April 12th 2026
Hey there!
Happy Momentum Monday (on a Sunday)!
Picture this: It’s 11:47pm. You have to be up in 6.5 hours. You’re exhausted. Like, bone-tired, eyes-burning, been-running-on-fumes-since-Tuesday exhausted.
And yet.
Your brain has decided THIS is the perfect time to replay that embarrassing thing you said in 2014, reorganize your entire life, write three imaginary emails, and wonder whether penguins have knees.
🐧 (They do, by the way. I’ve checked. At midnight.)
Sound familiar? Yeah. I thought so. 😅
Here’s what I want you to hear first: This is not a willpower problem. It is not being irresponsible. And it is not just “bad habits.”
This is your ADHD brain doing exactly what ADHD brains do, at the absolute worst time.
Why Sleep Is So Hard for Our Brains (The Science Part)
Research confirms that sleep disturbances are extremely common in people with ADHD, with delayed sleep onset, frequent nighttime awakenings, and excessive daytime sleepiness among the most reported issues, and the relationship runs both ways: poor sleep worsens ADHD symptoms, and ADHD symptoms make it harder to fall asleep.
But here’s the part that really got me: a 2024 study from Monash University found that ADHD brains can slip into brief episodes of “sleep-like” activity even while awake — moments linked to more mistakes, slower reaction times, and lapses in attention. So we’re simultaneously exhausted AND unable to sleep. What a deal. 🙃
There’s also a circadian rhythm piece that doesn’t get talked about enough. ADHD is frequently associated with circadian rhythm abnormalities — which is a fancy way of saying our internal clock is often shifted later than the rest of the world’s. We’re naturally wired to fall asleep at 1am and sleep until 9. Unfortunately, the world disagrees.
From the Coaching Room This Week
This topic came up in one of my group coaching calls this week, and it cracked something open that I think a lot of you will recognise.
Someone in the group described what researchers actually have a name for: revenge bedtime procrastination. You’re not can’t-fall-asleep insomnia. You’re not wide awake with racing thoughts. You’re just… not going to bed. You’re on the sofa, the night is peaceful, you’re finally alone with your own thoughts, and some part of you is refusing to let the day end.
For ADHD brains especially, this makes total sense. The night is often the first quiet, unstructured time you’ve had all day — and your brain has finally got you to itself. Of course it doesn’t want to give that up.
But here’s the insight that really landed in the group, and it came from another member: what if the anxiety about going to bed isn’t about sleep at all?
What if it’s about not feeling like you’ve earned it?
When your days are full and structured — a job, a deadline, a packed schedule — going to bed feels like a natural endpoint. You did the things. You’ve earned the rest. But when your day is less defined, more spacious, or you’re in a quieter season of life? There can be this quiet, nagging feeling underneath it all: I haven’t done enough. I can’t shut down yet.
If that hit close to home — it’s worth sitting with. Because sleep isn’t a reward for productivity. It’s a basic human need. You don’t have to earn it.
And the second thing that came up: the barrier isn’t always going to sleep. Sometimes it’s the transition into bed.
One person admitted their biggest blocker was the whole faff of the nighttime routine — washing their face, brushing teeth, getting ready. Ten minutes, tops. But somehow that ten minutes becomes the reason they stay on the sofa until 1am.
The fix? Lower the barrier earlier in the evening. Put on your pyjamas at 8pm. Wash your face before you sit down to watch TV. Make your bed look cosy and inviting — a hot water bottle, whatever works for you. That way, when you’re finally ready to sleep, the transition is tiny. You’re already halfway there.
Okay But What Do We Actually DO About It?
I’m not going to tell you to “practice good sleep hygiene” and call it a day. You’ve heard that. Here’s what actually helps for our kind of brain:
☀️ Start in the MORNING (no, really)
The single most underrated sleep tool? Sunlight. Getting outside within 30–60 minutes of waking — even on a cloudy day — helps reset your circadian clock and tells your brain when “day” actually begins. This makes it exponentially easier to feel sleepy at an appropriate hour. No sunglasses. Even 5–10 minutes counts. This is free, takes almost no effort, and most of us aren’t doing it.
🧠 The “Brain Dump” Before Bed
You know all those swirling thoughts that ambush you the moment your head hits the pillow? Don’t wait for them. Grab a notebook about 30–60 minutes before bed and just… dump. Every worry, task, random thought, that thing you meant to text back, the email, the idea — write it all down. No structure, no journaling prompts, just evacuation. Your brain is spinning because it’s terrified of forgetting. Give it somewhere to put things.
🧘 A Meditation That’s Actually Built for Us
“Just focus on your breath.” 🙄 Cool, cool. Very helpful for the brain that gets bored in 4 seconds.
