Sleep After Cancer: Practical Ways to Manage Fatigue and Rest Better
- Life after Cancer
- Oct 15, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Updated February 2026 with additional evidence based tools and resources from our latest session with Dr Sophie Bostock.
Struggling with Sleep After Cancer?
For many people, post treatment, sleep doesn’t bounce back the way they expected.
Fatigue lingers. Switching off is harder. Even when you do all the ‘right’ things - no caffeine, fresh air, exercise - rest can still feel out of reach.
As part of our ongoing series of expert-led sessions, sleep scientist and health psychologist Dr Sophie Bostock joined us to explore practical strategies for improving sleep, managing fatigue and enhancing your wellbeing after cancer.
In the session, we discussed four pillars, which control the timing and quality of your sleep, and how to influence them:
• Sleep identity, or beliefs
• Body clocks, or circadian rhythms
• Sleep pressure
• Stress-recovery balance
Dr Bostock shared a few simple evidence-based strategies to improve sleep and reduce fatigue.
Session Takeaway: Tools to Support Your Energy after Cancer
To offer more support around sleep and fatigue after cancer, Dr Bostock shared practical resources and tools you can explore in your own time.
Living with disrupted sleep and ongoing fatigue after cancer can feel overwhelming - like nothing helps, or that only a complete overhaul will make a difference. But often, small, consistent changes during the day can gently support better rest at night.
Below you’ll find 12 everyday actions that may help boost your energy and support better sleep.
Think of them as gentle prompts rather than a to-do list - something to dip into in your own time, in a way that feels manageable for you.
Your Sleep Hygiene Checklist
Wondering how to put these tips into practice?
Our Sleep Hygiene Checklist offers a clear, practical way to review your current sleep habits and identify small, manageable changes that can make a real difference over time.
Download the checklist to reflect on what’s already working for you and where there’s room to build new habits - all at a pace that feels right.
Practising Switching Off
To switch off the racing mind, we need to become better at the skill of switching off the stress response. Ideas for doing this include.
• A familiar wind-down routine, perhaps including a warm bath or shower
• Rehearsing relaxation during the day - mindfulness, breathwork or music
• Writing a to-do list or journaling about the day
• Cognitive shuffling – thinking of a random word, and visualising an image for each letter
You are much less likely to experience a racing mind if you have a regular wake up time, if it’s dark and quiet, and if you’ve built up sufficient sleep pressure before getting into bed. However, here are some additional techniques which you can try to put your mind at ease:
Time out during the day
If your entire day is spent at 300mph, then when you switch off the light, the brain still has a lot of processing to do. It helps to ‘rehearse’ or practice switching off at other times of the day – not just in bed. Try and build 10 min of ‘me-time’ into your calendar. This might mean a walk, eating a meal slowly and consciously, listening to music, practicing mindfulness or even a quick nap.
Putting the day to rest
Towards the end of the day, set aside 10-15 minutes to write down what you’ve done that day, and what you need to remember tomorrow. Write your list well before bedtime, but you can keep your list or notebook by your bed. If the same ‘to-do’ thoughts pop up, tell yourself they are on the page, and let them go. If you need to add new things, that’s OK, then go back to sleep.
Paradoxical intention (reverse psychology)
This sounds counterintuitive, but if you're awake during the night, tell yourself that this is OK. If your body needed to sleep, it would sleep. Gently try to stay awake. Enjoy the feeling of being safe and warm in your bed. You’re safe where you are… (When you stop trying, sleep is more likely to come.)
Avoid frustration. Get out of bed.
If you really can't sleep after 20 minutes or so, get up. Get out of bed. There's no point in wrestling with it. Read a book under a side light until your eyelids feel heavy, and only then get back into bed. The worst thing for sleep is trying too hard! If you miss out on sleep one night, it’s not the end of the world - just tell yourself that sleep the following night will be even better.
Sleep Diary and Habit Tracker
Dr Bostock also shared a sleep diary and habit tracker to help you notice patterns, track progress and reflect on what supports your energy.
What Helps Most with Sleep and Fatigue after Cancer?
When we asked Dr Bostock -
"When it comes to sleep and fatigue after cancer, what’s the one thing that helps the most?"
She shared this:
"A focus on consistent sleep timing can be a powerful lever for improving energy during the day. But if you're struggling with sleep, try not to worry; sleep disruption is a natural response to stress. Focus on what you can do during the day – like getting outdoors, eating well or connecting with others. Those things will reduce fatigue, and sleep will often follow.”
She also highlighted the impact of light exposure on our body clock and energy levels.
Bright light is a free and powerful resource for boosting energy and helping to keep our body clocks in sync. Here are some simple ways to build it into your routine:
• Try getting outside for at least 20 minutes in the morning, when the sun is up.
• If you can't get outside, sit by a window.
• You could also try a SAD (seasonal affective disorder) lamp while you're having breakfast. Sit by it for 30 minutes at the same time each morning
Research shows that light therapy can improve sleep, reduce cancer-related fatigue and depressive symptoms. e.g. Xiao et al (2022) Effect of Light Therapy on Cancer-Related Fatigue: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34563631/
Further Resources
If you’d like to explore more of Dr Bostock’s work, visit www.thesleepscientist.com. You can also complete a short survey there to receive feedback about your sleep habits.
You can listen to Dr Bostock on the ZOE podcast here:
Follow her work on Instagram: @drsophiebostock
Dr Bostock is also part of the Grow Atlantic team preparing to row across the Atlantic in December 2026. You can find out more at https://growatlantic.team/ and follow the journey on Instagram at @growatlantic.
We hope you’ve found something practical to try and a reminder that small changes can make a real difference.
Navigating Life After Treatment? Where to Find Support
If life after cancer feels more difficult than expected, you are not alone.
We regularly invite experts to share evidence based information and practical tools for life after cancer. Visit our What's On page to explore our free sessions and see what's on this month.
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