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Michael Grandner

@michaelgrandner

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Ever notice how a problem can feel enormous at 3 a.m. and much more manageable the next morning?

The problem may not have changed. But your brain state has.

At night—especially when you’re tired, awake at the wrong biological time, and isolated from the normal cues of daytime—thinking can become more rigid, emotional, and focused on threat.

That doesn’t mean nighttime thoughts are meaningless. It means they are happening in a different biological context.

Sometimes the best thing you can do with a problem at 3 a.m. is write it down, give it the night, and come back to it when your brain is operating under different conditions.

#MindAfterMidnight #SleepHealth #MentalHealth #SleepScience #CircadianRhythm Split-screen image contrasting anxious late-night thoughts at 3 a.m. with a calmer daytime perspective, illustrating how sleep and circadian state can shape mental health experiences. by @michaelgrandner

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7 days ago

One question that came up recently: when sleep changes alongside mental health, is it just a symptom?

Not necessarily.

Sleep can be a consequence of what is happening psychologically. It can also contribute to symptoms. And sometimes a change in sleep is an early signal that something else is changing.

That is why I try not to ask only, “Is mental health causing the sleep problem?” A better question is: what role is sleep playing right now?

Sometimes it is the consequence. Sometimes it is part of the mechanism. Sometimes it is the check-engine light.

#SleepHealth #MentalHealth #SleepScience #CircadianHealth Editorial infographic explaining that changes in sleep can be a consequence of mental health symptoms, part of the mechanism that contributes to symptoms, or an early signal that something else is changing. by @michaelgrandner

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11 days ago

White, brown, and pink noise don’t all work the same way.

White and brown noise can help mask sounds around you. Research on pink-noise stimulation during deep sleep involves carefully timed sound, which is different from playing a pink-noise track all night.

The timing matters, along with whether the sound helps you sleep or disrupts it.

#SleepHealth #SleepScience #WhiteNoise #PinkNoise by @michaelgrandner

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13 days ago

New paper alert: Can you trust ChatGPT for sleep and jet lag advice?

Vitale J, McCall A; Athlete Travel & Sleep Interest Group (ATSIG); Halson S, van Rensburg DCJ. From GPT-4 to Expert-Endorsed Athlete Guidance: A Delphi Consensus on Sleep and Jet Lag. Sports Med. 2026 Jul 18. doi: 10.1007/s40279-026-02484-7. PMID: 42470603. by @michaelgrandner

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15 days ago

Ever feel completely exhausted… but somehow not sleepy?

That’s because tiredness and sleepiness aren’t the same thing.

Sleepiness is the tendency to actually fall asleep. Tiredness can mean feeling drained, worn out, fatigued, overwhelmed, or just done with the day.

And that distinction matters. If you’re exhausted but not sleepy, trying harder to sleep may just make things more frustrating.

Sometimes the question isn’t “Why am I so tired?”

It’s “What’s keeping me from getting sleepy?”

Try this tonight: Instead of going to bed just because you’re tired, notice whether you’re actually sleepy—heavy eyelids, nodding off, difficulty keeping your eyes open. If you’re not, do something quiet and relaxing for a little longer, then head to bed when sleepiness shows up.

Save this for the next night you’re exhausted but wide awake.

#Sleep #Insomnia #SleepHealth #BetterSleep taken in Tucson, Arizona by @michaelgrandner

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16 days ago

“Fatigue” hides two problems. Sleepiness means difficulty staying awake; tiredness means depleted physical or mental energy. They overlap, but they need different questions, measurements and responses. First define the symptom. taken in Tucson, Arizona by @michaelgrandner

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18 days ago

Project Sleep is proud to partner with NAMI (@NAMICommunicate) for a webinar on a very important topic: Mental Health and Sleep ⬇️

On Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026 from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. ET, our panel of experts will discuss the connection between sleep and mental health through lived experience and the latest research.

Mental health conditions can make it harder to get restful sleep, while sleep problems and sleep disorders can affect mood, daily functioning, and overall well-being.

