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Tom’s Guide
Tom’s Guide
Technology
Lauren Jeffries

I slept for 8 hours a night and still felt exhausted — until an expert changed one simple thing about my sleep schedule

Lindsay Browning
A woman with long dark brown hair wearing an orange night shirt wakes up happy in a bright and light bedroom, with her arms outstretched, and smiling because she had a great night's sleep and now feels full of energy and vitality for the day ahead. A blue Tom's Guide Sleep Week 2026 logo sits in the top right hand corner.

Recently, I’ve been waking up exhausted and groggy, despite sleeping for eight hours every night. I’ve checked off everything that could secretly be sabotaging my sleep: I have the best mattress for my body, I avoid late-night dinners, and I don’t snore (well, not enough for concern).And the weirdest part is that I'm wide awake and full of energy after just 7.5 hours of sleep. How can 30 minutes make such a massive difference?For Sleep Awareness Week 2026, I called on Dr. Lindsay Browning, a globally renowned neuroscientist and sleep expert, to ask what was going on and how I could break out of my morning funk. Here's what she told me...

Key take-aways: At a glance

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