The Brutal Sleep Truth: A Sleep Doctor's 10 Honest Habits That Are Wrecking Your Nights
Dr. Christopher J. Allen, a Michigan-based sleep specialist who regularly shares tips with 167,000 Instagram followers, recently posted a decade's worth of blunt advice in one message. His 10-point list reveals the personal habits that undermine good sleep and that people with long-term sleep issues often resist acknowledging. From the snooze button to doomscrolling, these are boundaries many sleep-seekers have yet to set.
In This Article:
1) No-Go on the Snooze Button: Hitting snooze doesn’t buy you rest
An alarm clock is a necessity for many to ensure punctuality. But regularly hitting the snooze button to cling to a few extra minutes of sleep actually harms you. “Hitting snooze doesn’t buy you rest,” Dr. Chris writes. It confuses your brain and guarantees morning grogginess.
2) The Busy Bedtime Brain and 3 AM Wake-Ups: Rest is elusive
Laying your head on a pillow should signal rest, but many of us fall asleep only to bathe in a flood of thoughts. Dr. Chris says this reflects underlying issues: “You’re not ‘wired at night’ — you’re overstimulated, dehydrated, and living in a stress loop.” And when sleep comes in the form of a 3 AM wake-up, it isn’t random—“your stress hormones clock in for the night shift.”
4–6) Fast sleep, caffeine, and doom scrolling: the trio you should rethink
4) Falling asleep in seconds isn’t always a sign of great sleep. It can be a red flag for exhaustion. 5) Put down the coffee: instead of quitting caffeine altogether, consider how regular stimulants affect your nervous system and your chance to rest. 6) Doom scrolling: many try to relax with endless scrolling, but the combination of stimulating content and phone light pushes your brain into survival mode.
7–10) Weekend sleep-ins, five-hour nights, the mattress, and the bedroom sanctuary
7) Weekend sleep-ins don’t fix sleep debt; they simply confuse your circadian rhythm and make Mondays a struggle. 8) You think you can function on five hours of sleep, but your body is quietly breaking down. 9) The mattress isn’t usually the culprit—late-night emails and revenge scrolling are the real culprits. 10) A bedroom sanctuary matters: keep your sleep space inviting and calm, because you can’t heal in the environment that keeps you dysregulated. “Your bedroom is a mirror of your life.”
