I fell back asleep fast at 3 a.m. using a brain researcher’s 5-minute trick — here’s why it works

A woman lying on her side sleeping with a handdrawn thought bubble over her head to show she's thinking.

I went through a period of waking up at 3 a.m. most nights and it felt nearly impossible to fall asleep again. I tried everything from breath techniques designed to calm my nervous system, to getting out of bed and 'pottering' in another room, but nothing worked.

After repeated 3 a.m. wake-ups that were draining me of energy the next day, I decided to get to the bottom of not only why I was waking up at 3.a.m, but how to fall asleep fast again in the middle of the night.