Instead, try progressive muscle relaxation — it gives your brain something to do while your body winds down. Start at your feet, tense each muscle group for 5 seconds, then release. Move up slowly: calves, thighs, stomach, hands, arms, shoulders, face. By the time you reach your forehead, most people are half asleep. It works because it requires just enough focus to keep the thought-spiral at bay, without actually stimulating you.
Or try Yoga Nidra — often called “yogic sleep.” You just lie down and listen. That’s it. Your only job is to follow the voice. It’s been shown to deeply restore the nervous system and is basically tailor-made for brains that can’t “just relax.” My favourite guide is Ally Boothroyd — here’s her 12-minute version to start. Bookmark it. Use it tonight.
💊 The Supplement Conversation (THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE. PLEASE CHAT WITH YOUR GP BEFORE STARTING A NEW SUPPLEMENT).
Let’s talk about the big three, because people ask me about this ALL the time:
Melatonin — it’s not actually a sedative; it’s a timing signal that tells your brain when night has arrived. This is especially useful for us because of our delayed circadian rhythm. The catch? Most people take way too much. Lower doses of 0.5 to 1mg (I personally love the “kids version”) are often enough — the 5–10mg gummies at the drugstore can leave you groggy and actually disrupt your sleep cycle over time. Start low, take it 30–60 minutes before your target bedtime, and be consistent.
Magnesium Glycinate — this one is genuinely special for ADHD brains. Research shows magnesium supplementation can improve sleep efficiency, sleep time, and sleep onset latency — and it also helps with the restless, buzzy physical feeling that keeps so many of us awake. The glycinate form is gentle, well-absorbed, and won’t send you sprinting to the bathroom (unlike magnesium citrate 😬). 200–400mg about an hour before bed.
Ashwagandha — this adaptogenic herb has been shown in multiple studies to significantly improve sleep quality, with people with insomnia falling asleep faster and sleeping longer compared to placebo groups. What makes it different from melatonin is that it works by regulating cortisol — your stress hormone. If your brain is wired at bedtime because your nervous system is in low-grade stress mode (hi, that’s most of us), ashwagandha addresses the cause, not just the symptom. Magnesium and ashwagandha complement each other — magnesium calms the nervous system, while ashwagandha helps regulate cortisol and stress. As always, check with your doctor before adding supplements, especially if you’re on medication.
🌡️ Your Environment Matters More Than You Think
Cold(ish) room: Your body needs to drop its core temperature slightly to initiate sleep. 65–68°F (18–20°C) is the sweet spot. If you can’t control your thermostat, a fan helps with both temperature AND white noise.
Speaking of white noise — for ADHD brains, silence can actually be worse. Without something to anchor to, our brains go looking for stimulation. A fan, white noise machine, or rain sounds app gives your auditory system just enough to chew on.
📖 Reading — But Not That Kind
Reading before bed is chef’s kiss for ADHD sleep. But — and this is important — it has to be something engaging enough to hold your attention away from your thoughts, but not so gripping that you read until 3am because you HAVE to know what happens. Think: a mildly interesting nonfiction book, a cozy mystery, something with chapters you can put down. Not the thriller. Not the book that made you cry last time. Not your phone. An actual book, with pages.
🌙 The Nightly Shutdown
This is the one thing that has helped more of my clients than anything else. Create a 20–30 minute “shutdown routine” — a consistent set of signals that tell your brain: we are done for the day. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. It just has to be consistent and in the same order. Think: herbal tea → brain dump journal → 10 minutes of Yoga Nidra or PMR → lights out. The predictability is the point. Your ADHD brain responds incredibly well to environmental cues when you make them strong enough.
This Week’s Action Item
Just pick ONE thing from this list. Not all of them. One.
Maybe it’s the morning sunlight. Maybe it’s the magnesium. Maybe it’s bookmarking that Yoga Nidra video and actually pressing play tonight instead of doom-scrolling until midnight.
Sleep isn’t a luxury. Sleep deprivation is directly linked to increased inattention and emotional dysregulation — which means that every time we sacrifice sleep, we’re making our ADHD harder to manage the next day. It’s a loop we can interrupt.
You deserve actual rest. Not just unconsciousness. Real, restorative sleep.
Ready to finally get a handle on your ADHD — not just your sleep, but all of it?
I offer free 45-minute coaching calls where we dig into what’s actually going on for you and figure out your next best step. No pressure, no pitch — just a real conversation.
Let’s build some momentum (starting tonight 😴),
Leah 🌶️
P.S. Hit reply and tell me — what does your brain do the moment you try to fall asleep? I want to hear the chaos. 😂