Restorative sleep starts long before lights out.

• Light: morning light for 5-10 minutes; dim lights 90 minutes before bed
• Caffeine: cut 8 hours before bedtime
• Wind-down: same 30-minute ritual (stretch, shower, read)
• Worry journal: 5 minutes to write tomorrow’s to-dos and one first step
• Body scan: relax jaw, shoulders, belly; exhale longer than you inhale

If you wake at night, stay calm, breathe slowly, and repeat the body scan. If worries persist for 20 minutes, get up, sit in dim light, and read something gentle until drowsy.