Starting a new treatment can feel like a big step, especially if sleep has been difficult for a long time, or you feel exhausted and as though you have tried everything already. 

This guide explains what Sleepio is, how the treatment works and what you can expect as you work through it. It also covers the parts that may feel challenging or unexpected, and what to do if things do not go to plan. If you get stuck at any point, you can email a real person at hello@sleepio.com. They’re there for practical help and encouragement, particularly if the early weeks feel hard, so you’re not working through this on your own. 

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Sleepio isn’t designed to change your sleep overnight. It uses cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia or CBT-I, which works gradually on the habits and worries that keep insomnia going. During the sessions, you’ll learn new techniques to help break this cycle. This can feel harder at first, because you’re working on patterns that have built up over time. This doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong, it just means that with a little more time and practice in between sessions, they’ll start to feel easier.

So, what is Sleepio?

Sleepio is a clinically proven,^1,2 NICE-recommended digital treatment delivering CBT-I. NICE, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, independently reviews clinical and economic evidence and sets the guidance the NHS uses to decide which treatments are worth offering patients. An independent committee reviewed the evidence for Sleepio, including trial data from thousands of people, before recommending it as a treatment option for insomnia and insomnia symptoms.

NICE recommends CBT-I as the first treatment to try for long-term insomnia, ahead of sleep medication. Sleepio delivers CBT-I digitally, which means more people can access this recommended treatment without a prescription, referral or waiting list.

Sleepio’s evidence base includes 18 completed randomised controlled trials, more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, and data from over 29,000 participants. Across these studies, up to 76%¹ of people experienced a clinically meaningful improvement in their insomnia. The benefits have also been shown to last, with people still experiencing them up to three years after finishing treatment.²

Sleepio is different from sleep hygiene, a sleep aid, relaxation programme or a collection of sleep tips. CBT-I is designed to work on the habits, patterns and worries that keep insomnia going, even after whatever initially disrupted your sleep has passed. 

Over six weeks, you’ll learn about your sleep, try practical changes, and build new ways of responding to difficult nights. With practice between sessions, you can expect to see a gradual improvement, with changes designed to last beyond your final session.

Is Sleepio right for me?

Sleepio focuses specifically on insomnia and is designed for adults experiencing ongoing difficulty with:

• Falling asleep
• Staying asleep
• Waking earlier than they would like
• Feeling worried or anxious about sleep
• Coping during the day because of disrupted sleep

You don’t need to have tried sleeping medication or stop taking prescribed medication before starting. Sleepio may be suitable however long you have experienced sleep difficulties for- whether for a few months, or a few years.

Speak to your doctor or healthcare professional if you are unsure whether Sleepio is right for you, or if you have any concerns about your health.

Why sleep difficulties can continue

Insomnia often starts following a stressful period, an illness, a life change or when there is a disruption to your usual routine. The original trigger may pass, but your sleep doesn’t always return to normal straight away. 

When sleep becomes difficult, it’s natural to try harder to make it happen. You might go to bed earlier, stay in bed longer, try to catch up on yesterday’s sleep, change your routine, or pay close attention to how many hours you’ve had. You may start worrying about the next night's sleep before it’s even begun. 

These responses make sense when you are tired and trying to cope. Over time though, they can unintentionally keep the difficulty going. Your bed and bedroom can become linked with being awake and worried, while irregular patterns can make it harder for your body to know when to sleep. 

Sleepio helps you understand these patterns and change them step by step. This is why CBT-I can still help when insomnia has lasted for months or years, because you’re tackling the exact patterns that are fueling the cycle. 

How Sleepio works

Sleepio guides you through a structured CBT-I treatment developed specifically for insomnia. It helps you build skills to address the beliefs and habits that drive and maintain insomnia. It is different from generic CBT, counselling or sleep hygiene advice, as the treatment works across these four connected areas:

Your sleeping pattern

You will make practical changes that help strengthen your natural sleep drive and create a more consistent pattern. 

The link between bed and sleep

Spending long periods of time awake in bed can gradually teach your brain that bed is somewhere to think or worry. Sleepio helps you rebuild the connection between bed and sleep.

Thoughts and worries about sleep 

A difficult night can quickly lead to thoughts such as “I won’t cope tomorrow”. Sleepio helps you recognise and respond to these thoughts differently. 

