By Steve Chatfield
Founder, AuDHD Companion
5 min read
Before trying to explain everything, it can help to describe the change in ordinary terms. What is happening now, what was usual for you before and how is it affecting your days? Those questions can give you something useful to work with without requiring exact sleep measurements or another demanding routine.
Which part of sleep has changed?
“Sleeping badly” might mean taking longer to fall asleep, waking repeatedly, waking earlier than intended or having little opportunity for sleep in the first place. Someone else might be sleeping longer and still feeling exhausted. These experiences deserve their own descriptions rather than being bundled into one overall judgement.
Try noting approximate timing and how rested you felt. You do not need to calculate every waking minute. “Woke early and could not settle again” or “enough time in bed, still sleepy through work” can preserve the part that matters. If you are unsure of a detail, it is fine to leave it uncertain.
Look at the day around the night
Changes in work hours, worries, room comfort and routines may be useful context to record. You might also want to mention illness, pain or a medication change to your clinician. These details do not establish why your sleep changed, but they can help describe the timing more clearly.
Sleep difficulties have different possible explanations. The NHS guide to insomnia outlines common experiences, possible contributing factors and when to ask for help. Recognising your own experience in an ADHD or burnout article does not mean those labels explain a new sleep problem. A broader health conversation may be needed.
Consider how the following day feels
The number of hours is only part of your experience. What happens when you try to work, make decisions, spend time with people or manage an ordinary household task? Do you feel sleepy, mentally slow or more easily overwhelmed? Describing the effect can help communicate why the sleep change matters to you.
Include days that felt reasonably manageable too. A short night does not guarantee every part of tomorrow will be difficult, and a longer night may not explain why you still feel depleted. Looking back can be an invitation to curiosity rather than a forecast you have to live up to. You are recording your experience, rather than using a score to decide in advance how the day must go.
How AuDHD Companion brings nights and days together
A check-in gives you somewhere to record sleep alongside relevant daytime measures. The journal can hold details such as “shift changed this week”, “woke with worries about tomorrow” or “felt unrefreshed despite allowing time for sleep”. You choose what seems useful; there is no need to turn the entry into a minute-by-minute sleep diary.
Returning to those observations can help you describe the sequence over time. Insights can support exploration of your recorded measures, including how sleep and other parts of your day appear together. They cannot measure sleep stages, assess breathing during sleep, diagnose a sleep disorder or establish cause. You do not need a wearable or a clinical interpretation to keep a personal record.
Your Toolkit can hold wind-down options you want to revisit, such as setting aside time for a quiet activity or writing tomorrow's reminders before bed. Treat them as personal options to reflect on, rather than guaranteed solutions. Persistent sleep difficulties may need support beyond general wellbeing strategies.
A fictional example of a useful record
Imagine someone who says, “I am sleeping terribly all the time.” Short notes help them describe the issue more precisely: falling asleep has remained fairly easy, but they have begun waking much earlier and struggle to stay alert during afternoon meetings. They can give approximate dates and explain the impact when speaking with their GP.
That record does not reveal the cause. It makes the conversation clearer and may help the person remember questions they wanted to ask. They do not need to wait for the app to find a pattern before seeking advice, and one better night does not erase the difficult ones.
One gentle starting point
Tomorrow, if it feels useful, record what was different about the night and how rested you feel. Keep it short enough that recording does not become another source of pressure. If monitoring makes you more anxious or preoccupied with sleep, it is reasonable to scale it back and discuss that with a professional.
You can also consider one practical aspect of the evening that is within your control, such as making the room more comfortable or leaving a little time to unwind. The aim is to support yourself in the present, rather than make you responsible for solving every sleep difficulty alone.
When to ask for support
Speak with a health professional if sleep problems continue or interfere with daily life. Mention snoring, breathing concerns or significant daytime sleepiness if present. Do not drive or operate machinery when sleepy. If you suspect a medicine is involved, ask your prescriber or pharmacist rather than changing it based on app observations.
AuDHD Companion offers tools for reflection and organisation, not sleep assessment or treatment. See how the app works, or start free. Begin with what you notice, at a pace that leaves room for rest.