Understanding that relationship, and knowing when and how to advocate for yourself, can be an important part of getting the right support. 🩵

Whether you’re living with a mental health condition or sleep disorder, supporting a loved one, working as a mental health professional, or advocating for better health outcomes, this event can help you explore the role of sleep in mental health and feel more prepared to advocate and to seek support.

➡️ Register at the link in bio!

#Sleep #MentalHealth #GetHelp #SleepProblems Webinar on the connection between sleep, mental health, and self-advocacy scheduled for September 30, 2026 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. ET, co-hosted by Project Sleep and NAMI. by @michaelgrandner

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18 days ago

Most sleep advice is written for an imaginary person.

Someone with complete control over their schedule, a quiet bedroom, no kids waking them up, no early shift, no late meetings, no commute, no stress, and apparently no reason to ever use a phone after sunset.

That’s not how most people live.

Good sleep advice has to work in the context of an actual life — with competing demands, imperfect environments, biological differences, and tradeoffs.

The goal isn’t perfect sleep.

It’s making better sleep decisions with the life you actually have. by @michaelgrandner

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20 days ago

Ever notice how your thoughts can get darker, heavier, or more convincing late at night?

That’s not just “overthinking.” After midnight, the brain may be operating under very different conditions than it does during the day. When you’re tired, awake at the wrong biological time, and isolated from the perspective that daylight brings, problems can feel bigger, emotions can hit harder, and your thinking can get distorted.

This is part of what we’ve called Mind After Midnight: the idea that the late-night brain may be more vulnerable to risky, pessimistic, and emotionally intense thinking.

So if you’re awake at 3 a.m., try not to make big decisions, trust every thought, or assume things will feel the same in the morning.

Sometimes the best move is not to solve the problem at night — it’s to get through the night safely and come back to it later.

#SleepHealth #MindAfterMidnight #SleepScience #MentalHealth #CircadianRhythm BehavioralSleepMedicine taken in Catalina Foothills, Arizona by @michaelgrandner

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21 days ago

How are you feeling right now?

Now imagine I asked you the same question at three in the morning.

In a new study, our team analyzed mood and sleep reports from more than 468,000 users. Mood ratings tended to be lower among people responding overnight and during the morning, and higher later in the day.

But this was different people answering at different times. We weren’t tracking the same person across a full day, and the effects of time were generally small.

The useful mental model is that every self-report comes with a timestamp.

If an app asks about your mood at 8 a.m. and again at 8 p.m., those numbers may reflect both how you’re doing and when you were asked.

So don’t overinterpret one low score. And when we design digital health tools, time of response should be treated as data—not background. taken in Tucson, Arizona by @michaelgrandner

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22 days ago

Struggling to wake up at 6 a.m. isn’t always a matter of discipline.

Sometimes you’re simply not getting enough sleep. But sometimes your schedule is asking you to wake up before your biological clock is ready.

That’s the difference between social time and biological time.

Three questions worth asking:

• Am I getting enough sleep?

• Is my sleep timing reasonably consistent?

• Does my sleep schedule fit both my biology and my daily obligations?

Sleep health isn’t just about how much sleep you get. When you sleep matters, too.

Your alarm clock tells you when you have to wake up. It doesn’t tell you when your body is ready.

#SleepHealth #CircadianRhythms #SleepScience taken in Tucson, Arizona by @michaelgrandner

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24 days ago

You woke up feeling great. Then your sleep tracker told you that you slept terribly. Now what?
Sleep trackers can be useful tools, but they don’t measure sleep perfectly. They estimate sleep using signals like movement and heart rate, and some estimates are more reliable than others.
And they definitely can’t tell you how your sleep felt.
The problem starts when we treat the score as more important than the sleep itself. We start chasing numbers instead of paying attention to how we’re actually doing.
Use your tracker to identify patterns, not to judge yourself.
Your sleep score is not your sleep. And your watch shouldn’t get to decide how you feel.
#SleepHealth #SleepScience #SleepTracker #WearableTechnology #BetterSleep taken in Tucson, Arizona by @michaelgrandner

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24 days ago