I asked an insomnia doctor how to stop waking up at night — here's the easy 3-step routine he uses to sleep through

A split screen of an anxious woman with insomnia staring at the clock and a woman waking up with a smile because she's well rested. .

The end of summer is a stressful time for many of us, and if you’re suddenly waking up in the middle of the night, staring at the ceiling, you’re not alone. Many of us on the Tom’s Guide Sleep Team are in the same boat, waking up at 3 a.m. thanks to impending back-to-school routines and stresses, and other big life changes.

Neurologist and sleep medicine specialist Dr. Pedram Navab knows just what it’s like to live with broken sleep at night—a near-fatal car accident, caused by his own extreme fatigue, inspired him to dedicate his career to solving chronic sleep deprivation and insomnia.