T-break and sleep: tips for the first nights
· Not medical advice
If cannabis has been part of your evening, the first nights of a break can feel different: falling asleep may take longer, and some people notice more vivid dreams. It doesn’t happen to everyone. Here’s what tends to help.
Before bed
- Keep the same bedtime and wake-up time. Even on the weekend. A steady rhythm does a lot of the work.
- Build a short wind-down. Twenty or thirty minutes that look the same every night: a shower, tea without caffeine, a book, dim lights. It fills the slot where the old habit used to be.
- Get tired on purpose. A walk after dinner or some exercise earlier in the day makes evenings easier.
- Watch the caffeine. Coffee after lunch can hit harder when you’re already restless.
- Screens off a little earlier. Scrolling in bed tends to keep you up, and it’s also where cravings like to show up.
If you can’t fall asleep
Don’t lie there fighting it. After 20 minutes or so, get up, keep the lights low and do something quiet and boring until you feel sleepy, then try again. A slow breath helps too: in for four, hold for four, out for six, for a few minutes.
About vivid dreams
Many people on a break say their dreams feel more vivid or memorable. It can be strange, but it’s commonly reported and tends to settle. Keeping a note by the bed and writing a line in the morning makes it more interesting than unsettling.
Give it a few nights
Sleep usually finds its rhythm again once the new routine settles. If poor sleep goes on, or you feel unwell, talk to a doctor.
Your evening, planned
Evenings are where a T-break is won. Our list of things to do instead at night has more ideas. And in Mile Zero your evening comes with a postcard: a real place, a short story and a small detour for tonight.