You lie awake for an hour
The day is over, you are tired, and your mind will not stop.
Courses
Start with three things you can do today
How to sleep better at night without medication
Understand what runs your sleep, then stop fighting it.
A course on the mechanics of sleep for people who lie awake or wake too early. It covers the two systems that decide when you sleep, why worry keeps you up, what light, caffeine and timing do to a night, and how to rebuild a routine that works with your body instead of against it.
Open Cadence on the App Store, type the sentence when it asks what you want to learn, and answer a few setup questions. Free to start. Android testers can request early access.
Type this when Cadence asks what you want to learn
I want to sleep better. I lie awake, wake at three in the morning, or feel wrecked when I get up. Explain what actually controls sleep and help me change the habits that are breaking mine.
Change any word so it fits your situation. The course is built from what you type and a few setup questions.
Start today
Four things you can do before the course exists.
Useful on their own. The course is for when you want the whole skill, not just the first move.
-
Fix your wake time first, not your bedtime
Get up at the same time every day this week, including the weekend. The wake time anchors the body clock; bedtime follows once it is set.
-
Get outside light within an hour of waking
Ten minutes of daylight, no sunglasses, tells the clock the day has started and pulls sleepiness earlier in the evening.
-
Cut caffeine after two in the afternoon
Caffeine has a half life of about five hours. A four o'clock coffee is still a quarter strength at midnight.
-
If you are awake for twenty minutes, get up
Sit somewhere dim and dull until you are sleepy. Staying in bed awake teaches the brain that bed is for being awake.
- Best for
- Health & fitness
- Prerequisites
- None. Bring the situation you have.
- Course length
- 7 to 30 lessons, sized to your goal
- Lesson pace
- About 10 minutes a day
- Format
- Read it, or play the audio
- Access
- Available on the App Store, with early features and Android testing access
Before the course is built
Setup asks about your situation first.
Lesson 1 opens on the moment you describe, and the examples use your role. For this request, expect questions like these.
- What is the pattern: trouble falling asleep, waking in the night, waking too early, or all three?
- Roughly what time do you go to bed and get up, and does it vary a lot?
- Is worry or a racing mind part of it, or is it mostly physical?
Right for now
If any of this sounds familiar, start here.
You wake at three and that is it
The night breaks in the middle and the second half never comes.
You sleep, but wake up wrecked
Enough hours on paper, none of the rest.
Course arc
Where the course goes, in order.
Cadence writes the lessons for you, so the exact path follows your answers. This is the ground a course built from this sentence covers.
01 / 06The two systems
Sleep pressure and the body clock, and why they have to line up.
Light and timing
The single biggest lever most people never touch.
Caffeine, alcohol and food
What each does to a night, with honest timing rules.
The racing mind
Why worry peaks at night and how to give it somewhere else to go.
Waking in the night
What is normal, what is not, and what to do in the dark.
When to get help
Signs that point to a sleep disorder rather than a habit problem.
What changes
What you will be able to do, and what you will stop believing.
You will be able to
Know what sets your sleep clock
Understand sleep pressure and the body clock, and what moves each of them.
Fix the inputs
Light, caffeine, alcohol, meals, screens and timing, ranked by how much they matter.
Handle the awake mind
What to do at 3am that does not make the next night worse.
Build a routine you can keep
A consistent wake time and a wind-down that fits real life.
Ideas this course corrects
Everyone needs eight hours
Needs vary with age. Most adults need at least seven hours, and sleep quality matters too.
Lying in bed longer means more sleep
More time in bed does not necessarily improve sleep. Persistent sleep problems deserve individual assessment rather than simply cutting sleep time.
Course questions
What to know before you start.
How to sleep better at night without medication: what can I do today?
Fix your wake time first, not your bedtime. Get up at the same time every day this week, including the weekend. The wake time anchors the body clock; bedtime follows once it is set. Get outside light within an hour of waking. Ten minutes of daylight, no sunglasses, tells the clock the day has started and pulls sleepiness earlier in the evening. Cut caffeine after two in the afternoon. Caffeine has a half life of about five hours. A four o'clock coffee is still a quarter strength at midnight. If you are awake for twenty minutes, get up. Sit somewhere dim and dull until you are sleepy. Staying in bed awake teaches the brain that bed is for being awake.
Is this a fixed course?
No. Cadence builds the course when you type the sentence and answer a few setup questions, so the lessons follow your situation. This page describes what a course built from this request covers. You see the whole path before Lesson 1.
Who is this course for?
A course on the mechanics of sleep for people who lie awake or wake too early. It covers the two systems that decide when you sleep, why worry keeps you up, what light, caffeine and timing do to a night, and how to rebuild a routine that works with your body instead of against it. It sits under Health & fitness in the Life & growth part of the library.
Do I need any prior experience?
No. Setup asks what you already know and where you want to use it, and the course starts from there. Bring a real situation if you have one; the examples are built around it.
How long does it take?
Courses run 7 to 30 lessons of about 10 minutes, sized to what you asked for. One lesson a day is the intended pace, and you can go faster. Lessons can be read or played as audio.
Does this course award a certificate or degree?
No. Cadence is for practical self-learning and does not award accredited degrees or professional certification.
Start today
Type it, answer a few questions, open Lesson 1.
The sentence to type
I want to sleep better. I lie awake, wake at three in the morning, or feel wrecked when I get up. Explain what actually controls sleep and help me change the habits that are breaking mine.
Open Cadence on the App Store, type the sentence when it asks what you want to learn, and answer a few setup questions. Free to start. Android testers can request early access.