered The Insomnia Blog by Dr. Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist and self-proclaimed “Sleep Doctor.”

Dr. Breus has a formula that he says will help you get all the sleep you need; wake up before the alarm goes off; and keep you from gaining the weight that can sometimes go along with insomnia.

This guy must be rich.

Here’s what he recommends:

  1. Figure out your typical wake up time
  2. Count back 7.5 hours
  3. Set an alarm to tell you when to go to bed  (and go!)
  4. If you wake up 10 minutes before your morning alarm for three days, you have found your perfect bedtime.
  5. If you still need your morning alarm to wake up, then move your bedtime back by 15 minutes until you wake up just before your morning alarm.

After reading this, I realize why I don’t usually have insomnia.

  • I usually get about 7-8 hours sleep.
  • Rory Dog is the ‘alarm’ that tells me to go to bed.
  • I wake up each morning before my morning alarm goes off (Rory Dog again).

I’m cured.