The Insomnia Blog Glossary

Most, if not all, of the items on this list are discussed in further detail in my book, Good Night: The Sleep Doctor's 4-Week Program to Better Sleep and Better Health.  Wherever possible, I will cross-reference the definitions with relevant articles on the Good Night/SoundSleep website and with posts here on The Insomnia Blog.

THE INSOMNIA BLOG GLOSSARY

On-Call Effect: The inability to maintain sleep while anxiously awaiting the next day's events or wake-up call.  The on-call effect is particularly common amongst business travelers, workers with occasional early call-times (including entertainers), and parents of infants who do not yet sleep through the night.

Power Down Hour:  This is the hour before you go to bed. During this time, you should be doing relaxing tasks and engaging in sleep rituals that help prepare your mind and body for sleep.

Sleep Rituals:  These are repetitive, nightly activities that help your mind and body leave the stress of the day behind and prepare for bedtime. If you repeat them on a regular basis, your body will recognize them as triggers that indicate it's time to "power down", or go to sleep.  Read more about sleep rituals here.

Worry Journal: A worry journal is a journal you keep next to your bed.  The idea is to write down the thoughts and concerns that are keeping you awake, so that you can convert them to "To Do" list items for the next day.  Suggestions for structuring and using a Worry Journal are described in detail on pages 238-241 of Good Night.