Struggling with insomnia? I have got your back! This blog talks about the best tricks on how to fall asleep fast at night (when you can’t).
A relaxed mind allows your body to fall asleep faster. However, many people have been becoming victims of stress and anxiety. As a result, they have difficulty sleeping on time. Some people can’t even sleep at night and yawn through the daytime.
In order to improve the quality of your sleep, some proven methods can be considered. Many studies and sleep experts have discussed these tricks on how to fall asleep fast, especially during hard times.
How Long Does It Take to Fall Asleep?
Sleep onset latency, also known as sleep latency refers to the length of time it takes for anyone to fall asleep. Different people take a different amount of time to fall asleep but the normal sleep latency hovers between 10-20 minutes.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, a sleep latency of 15 minutes (or less than) is healthy. 16-30 minutes of sleep latency is considered normal. However, a sleep latency of more than 45 minutes is an indication of bad sleep quality.
This should be noted that the length of sleep latency does not involve pre-sleep activities such as brushing the teeth, showering, and reading. It only involves the time when you are lying on your bed and trying to sleep.
Also Read: Psychological Effects Of Sleep Deprivation You Must Know
10 Best Tips on How to Fall Asleep Faster
To make healthy sleep a priority, one has to make healthy habits. It requires you to make a few changes to your daily life. For instance, daily meditation, practicing yoga, breathing exercises, and some other tricks can be followed to improve your sleeping patterns.
Let’s dive into the ways to fall asleep easier!
1. Fix the Room Temperature
Your body changes temperature as you fall asleep. When you lie down in bed, it cools down your body temperature while on the other hand, your body becomes warm as you get up.
In case your room temperature is too high, you may find it difficult to sleep fast. To get instant sleep, ensure your room has a cool temperature. You can set the thermostat between 15.6–19.4°C to keep your room temperature cool enough.
However, the preferences may vary for which you can choose the temperature that is suitable for you.
2. Take Shower to Fall Asleep Faster
According to the experts, a lukewarm shower before sleeping is best. For some people, taking a shower or warm bath measuring between 40.0°C- 42.5°C is proven to be helpful.
It happens due to the changing temperature of your body. As your body temperature cools down, it sends the signal to the brain to sleep instantly.
So, if you are seeking an answer to how to go to sleep fast, take a shower 1-2 hours before going to bed. This will improve your sleep quality.
3. Breathe! Breathe! Breathe!
Breathing exercise promotes relaxation and calmness. Practicing breathing patterns is quite helpful to unwind yourself right before bed. Additionally, it soothes your nervous system. The best part is that you can practice it anytime you feel stressed or anxious.
Although there are different types of breathing techniques that can be followed, 4-7-8 breathing is one of the exercises used by many. In this breathing exercise, 4, 7, and 8 are the counts you follow during breaths (inhalation and exhalation).
To have a better understanding of this particular breathing exercise, look at the following steps:
- It requires you to sit straight.
- The tip of the tongue should be placed behind the upper front teeth. Make sure you keep the tongue in the same place throughout the breathing exercise.
- Start breathing out through the mouth.
- Now, close your mouth and start breathing in through the nose. You can count to 4 while doing it.
- Here, you need to hold your breath while you are counting to 7.
- Slowly breathe out through the mouth while counting to 8.
Repeat the same breathing technique twice a day. Since the ratio (4:7:8) is important in this exercise, make sure you are intact with this while practicing breathing patterns. Learn more about other breathing patterns on WebMD.
4. Follow a Sleep Routine
For some people, it might be surprising to know that our body has an internal clock. This is also called the circadian cycle or circadian rhythm. It is an internal process that helps in regulating your wake cycle which repeats after every 24 hours.
In order to process this internal clock, one has to build a habit of sleeping at the same time each day. Once you form this habit of sleeping and waking up at the same time every day, your body gets triggered to sleep and wake up at the regular time.
Getting on a good bedtime schedule helps you to sleep on time and wake up fresh every morning. Initially, it can be challenging but later your body will adjust to following this sleep routine.
Must Read: Pros And Cons Of Co-Sleeping With Your Loved Ones
5. Expose Your Body to Daylight & Darkness
Be it daytime or nighttime, exposing yourself to the light has a solid influence on your sleep. Not experiencing regular light exposure can affect your circadian rhythms. As a result, you may have a hard time sleeping faster.
