How To Keep a Sleep Diary

Take a notebook or piece of paper and divide it into 7 columns (for days of the week) and 12 rows. At the top of each column, write out the dates that you will be keeping your sleep diary.

Label the rows in the following manner:

1. Time I went to bed last night
2. Time I woke up this morning
3. Number of times I woke up
4. Total time awake last night
5. How long did it take to fall asleep?
6. Medications taken
7. How did I feel when I woke up (for example refreshed, tired or very sleepy)?
8. Total amount of caffeine during the day
9. Total amount of alcohol during the day
10. Number and length of naps
11. Time spent exercising
12. How tired were you today?

Every Morning

Each morning fill out rows 1 to 7. Do this when you wake up so you can remember accurately.

Each evening, fill out rows 8 to 12. Try to give accurate estimates of the amount of caffeine, exercise and alcohol.

Look at days when you reported feeling refreshed and awake in the morning. Do you see any connections between caffeine, alcohol or exercise? Use the sleep diary to look for connections between good sleep days and bad sleep days. Experiment with changing your sleep habits and see what the effects are.