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HOW CAN I FALL ASLEEP FASTER

Falling asleep should not be daunting task… If you find bedtime stressful, here are seven tips to help you fall asleep faster. From a healthy sleeping routine to small changes in your environment and diet, many of your daily activities impact how quickly you fall asleep.

So if you’ve asked yourself “how can I fall asleep faster,” read on, and start setting your mind and body up for success. By following those seven expert’s steps, you will train yourself to fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. With practice and focus, set yourself up for long-term success.

Table of Contents

1. Limit Caffeine And Alcohol Consumption

While caffeine is an inhibitor and alcohol is a depressor, both should be limited in intake in the mid- to late-afternoon.

For some, drinking caffeine past 3PM can have a detrimental effect on their ability to fall asleep. If you are a coffee drinker, spend some time experimenting to understand what works for you. If you have trouble falling asleep and typically have a coffee at 5PM, try to move that last coffee up to 4PM and see whether you see an improvement in the speed and quality of your sleep.

Many of us have experienced alcohol making us sleepy. That is because alcohol acts as a depressor on your brain. It does not, however, help you sleep better, which can be a big misconception. According to DrinkWise, “alcohol interferes with the normal sleep process. While drinking alcohol before bedtime may help you fall asleep in the short term, it can affect the quality of your sleep. It can also disrupt your sleep cycles, resulting in early morning waking.”

If you are trying to find ways to fall asleep faster, try to steer away from both caffeine (i.e., coffee, tea, chocolate, and other foods and drinks) and alcohol and keep a journal of your last drink and quality of sleep to better understand your body’s reaction to both.

2. Make Exercise A Regular Activity

Have you noticed that after an active day, you tend to fall asleep faster and sleep longer and deeper? Exercising regularly may in fact give you boosts of energy, helping your body create happiness hormones and allowing you to experience more resting nights.

You do not need to go mountain climbing, train for a marathon, or play exhausting tennis matches to make exercise a regular activity. We do find that outdoor activities, however, are most beneficial to falling asleep faster.

As long as you do not make it a late-night thing, as little as a 20-minute outdoor walk can help bring balance to your day and energize your mind and body, which will help you fall asleep faster and deeper.

3. Avoid Blue Light Before Bedtime

This third tip may be the hardest change to implement as you find ways to fall sleep faster. Spending the last 30 to 60 minutes of the day relaxing in bed, watching a TV show or scrolling down social media, sounds like a nice way to ease into sleep. Unfortunately, the blue light emitted by screens (i.e., phone, TV, tablet, etc.) tricks your brain into thinking it is daytime.

According to Nemours Health, blue light stops your body from releasing melatonin. Melatonin is the natural sleep hormone, which starts being released by your body a few hours prior to bedtime. The best trigger for melatonin is darkness – we also recommend a weighted blanket to induce the release of more melatonin.  

4. Stick To A Regular Sleep Schedule

Many of us have varying sleep schedules. There are nights when we feel tired and head to bed at 10PM, other nights when we hit that “Watch Next Episode” one too many times on Netflix.

Sticking to a regular sleep schedule will help give consistency to your body and mind. You will get used to shutting down at a specific time and can create your nighttime routine based on that schedule, while waking up at the same time every morning is another way to help regulate your body’s internal clock.

Your sleep schedule may look different than your partner’s or friends’, and that’s ok. Some people are early risers, others night owls. Your work schedule and morning activities will also greatly impact your sleep schedule. You may be someone who only needs 7 hours of sleep, or you may prefer long 9-hour nights… As long as you stick to it and try not to stray away from it too much, even on weekends, you will create a long-term strategy that will help your body and mind shut down naturally, at a set time, every night.

5. Create A Relaxing Bedtime Routine

Bedtime routines are huge in parenting books, but they are not only beneficial to children. Transitioning for a busy and/or stressful day to the right mindset for fast sleep, is a process in itself. Just as you don’t wake up and kick in the day running with spreadsheets and managerial presentations, you should create a relaxing bedtime routine to get your mind and body ready to rest.

Have you ever gotten home from a long day of travel, or a long drive? Maybe after a late dinner with friends? Your body and mind are so tired and you are longing for sleep… but jumping from the car, to brushing your teeth, to bed, and turning the light off will rarely result in quick sleep. You will find yourself turning and tossing, wondering why your tired self cannot simply drift in deep sleep.

So what can you include in your bedtime routine? Simple steps that will calm your body and mind and transition you from activity to rest.

Plan on spending 30 to 60 minutes winding down before sleep. Things like a warm bath, reading a book, listening to an audio book, meditating, playing calming music, taking a shower, working on your skin routine, practicing self care away from the blue light of screens (phones, TV, etc.), will all work in unwinding your body and mind, without feeling rushed.