Therefore, it is essential to expose your body to sunlight as it helps your body to stay alert. It could be an artificial light as well.
On the other hand, darkness (at night) encourages you to sleep. Research shows that darkness also boosts the essential sleep hormone named melatonin. In fact, our body releases melatonin in a very little amount during the day.
Whether it is artificial light, sunlight or darkness, make sure you are in contact with these if you want to sleep faster.
6. Practice Yoga at Home
People suffering from tension often find it difficult to sleep properly at night. If you are finding ways to sleep faster, yoga can help to relax your body and calm your mind. In addition, this will surely improve your sleep.
All it requires you to practice breathing patterns and perform body movements. Moreover, yoga is quite helpful to release tension and stress accumulated in the body. If you do yoga daily, it can have a positive effect on your sleep quality.
7. Look What You Eat
Before you know how to be asleep, know what you eat especially before bedtime. The food that you eat right before bed affects your night’s sleep.
Studies have shown that high-carb meals can be unhealthy for your sleep. Although a high-carb diet can help you to fall asleep faster, it will not be a restful sleep.
High-fat meals, on the other hand, can promote restful sleep. In case you still want to grab a high-carb meal, make sure you have it at least 4 hours prior to sleep. This will give you enough time to digest the food and get a good sleep.
8. Choose to Meditate
Meditation has the power to enhance your melatonin levels. It helps your brain to achieve a state where you can sleep easily.
If you are wondering how to fall asleep faster, practicing meditation will assist you in achieving it. Meditation not only has benefits to getting you to sleep properly but your brain also functions better throughout the day.
9. Don’t Look at the Clock
Waking up in the middle of the night and watching the clock is common, however, it ruins your sleep. Doing this more often can cause uneasiness due to which you can’t go back to sleep easily.
Moreover, looking at the clock every time your sleep gets distracted will form a habit within you. As a result, you will wake up daily and look at the clock in the middle of the night.
Thus, it is important to make sure that you don’t get into such habits. Rather, avoid looking at the clock even if your sleep gets disturbed in between. In case you can’t help looking at the clock, try not to place a clock or mobile phone near your bed.
10. Say Goodbye to Naps
To know how to fall asleep fast, one has to know how the daytime nap affects sleep. Taking naps in the afternoon or during the day can be the reason that you are not able to sleep properly at night.
Although a quick nap can charge you to boost your productivity throughout the day, it can also affect your night’s sleep.
According to the studies, taking a nap every day longer than 2 hours may lead to sleep deprivation. However, some studies have also shown that daytime naps do not affect nighttime sleep.
To figure out if your naps are ruining your nighttime sleep, you can either try to avoid a daytime nap or limit it to 30 minutes only.
Bonus Tips on How to Sleep Fast
- Listening to soothing music improves the quality of your sleep. It is quite helpful in improving chronic sleep disorders.
- Get involved in physical activities. It boosts serotonin in your brain and reduces the levels of the stress hormone (cortisol).
- Make your bed comfortable. Use good quality pillows and mattresses. By doing so, your body will feel relaxed as you lie down on your bed.
- Keep all the electronic devices aside. Avoid using mobile phones, watching television, and playing video games because all these activities will make you stay awake.
- Use essential oils and fragrances as this will have a positive effect on your sleep.
- Writing down your thoughts in a journal right before sleeping helps to bring calmness to your mind. As a result, you sleep fast and quietly.
- Avoid caffeine! Instead, drink some soothing beverages such as chamomile tea.
- Fix the sleeping positions. Back sleepers are considered to give good quality of sleep.
- Read before you sleep. It promotes longer sleep. Kids can also follow this tip for better sleep.
- Visualization also has an important role. Be it a dreamy vacation, a loving relationship, nature, just visualize anything that makes you happier. This will soothe your mind and you will get a good sleep.
Winding Up!
Good quality of sleep is important for everyone. Some people sleep instantly as they lie down in their bed while some struggle to get a good sleep every night. If you are wondering how to fall asleep fast, follow a couple of the given tips. This will improve your sleep patterns as well.
