USEFUL TIPS
How To Fall Asleep Fast
5 min read
5 min read
When it comes to getting a good night’s sleep, sometimes the hardest part can be simply falling asleep in the first place. There’s nothing more frustrating than lying awake late at night knowing that every minute you’re awake is one more minute you won’t be sleeping before your alarm. Especially if you have a big day ahead, that pressure to get a healthy, energizing amount of rest can make your inability to get to sleep even worse.
Luckily, there are many things you can do to help your body and your brain get on the same page when it comes to shut-eye. Even though sleep is a natural process that we all experience and need to survive, unless you’re very blessed, getting a good night’s sleep can be a habit you need to learn.
So let’s talk about some of the best, simple ways to fall asleep fast so you can spend more time snoozing and less time lying in your bed watching the minutes tick by.
1. Adjust Your Temperature
If your bedroom is at the wrong temperature, it can impact your sleep quality and delay sleep onset. If your room is too warm, you’ll likely wake up sweaty or have trouble drifting off. If your room is too cold, you’ll probably have similar issues!
So let’s look at how to sleep faster by adjusting your temperature. Ideally, your room should be between 60 and 70 degrees F.
It varies from person to person, but making sure your room is neither too hot nor too cold will make it a lot easier for you to fall asleep — and, more importantly, to stay asleep once you’ve drifted off.
2. Maintain a Consistent Schedule
Your sleep cycle is super important. So let’s talk schedule for how to go to sleep fast. The more consistent you are with your sleep schedule, the more your body will take that cue and know what to do with it.
If you go to bed at 4 a.m. most nights… but then need to get up early one day, so you try to go to sleep at 9 p.m., you’re likely to have a lot of trouble falling asleep that night. The more consistent you are with your bedtime and wake-up time, the more likely sleepiness will set in at just the right time every night, and the less likely you are to deal with sleep deprivation.
3. Practice Breathing & Relaxation Techniques
Whether or not you’re into meditation, practicing some mindfulness or deep breathing techniques before bed can help you to relax. It also just helps to practice before-bed habits like this because your body will start to recognize them as signals that it’s time to wind down.
Plus, things like stress or anxiety can really impact sleep onset. So taking time to focus on your breathing and come down from your busy day can make it less likely you’ll spend all night staring at the ceiling, making your stress worse. Techniques like square breathing or progressive muscle relaxation can help you fall asleep fast.
Another tip for relaxing at the end of the day? Try a white noise machine to create a calming sleep environment.
4. Improve Your Bedding
Finding bedding made from superior fabrics may sound a little over the top if you’re someone who likes to be frugal, minimalist, or otherwise isn’t all that concerned about the quality of basic things like sheets. But the fabric you’re sleeping on can greatly affect how easily you fall asleep.
While those cheap sheets you got when you moved into your college dorm may have been affordable and fashionable, that synthetic blend may not be super breathable — or even too breathable — and could contribute to a suboptimal sleeping temperature. Natural materials such as Supima cotton have all sorts of benefits beyond the fact that they just feel good.
In addition to looking for sheets that breathe well and help keep you comfortable, Miracle Made Sheets are infused with silver to help prevent up to 99.7% of bacterial growth. This means you’ll have fewer night sweats and clearer skin, and to top it all off… you’ll have to do laundry up to 3x less often.
5. Exercise Daily
Exercising daily is obviously good for you in general. But it’s especially helpful if you’re experiencing poor sleep or having trouble falling asleep.
Especially if you have a more sedentary job or lifestyle, adding even mild exercise like a long walk into your day can improve your sleep habits by default because your body will be more tired in the evening and more ready to drift off to sleep.
You should, however, avoid strenuous exercise too close to bedtime. While stretching or light yoga before bed may help, intensive exercise right before sleep may have the opposite effect. However, there is a fringe benefit to exercising in the evening, though ideally a few hours before bedtime.
And that’s taking a shower or a bath! Taking a warm bath or a warm shower before bed can improve your sleep qualityand help you fall asleep faster. Some studies have shown that showering before bed like this may help lower blood pressure before and during sleep. Adding one of our Miracle Shower Steamers to help calm you down with de-stressing lavender can take the pre-bed shower or bath experience to the next level.
6. Say No to Naps
Naps are great hacks for a long workday, but they’re definitely not your best friend if you’re trying to get better sleep at night. Maintaining a regular sleep schedule — and not cheating it by sleeping during the day — can help improve sleeplessness and make it easier to sleep fast at night.
7. Focus on Winding Down
In reality, it should only take 15 to 20 minutes to fall asleep at night. This time can stretch out if you’re not practicing good sleep hygiene, including good pre-bedtime habits. For instance, blue light — the kind that comes from smartphones, laptops, or television — can mess with your circadian rhythm and make it hard to fall asleep.
Cutting out technology from your bedtime routine for about two hours before bed can really help if you’re having trouble sleeping. Plus, getting rid of social media in the evening may also help your mental health and alleviate sleep latency.
Instead of technology, try visualization, like picturing yourself in a relaxing scene that will promote a calm feeling before bed. You could also read a book or practice some breathing exercises we mentioned above to help yourself wind down. Basically: protecting your nighttime routine can sometimes be the only sleep medicine you need.
Takeaway
If you’re struggling to get to sleep at night, it can negatively impact your energy the next day and your mood overall — not to mention how much you dread bedtime every night. But by making some small adjustments to your nighttime routines and even your schedule during the day, you can seriously improve not just how fast you fall asleep but the quality of sleep you experience overall.
Sources:
How to Fall Asleep Fast | Sleep Foundation
The Inner Clock — Blue Light Sets the Human Rhythm | Journal of Biophotonics
