The idea in one minute
“Compression sounds counterintuitive — go to bed later? But it’s the most powerful tool we have.”
Wendy. When she had insomnia, she started with a 1:00 AM bedtime. Now she goes to bed between 11:00 PM and 11:30 PM.The longer you’re awake, the more sleep pressure builds up. Compression uses that to your advantage by pushing your bedtime later — so when your head hits the pillow, you have enough pressure to sleep through the night.
You keep your wake time fixed. Each night that residual pressure carries over and builds. Within days to a few weeks, your sleep consolidates — and then you slowly extend bedtime earlier.
Pair it with stimulus control
Compression and Stimulus Control go together. If you’re in bed during your new window but can’t sleep, leave the room after 20 minutes (Module 5).