You wake up at 2:30 a.m., glance at the clock, and expect to drift back to sleep within minutes. Instead, your mind starts racing, you toss and turn, and before you know it, an hour has passed.
If this sounds familiar, you're not alone.
Most adults wake up briefly several times throughout the night, often without realizing it. The problem isn't waking up—it's when you can't fall back asleep. Frequent nighttime awakenings followed by prolonged periods of wakefulness can leave you feeling exhausted the next day and may signal an underlying issue affecting your sleep.
Let's explore why this happens and what you can do about it.