Unwinding before and during the night

You’ll also learn techniques to help you settle your mind and body when you feel tense or alert.

Each step builds on what came before, so it’s worth staying with the treatment even when a particular week doesn’t seem to have an immediate impact. 

How the six week treatment is structured

Sleepio includes six short sessions, with one new session becoming available each week. The time between sessions gives you a chance to put the skills you have learnt into practice before moving on to the next stage of the treatment. 

Each morning, you’ll be asked to record the previous night’s sleep in your sleep diary. Sleepio uses these entries to understand how you are sleeping and tailor the next stage of treatment. 

The time between sessions is deliberate. CBT-I works through practice, so each week gives you time to try the techniques and see how they affect your sleep. 

What the six weeks might look like

Everyone’s experience is different, and moving at a different pace to this is not a sign the treatment isn’t working. But as a rough guide:

• Weeks 1 to 2: Getting used to the new techniques. Sleep may fluctuate, and you may feel more tired than usual.
• Weeks 2 to 4: Starting to notice patterns, and perhaps spending less time awake in bed or feeling less anxious about sleep.
• Weeks 4 to 6: Building consistency and confidence in the techniques. 

Afterwards: Continuing to use what you’ve learnt, especially when difficult nights happen.

What to do between sessions?

Each session will introduce a new technique to practice over the following week. This is where much of the work happens. 

Implement the techniques you’ve learned, and try to follow the recommendations as closely as you reasonably can, and notice what happens over several nights rather than judging the treatment after one. Completing your sleep diary will help you see these patterns over time.

You don’t need to feel confident about a technique before trying it. Some parts of CBT-I make more sense once you’ve put them into practice and seen how they affect your sleep. 

Try not to make several other changes to your sleep routine at the same time, as switching between approaches can make it hard to tell what’s helping, and can add more pressure and anxiety around sleep. If you're already taking sleeping medication or over-the-counter remedies, you don't need to stop to begin Sleepio. There's more on this at the end of this guide.

Why your sleep diary matters

Your sleep diary is an important part of the treatment as it helps Sleepio build a picture of how you’re sleeping and tailor the treatment to you. It also helps you look back and see how your patterns change as you practise different techniques.

Each entry includes things like when you went to bed, roughly how long you think you were awake for, and when you got up. What’s important to remember here is that you don’t have to record every detail perfectly. An estimation based on what you remember is absolutely fine. 

The diary isn’t a test, and there is no good or bad score. Its purpose is to show patterns across several nights. 

This matters because one difficult night can feel as though it cancels out every improvement. Looking back through your sleep diary gives a more reliable picture. You may notice you’re falling asleep a little faster, spending less time awake in bed, or recovering more easily after a disrupted night, even when your sleep is not yet where you want it to be.

It can also help to remember that progress isn't only about getting more hours. Early improvements often show up in other ways first, like falling asleep a little faster, spending less time lying awake, or a steadier pattern from night to night. These changes matter, and they're often what leads to better sleep overall.

Try to complete your sleep diary regularly, and if you miss an entry, just continue where you left off rather than seeing it as a sign you’ve failed. Aim to complete your diary for the previous night’s sleep first thing in the morning, and again, your best estimate is fine. 

Why some parts may feel unexpected

Some CBT-I techniques can feel different from the advice you have heard and followed before, and a few of the recommendations might seem like the opposite of what you’d naturally do when you are desperate for more sleep. 

For example, Sleepio may ask you to: 

• Keep a consistent time for getting up
• Avoid spending long periods awake in your bed
• Change the amount of time you spend in bed
• Stop trying to force sleep
• Respond differently to worried thoughts after a difficult night

These changes are designed to rebuild your natural sleep drive, strengthen the connection between your bed and sleep, and reduce the anxiety that you have built up around bedtime itself. 

What if my sleep gets worse before it gets better?

The most important thing to know: feeling worse in the early weeks does not mean the treatment is failing.

Some people feel more tired during the early stages of treatment, and your sleep may also fluctuate as you adjust to a different routine. This can be difficult, especially when you already feel exhausted, but it’s an expected part of how the treatment works. CBT-I changes patterns that may have built up over a long time, so your body and mind may need a little time to adjust. It’s a bit like physio - some exercises can feel unfamiliar or difficult at first, but become easier with practice. 

