“The Things I Was Doing to Help Myself Sleep Were the Exact Opposite of What I Needed”: John Harris on His Experience With Sleep Works

For years, John Harris had been dealing with sleep that just… wasn’t working.

Years of shift work had thrown off his sleep cycle, and even after moving away from shift work, the problem didn’t disappear.

“I was getting sick and tired of being tired,” John says. “Years of shift work and things like that kind of messed up the cycle and got me to a point where I just wasn’t really doing the right things to get sleeping.”

And his sleep struggles weren’t limited to one part of the night.

“I would have a terrible time falling asleep. It would take hours. When I did get to sleep, I would have periods where I would wake up and be awake for some time, and then I would also wake up far before alarms and just be laying there awake, hoping to get back to sleep.”

Eventually, John’s family physician referred him to Sleep Works.

“Right away, you could tell that Leah knew exactly what she was talking about.”

From his first conversation with Leah, John noticed something different.

Instead of being handed a generic list of sleep tips, he felt like they were figuring out his sleep together.

“It was great. Right away, you could tell that Leah knew exactly what she was talking about,” he says.

“What I liked about it right away was it was a lot of me describing the issues that I was having, and her saying, ‘Okay, well, we can try this,’ and trying to find what was going to work best for me.”

John could tell Sleep Works’ CBT-I program was built on experience and expertise. But it didn’t feel like someone was reading from a script.

“You could tell that it’s a program that’s been done a lot, but it didn’t feel rehearsed at all. It felt like it was going to be very personalized, and I really appreciated that.”

More than that, John felt that Leah genuinely cared about helping him sleep.

“It was very apparent right from the off that Leah was very passionate about the idea of helping me sleep. I didn’t feel for a second like she was just going to go through the motions with me.”

That helped John decide to fully commit to Sleep Works’ six-week CBT-I program.

“The majority of the things that I was doing to try and help myself sleep were the exact opposite of what I actually needed to do.”

John is someone who likes to understand how things work.

So one of his favourite parts of the program was getting into what he calls the “nerdy details” of sleep.

“A lot of it was the deep diving into the physiology of sleep,” he says. “That drew me in, and I was like, okay, this is going to help me a lot.”

It also led to a pretty big realization.

Many of the things John thought were helping him sleep… weren’t.

“The majority of the things that I was doing to try and help myself sleep were the exact opposite of what I actually needed to do.”

Before Sleep Works, John had tried over-the-counter sleep aids like ZzzQuil and Sleep-Eze, without much success. But the program also helped him notice smaller patterns in his routine that he had never considered.

Things like the lighting on the Kindle he used before bed. The timing of his bedtime. When he ate. When he had caffeine. Even the pre-workout he was taking before early-morning gym sessions.

“You would be shocked how many things you think you’re doing correctly to get yourself into the mode to sleep,” John says. “I was blown away by how many small things I was doing incorrectly that were really making managing my sleep very difficult.”

But the answer wasn’t simply creating another long list of sleep rules to follow.

For John, understanding what was happening physiologically—and finding the strategies that actually worked for him—helped take away something that had become deeply connected to bedtime: anxiety.

“Once you started putting those things together and building that routine, it took away a lot of the anxiety of trying to get to sleep.”

“My sleep’s been really good.”

Today, John’s sleep looks very different.

In fact, there’s now a new problem.

His family physician happens to go to the same gym he does. One morning, she noticed he hadn’t been there and gave him a hard time about missing his workout.

John had an explanation.

“I said, ‘Well, you can blame Leah, because I’m sleeping so well now that I don’t even want to get up to go to the gym.’”

Joking aside, the change has been significant.

“My sleep’s been really good,” he says. “Even making the small adjustments to an earlier bedtime, back to closer to what was normal before I couldn’t sleep, those adjustments have been great, and I’ve been getting a lot of good sleep.”

After years of struggling to fall asleep, waking throughout the night and lying awake long before his alarm, John finally has strategies that work for him—and a much better understanding of his own sleep.

“Try the program.”

When asked what he would say to someone else struggling with sleep, John’s advice is refreshingly simple:

“Try the program.”

Because even when you think you’re doing all the right things, there may be patterns you haven’t noticed yet.

“You would be shocked how many things you think you’re doing correctly to get yourself into the mode to sleep.”

For John, learning what was actually happening with his sleep—and what he could do differently—changed everything.

“It was just a great program, and I’m glad it worked for me.”

Meet Your Sleep Coaches: Marlee & Leah

At Sleep Works, we’ve helped hundreds of people just like John finally get the rest they deserve. Our sleep experts, Marlee and Leah, help people understand what’s keeping them awake and guide them toward better, more restful sleep.

They’re not here to judge. They’re here to support you with warmth, expertise, and an evidence-based approach that actually works.

How to Get Started (Even If You’re Not Sure Yet)

Whether you’re ready to dive into CBT-I or just curious, we’ve got options:

Online Self-Guided CBT-I Course – Work through the full Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) program at your own pace, on your schedule.

Small Group CBT-I Programs – Learn virtually alongside others experiencing similar sleep challenges, with live guidance from our sleep experts. (Eligible for private Canadian health insurance coverage—inquire for details.)

FREE 15-Minute Consultation – Chat virtually with Marlee or Leah to find out which option is right for you. No pressure. Just clarity.

Schedule your free consultation here