Books, podcasts and apps for the nights when your brain won’t switch off. Some are for falling asleep, some are for understanding why you can’t. Some links may earn us a small commission. It never changes what we pick. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Free, plainly written fact sheets on insomnia, shift work and sleeping pills, from Australian sleep researchers.
Acceptance rather than sleep hygiene checklists. For people who now have anxiety about sleep itself.
Bedtime stories read slowly enough that you rarely hear the end.
Tracks what is actually happening at night, which helps if you suspect you sleep worse than you do.
The alarming, motivating version of the sleep research, in nineteen minutes.
Long guided non-sleep deep rest. Good for the nights you have given up on sleeping.
A structured online CBT-for-insomnia program. The treatment that actually outperforms sleeping tablets.
The six-week CBT-I program in book form, from the Harvard trial.
Someone reads old public-domain books to you. Reliable, free, no ads at bedtime.
Digital CBT for insomnia, built by sleep scientists.
A circadian neuroscientist on what sleep is actually for.
A sleep neurologist on the strangest things brains get up to at night.
Sleep sounds, stories and a mix-your-own white noise machine.
A behavioural sleep doctor on making peace with sleep.
A sleep therapist on why exhaustion and racing thoughts go together.
Step-by-step CBT exercises for sleeping better.
Most of us know the sleep hygiene list by heart: no screens, cool room, same bedtime. It helps, but it is rarely the whole story when your brain switches on the moment your head hits the pillow.
What tends to work for racing minds is lowering the stakes. Sleep stories and boring podcasts give your brain something dull to hold onto. Books like The Sleep Book take the pressure off trying to sleep, which is often what keeps people awake.
For insomnia that has lasted months, CBT for insomnia (CBT-I) is the treatment with the strongest evidence, stronger than sleeping tablets over the long run. This Way Up runs a free online insomnia course, and Sleepio is a digital version.
If you snore heavily, wake gasping or feel exhausted however long you sleep, see a GP. Sleep apnoea and other conditions need a proper check.
Everything here is something we have used or been sent by someone it helped. Nothing is sponsored, and none of it replaces advice from a GP or psychologist.