Frequently Asked Questions

  • Waking in the early hours is one of the most common sleep complaints, and it is rarely random. Around 3am your body has finished most of its deep sleep and is moving into lighter stages, so it takes less to wake you. If you are carrying stress, cortisol can rise earlier than it should and tip you fully awake. Alcohol in the evening, a late meal, a warm room, or a bladder that needs emptying can all do the same. The fix is usually not at 3am; it is in what happens across the day and the hour before bed.

  • Time in bed is not the same as restorative sleep. You can spend eight hours asleep and still wake unrefreshed if that sleep is fragmented, light, or out of step with your body clock. Common causes include undiagnosed sleep apnoea, inconsistent wake times, too little daylight during the day, and going to bed wired rather than wound down. If you regularly feel unrefreshed despite enough hours, it is worth having it looked at rather than pushing through.

  • Sleep debt is the gap between the sleep your body needs and the sleep it is getting, built up over days or weeks. A few short nights in a row add up, and the effects show as slower thinking, low mood, poor concentration and cravings for sugar and caffeine. The good news is that sleep debt can be repaid, though not all at once. Consistent, adequate sleep over a week or two does more than a single long lie-in.

  • Most adults need between seven and nine hours a night. A small number do well on slightly less, but far fewer than the number who believe they do. Rather than fixating on a number, pay attention to how you feel two or three hours after waking. If you are alert without caffeine, you are probably getting enough.

  • Anxiety switches on your body's alert system. Your heart rate stays up, your muscles stay tense and your mind keeps scanning for problems, which is the opposite of what sleep requires. The bed becomes a place where worry happens, and over time your brain learns to expect that. Sleep improves when the anxiety is addressed during the day rather than fought at night, and when the bedroom becomes a place of rest again rather than a place of trying.

  • It depends on the length and timing. A short nap of twenty minutes or so in the early afternoon can restore alertness without touching your night sleep. Longer or later naps eat into the sleep pressure you need to fall asleep at night, so if you struggle with insomnia, it is usually better to stay up and protect the night. For centuries, many cultures built a short afternoon rest into the day, and there is good reason they did.

  • A sleep coach helps you change the habits, routines and environment that shape your sleep. Most people already know the advice: consistent wake time, less screen time, less caffeine. The hard part is making it stick. A coach looks at your actual days, identifies what is keeping your sleep off track, and works with you to build a rhythm that fits your life. A sleep coach does not diagnose or treat medical conditions, and will tell you when something needs a doctor or a sleep clinic.

  • The consult is a 40 minute one-to-one session online, held Tuesday to Saturday. It costs $97, paid when you book. Before we meet you complete a short assessment so we can make the most of the time. We talk through your sleep history, your daily rhythms and what you have already tried, and you leave with a clear picture of what is going on and what to do next. If ongoing support would help, we can discuss the 3 week or 5 week programs at the end.

  • No. We provide sleep coaching, not medical care. If you snore loudly, stop breathing during sleep, have severe daytime sleepiness, or rely on alcohol or medication to sleep, please see your GP. Coaching works well alongside medical treatment but does not replace it.

  • Yes. All sessions are online, and availability is set to suit Australian eastern time. The booking calendar shows times in your own timezone automatically.