Colleen Wachob after 20 years of insomnia: the daily routine that improved her sleep

After nearly two decades of struggling with sleeplessness, Colleen Wachob says she gradually rebuilt her nights by stacking small, repeatable habits rather than searching for a single miracle cure.

Wachob, co‑founder of the wellness site Mindbodygreen, says the biggest gains came from keeping a consistent daily schedule, getting plenty of daylight and movement, and making her bedroom cool, dark and quiet.

“I couldn't fall asleep for a long time, but after a while I realized I sleep best when my mind is calm and the room is cool and dark,” she recalls, describing how those simple conditions made a real difference.

Practical elements of her routine

She aims for seven to eight hours of sleep, typically going to bed around 10:30 p.m. and setting an alarm for 6:15 a.m. One of her first morning acts is to open the curtains and let natural light in; later, about 6:30 a.m., she prepares her morning coffee with collagen.

Wachob set a personal caffeine cutoff — she avoids caffeine after 11:00 a.m. — because experts stress that the amount and timing of caffeine matters more than rigid rules about a specific delay after waking. She also uses her commute and a short lunchtime workout to boost daytime activity and daylight exposure.

Evenings start with a family routine: she gets her children ready for bed around 6:00 p.m., with their sleep time beginning near 7:00 p.m. She almost never brings her phone into the bedroom and begins dimming lights and lighting a candle around 9:00 p.m. At about 9:30 p.m. she often reads or watches television in bed — a personal indulgence she admits breaks conventional guidance.

“I break all the sleep rules by watching TV in bed at night. It brings me a lot of joy,” she says, underlining that her schedule is tailored to her life rather than to a textbook formula.

How that lines up with expert advice

Many of her practices match public health recommendations. The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) recommends a consistent bedtime and wake time, a cool, quiet, dark bedroom, regular physical activity and avoiding late caffeine. But specialists also caution that for chronic insomnia, sleep hygiene alone may not be enough: cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT‑I) is widely regarded as the first‑line treatment because it addresses behaviors and thought patterns that maintain sleeplessness. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine likewise notes that sleep hygiene rarely suffices as a stand‑alone therapy for long‑standing insomnia.

Wachob’s experience is not a universal cure, but it shows how persistence and small, personally adapted habits can meaningfully improve sleep for some people.

Photo: press material from the event