What if I feel more tired during the day?

If you feel drowsy during the day, particularly in the early weeks, take extra care driving or operating machinery, and avoid these activities if you feel too sleepy to do them safely. This  sleepiness is usually temporary and tends to ease as your sleep becomes more settled. Where you can, try not to schedule your most demanding commitments in the first couple of weeks, and be realistic about what you take on while you adjust. Some people find it helps to let someone close to them know what they're doing.

What if I have one terrible night?

No treatment can completely prevent difficult nights, and having a bad night here in there isn’t uncommon, even for people who don’t have insomnia. There are many factors that can affect sleep - stress, illness, noise, changes to your routine, even ordinary life. 

The aim is to help your sleep become more settled over time, and to reduce the effect one difficult night has on the next.

What progress can look like

Progress doesn’t look the same for everyone, and it’s rarely a straight line. You might have a few better nights, followed by a difficult one. You may also notice changes in how you feel about sleep before you see a change in how long you sleep. 

Here are some signs that the treatment might be helping:

• Falling asleep more easily
• Spending less time awake during the night
• Spending less time lying awake in bed
• Having a more consistent sleep pattern
• Feeling less anxious as bedtime approaches
• Thinking about sleep less during the day
• Coping better after a difficult night
• Feeling more alert or emotionally steady during the day
• Trusting your ability to sleep rather than constantly trying to control it 

Not everyone notices the same changes at the same time. Try to look at the overall picture across several weeks rather than using one night as proof that treatment isn’t working. Your sleep diary will really help you notice the gradual changes that are hard to see from memory alone. 

What if I can't follow everything perfectly?

You don’t have to complete Sleepio perfectly for it to be worthwhile. You may miss a diary entry, struggle with a new technique, or have other things going on in your life that makes the treatment harder to follow. That’s completely normal, and it doesn’t undo the work, time, and effort you have already put in. 

Here are some ways to get back on track:

1. Continue from where you are. You don’t have to go back to the beginning
2. Complete the next diary entry or session
3. Remind yourself why the technique was given, and what you’re working towards over time
4. Focus on the next step, rather than trying to fix the whole week ahead
5. Avoid changing everything because of one difficult night

Consistency matters more than willpower. The aim is to practise the techniques often enough for new patterns to develop, not to get everything right from the beginning. If you have a difficult week, think of it as giving you useful information about what affects your sleep, and not evidence that you have failed. 

What to do if you are finding it difficult

CBT-I can be challenging, particularly during the first weeks. Feeling unsure, frustrated, exhausted, or tired does not mean that you are not capable of completing the treatment. 

If a recommendation does not make sense

Try returning to the session and listening to the explanation again. Remind yourself what the technique is designed to change. Understanding why you are doing something can make it easier to continue when the immediate effect isn’t obvious. 

If you have had a particularly difficult night

Try not to make a judgement about the whole treatment the following morning. Complete your sleep diary entry as usual, and continue with your recommendations. Sleep naturally varies, and the pattern across several nights matters more than any single one. 

If you have missed part of the treatment

Return to the treatment when you can. You don’t need to wait for the perfect week, or start from the beginning because you missed a diary entry or session. Once you have access to Sleepio, you have 12 months to complete it. 

If you are worried about tiredness or another health issue

It’s important that you speak to a healthcare professional if you’re concerned about your health, safety, or ability to follow the recommendations. Take extra care with any activities where tiredness could put you or someone else at risk. 

If you are taking sleeping medication

Do not stop or change prescribed medication without speaking to the healthcare professional responsible for your prescription. You can start Sleepio while taking medication, unless you’ve been advised otherwise. 

If you need technical help

If you’re struggling, stuck on something technical, or just finding things hard, you can email a real person at hello@sleepio.com.

By reading this far, you’ve already taken an important first step. Sleepio is designed to help you build a more settled relationship with sleep, one step at a time. Progress won't always be straightforward, and difficult nights will still happen. But notice the changes that build across the weeks, and give yourself credit for each one. The techniques you're learning are designed to last, helping you feel more confident in your sleep, better able to cope with difficult nights, and less controlled by insomnia.

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DOC-4325 Effective October 2026

Sleepio is a digital therapeutic intended to provide Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) for the treatment of insomnia disorder and insomnia symptoms in adults aged 18 years and older.