DECODE Insomnia: Low-Hanging Fruit

In a recent newsletter, I talked about the idea that finding the eight is the fastest and most effective way to bring about any change.

When putting together an action plan, it's helpful for your teen to ask themselves the following question:

“What is the likelihood out of 10 that I can follow through with this plan for the next two weeks?”

An eight out of ten is at the edge of their current abilities. It's challenging, but still doable.

When it comes to tackling insomnia, there's a whole list of actions that need to come together at the same time and for long enough to see benefit.

I used to give out this laundry list in the form of a sleep hygiene handout, which I have since archived because many of the recommendations required energy, willpower, and attention that many teens understandably didn't have when I first met with them.

I've learned that it's more helpful to introduce habit change and new skills once they’ve tackled some low-hanging fruit and have taken the right steps to prepare for bigger changes.

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ACTION:

Low-hanging fruit are the nines or tens.

While there isn't always low-hanging fruit, if there is, that's a good place to start.

Your teen can knock off a few things from the list and get some early wins before trying to tackle the harder stuff.

Low-hanging fruit might be making changes to the environment or cutting off caffeine after noon (if that's something that's relatively easy for your teen to do).

If there isn't any low-hanging fruit, I'd recommend starting with the first three steps that I recommend to everybody. You can find out more about those steps in the first episode of the Find the Eight podcast series, as well as in the DECODE Insomnia Jumpstart Kit.

Remember, it's not often an issue of knowledge, but rather one of implementation.

Knowing the right order to implement the right steps can make or break your teen’s success in getting their sleep on track.

If you'd like to hear more, I will be putting on a live virtual webinar for teens and their parents on February 28 at 12PM EST.

In this webinar, I'm going to cover

• the DECODE Framework for understanding insomnia
• why sleeping well is so hard in the teen years
• the first few steps to take
• the roadmap for getting sleep on track

You can sign-up here to attend on February 28th at 12pm EST.

All the best!

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P.S. Please forward this email to anyone you think could benefit from this webinar. They can register here.

Want to read past DECODE Insomnia newsletters? You can find them all here.

Want to listen to the Find the Eight podcast series? You can find all Find the Eight episodes here and download the episode worksheets/cheat sheets here.

Want to access the other free resources including the DECODE Insomnia Jumpstart Kit? Visit the website or Instagram.

NOTE: The content, the webinar, and all linked materials in this newsletter provide general information about sleep and insomnia and are not intended to replace medical advice from a qualified healthcare provider. The provided content should not be relied upon for medical diagnosis or management. Please direct questions or concerns to your physician and/or qualified health care provider.