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As a teenager, I came across an idea that seemed almost too good to be true: you could train your mind to wake up at a specific time without an alarm clock. I decided to test it. I told myself to wake up at 6:00am, repeated that message several times in my head, went to bed, and the next morning my eyes opened at 5:59am, half an hour before I typically had to get up for school. Convinced that it was luck or coincidence, I tested it again- and again. Each time it worked almost without fail, as long as I repeated that wake time message to myself before falling asleep. It was an early lesson on how powerful psychological conditioning can be.

In my work with patients, I often see a related mechanism play out, though in a much less helpful way. Much like the ‘Good Cop, Bad Cop’ tactic from police interrogations, where one officer comforts while the other pressures, the clock can play a dual role- sometimes neutral or even positive, and sometimes a trigger for stress. Many people who struggle with insomnia find themselves waking up consistently at a certain time in the middle of the night. At some point, that time became associated with a heightened emotion, such as frustration, disappointment, or worry. It is usually not a positive emotion, and the brain learns to associate that time with something that we need to watch out for. In reality, there is nothing harmful about time itself, but once the association is made, the mind treats the clock as if it were a threat. What should be neutral information on the clock becomes a psychological trigger, like a time stamp, and the body learns to wake up, as if being alert could prevent something bad from happening. From an evolutionary perspective, of course, this is exactly what we are wired to do.

Knowing the time in the middle of the night rarely provides comfort. Instead, it invites mental math (“If I fall back asleep right now, I get 3 more hours. No wait, it’s 2 hours”), worry about the next day (“I’ll never function at work tomorrow”), or self-criticism (“Why can’t I sleep like a normal person?”). Checking the clock at bedtime is also unhelpful, since it can increase anxiety and therefore make it harder to fall asleep. For this reason, I encourage patients to remove, turn around, or cover clocks that are visible at night. Many put tape, index cards, or sticky notes over glowing microwave or stove displays that they cannot avoid glancing at on the way to the bathroom. Recently, one patient had the simple but ingenious idea to place a refrigerator magnet over their digital clock. It worked beautifully and required no purchase or effort. For many, setting an alarm provides reassurance that they don’t oversleep, which makes it easier to let go of checking the time at night.

While timekeeping has its place, for those struggling with insomnia, looking at watches or clocks at night does more harm than good. Covering clocks or turning them away from view is not just a quirky trick, but part of a meaningful behavioral change. Although the effect is not immediate, once time is no longer paired with negative emotions or impending doom, patients typically report returning to sleep more easily, without the anxiety the clock once provoked.

This strategy is just one example of the practical techniques used in cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). CBT-I is a natural approach that does not require devices or medications. During a CBT-I assessment, we take a comprehensive look at sleep habits, daily routines, thought patterns, and environmental factors that affect sleep. From there, an individualized treatment plan is created, incorporating evidence-based techniques designed to help our patients achieve better sleep. If you are struggling with insomnia or want to learn more, please reach out to a psychologist who specializes in behavioral sleep medicine. 

When I was in college, my bed felt like a miniature city: a homework district, a TV neighborhood, a snack corner, and a stress plaza all rolled into one. No wonder I often struggled to fall asleep or stay asleep. At the time, I wish I had known about stimulus control, a core technique in cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). Stimulus control is designed to retrain the brain to associate the bed with rest and relaxation, rather than activity, stress, or wakefulness.The principle is simple: your bed should be used for sleep and sex only, with one important exception: when you are sick. These are sometimes referred to as the “three S’s”: Sleep, Sex, and Sick. To make it even more practical, you can add a fourth S for Stillness, which includes meditation or breathing exercises that help the body and mind wind down. These four S’s create a clear boundary: the bed is a place for rest, not multitasking.

Why does this work? Your brain forms strong associations. If you spend hours awake in bed (scrolling, working, snacking, or worrying), it starts linking the bed with alertness and stress instead of calm. Over time, climbing into bed can trigger your mind to race, even when your body is tired. Stimulus control reverses this learned response by creating a clear, consistent signal: bed equals rest. Research supports the effectiveness of stimulus control. A meta-analysis found that stimulus control is an effective intervention to improve insomnia compared with control conditions. The study included 23 studies and concluded that stimulus control is an effective intervention to improve insomnia compared with control conditions. Another study published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology analyzed the components responsible for the efficacy of stimulus control treatment of sleep-onset insomnia. The study found that stimulus control produced significantly greater improvement in reported latency to sleep onset than the control condition. 

Consistency is crucial. Go to bed only when you feel sleepy. If you can’t fall asleep within about 20 minutes, get up and do a quiet, relaxing activity. Read, color, stretch gently, meditate, or practice breathing exercises before returning to bed. Over time, your brain learns that lying down in bed signals rest, not stress or activity. The takeaway is clear: train your brain to associate your bed with rest, not activity or worry. Keep work, screens, and stressful thoughts out of the bedroom. Use your bed exclusively for the “four S’s”: sleep, sex, sick, and stillness. With practice, stimulus control can help break the cycle of insomnia, making it easier to fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake feeling refreshed. Your bed isn’t just furniture, it’s a powerful cue your brain can learn to trust for rest.

References:

Verreault, M. D., et al. (2024). “A systematic review and network meta-analysis.” Journal of Sleep Research. 

Zwart, C. A., & Lisman, S. A. (1979). “Analysis of Stimulus Control Treatment of Sleep-Onset Insomnia.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47(1), 113-118.