Stressed about sleep? Don't make these mistakes
Life Kit
NPR
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 8 January 2026
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Follow us on Instagram: @nprlifekit
Sign up for our newsletter here.
Have an episode idea or feedback you want to share? Email us at lifekit@npr.org
Support the show and listen to it sponsor-free by signing up for Life Kit+ at plus.npr.org/lifekit
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, it's Mariel. Before we start the show, let's play a little game. What helps you live longer, |
| 0:07.2 | improves symptoms of depression and anxiety, cuts your risk of chronic illnesses, bolsters your immune |
| 0:13.0 | system, strengthens your bones, and reduces chronic pain? Strength training. And that's not even a full |
| 0:20.3 | list of all the benefits. |
| 0:21.7 | To help you get started building muscle, we created a newsletter series. |
| 0:26.0 | No experience necessary to get going. |
| 0:28.0 | Sign up at npr.org slash stronger or find the link in the episode description. |
| 0:34.7 | You're listening to Life Kit. |
| 0:38.5 | From NPR. |
| 0:44.3 | I get this particular image in my head when I think about insomnia. |
| 0:54.4 | I see somebody in a bathrobe lying on the couch, lights off, TV on, staring like a zombie at a stream of late-night infomercials. |
| 0:57.6 | I wonder what core memory I'm flashing back to here. |
| 1:00.9 | It's definitely got a late-90s, early 2000s vibe. |
| 1:03.8 | The scene might be a little different at your house. |
| 1:07.0 | Maybe it involves a bottomless pit of scrolling on your smartphone, |
| 1:09.0 | but the feeling is the same. |
| 1:10.5 | Desperation. |
| 1:16.3 | You either can't sleep at all or you can't stay asleep, and you keep looking at the time like, |
| 1:21.1 | okay, only three hours until I have to get up, but I still haven't gotten down. |
| 1:30.6 | Recent estimates say 25 to 30 million American adults are dealing with insomnia at any given time. So bad sleep affects a lot of us. |
| 1:35.9 | But when you're up in the middle of the night and you know everyone else is sleeping, it's a really scary feeling and it's a lonely feeling. I feel like I'm the only one dealing with this, or mine |
| 1:42.8 | is worse than everyone else is. |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 18 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

