The standard CBT-I sleep diary — record bed times, sleep times, wake times, and daytime functioning to track patterns and calculate sleep efficiency.
Complete this diary each morning when you wake up. Record when you got into bed, when you think you fell asleep, any time awake in the night, when you finally woke, and when you got out of bed. Don't clock-watch — estimates are fine. Your therapist will use this data to calculate sleep efficiency and guide your sleep window.
Introduce at the start of CBT-I treatment and continue throughout. A minimum of two weeks' baseline data is needed before implementing sleep restriction or stimulus control. Continue during treatment to track progress and guide adjustments.
Ask the client to complete the diary each morning, recording the previous night's sleep. Emphasise that estimates are fine — checking the clock repeatedly worsens insomnia. Frame it as essential data for tailoring treatment, not a test to pass.
For clients who find paper diaries burdensome, consider validated sleep diary apps. For older adults, simplify to core variables (bedtime, wake time, estimated sleep time). For clients with severe anxiety about sleep, reassure that the diary is temporary.
If completing the diary significantly increases sleep-related anxiety or hypervigilance, simplify it or discuss the function of monitoring anxiety in session before continuing. Do not use as the sole assessment — supplement with validated measures like the ISI.
Calculate sleep efficiency (time asleep / time in bed × 100) from the diary data. This is the key metric for sleep restriction therapy — initial sleep efficiency below 85% typically indicates a sleep restriction approach is appropriate. Look for night-to-night variability as well as averages.
Suitable for clients working with insomnia, sleep diary, cbt-i, sleep efficiency, sleep hygiene. This tool can be used as a standalone worksheet or as part of a structured homework plan.
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Identify and challenge dysfunctional beliefs about sleep that fuel insomnia-related anxiety and arousal.
A formulation based on Spielman's 3P model — mapping predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factors that maintain insomnia.
The core stimulus control rules for CBT-I — rebuilding the association between bed and sleep.
Set and track your prescribed sleep window as part of sleep restriction therapy — with weekly adjustments based on sleep efficiency.