Try to stick to your routine, just as you stick to your nightly schedule. Bringing consistency to your bedtime routine will help you relax and train your body and mind to get ready for sleep.

6. Create A Comfortable Sleep Environment

Your bedroom should be a haven for peace and comfort. It does not take a huge budget to turn your room into a comfortable sleep environment, yet you will immediately feel the difference when entering your room, after having made a few simple modifications.

First, ensure that you are sleeping on a comfortable mattress, made for your unique sleeping style and preferences. Use the orange button below to find this year’s list of Best Mattresses – we cover all budgets in there!

In order to fall asleep faster, you need to ensure you are resting in a cool room. Healthline recommends keeping your room around 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18.3°C). If you live in a warmer area, try to keep your room around 75 to 78°F and use a fan to move the air around you.

Add some blackout blinds to any window in your room. Laying in complete darkness will signal your mind and body that it is time to wind down. Light prevents your body from producing melatonin, which is the sleep-inducing hormone. Laying in darkness will help you fall asleep faster.

If possible, fall asleep in a quiet environment. If your surroundings, or schedule, make that difficult, consider a white-noise machine. For as low as $17, you can create a quiet environment to fall asleep.

Lastly, turn your bedroom into a visually pleasing and appealing space. A new bedspread, gentle earth-tone colors, soft sheets, and assorted pillows can make a world of difference. You need to feel welcome and safe in your room.

7. Engage In Relaxation Techniques

If this one feels foreign and unlike yourself, please keep an open mind. Simple things such as breathing techniques, guided meditations, and yoga, can greatly reduce the time it takes you to fall asleep.

For guided mediation, I recommend asking your Alexa to play a 5- or 10-minute relaxation track. Those are a great way to get your mind set on shutting down. They are relaxing tracks that calm you down and may even put you to sleep. They often include breathing techniques that slow down your heart rate and allow you to gently drift to sleep.

Even if this is not something you have ever done, or if you think you are not receptive to, give it a try. Worst case – you will “waste” 10 minutes of your evening, which you would have spent tossing around anyways. It will take training to get your body and mind to be responsive to relaxation techniques at first, but after a week or two of nightly practice, you will notice a big difference in how responsive your mind and body are becoming.

Drug-Free Sleeping Aids

If you are one of the nearly 70 million Americans dealing with insomnia, we have tested some drug-free sleeping aids that may help you reach a healthy sleeping routine.

Dodow Sleep Aid

The Dodown Sleep Aid was developed by a team of French insomniacs looking for a healthy alternative to sleeping pills. This little device can be set on your bedside table or on the floor near your bed. Tune your breathing to the small light projected on your ceiling. Set on a rhythm that will inevitably induce sleep, you will fall asleep naturally, and can easily start a new cycle, should you awaken in the middle of the night.

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Apollo Neuro

This wearable device helps with more than falling asleep. Watch your body get stronger at fighting stress and anxiety, thanks to a schedule of vibrations you set for your day (7 total choices). As the wearable device vibrates, its touch therapy rebalances your body’s natural nervous system, helping you naturally fight stress, anxiety, and lack of focus, in turn preparing you for a longer night of deeper sleep. The sleep mode becomes a gentle reminder to tune down and fall asleep, which your nervous system trains itself to accept as its cue to fall asleep.

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Proper Natural Sleep Aid

Proper Natural Sleep Aid offers several packages of monthly deliveries designed to help you sleep and more. Choose from a CBD formulation (Oregon-source hemp extract), and a non-CBD one, with options that can impact sleep, as well as functions such as: restoring, immunity, calm, and clarity.

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Weighted Blankets

You have probably heard it before, but weighted blankets use a weighted touch therapy to apply gentle deep pressure to increase the release of the well-being hormone, while inhibit the release of the stress hormone. There are many models on the market and below are two of our favorites.

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How Can I Fall Asleep Faster

Having trouble falling asleep can take a serious toll on your physical and mental health. The seven steps above are minimally-intrusive and easy to integrate in your daily schedule. By sticking with them and following through, you will see an improvement in how fast you fall asleep within a couple of weeks.

Whichever steps you choose to implement (all would be best), please make sure you stick with them. It may take 2 to 3 weeks to see the difference. But by ensuring you are coming to a comfortable room and setting your body and mind up for a night of restful sleep, you are on your way to falling asleep faster and staying asleep longer.

Remember that falling asleep faster is often a result of good sleep hygiene habits and taking care of yourself throughout the day. If you continue to struggle with falling asleep, you may want to talk to your doctor or a sleep specialist.

FAQ

Most frequent questions and answers

Falling asleep faster is often a result of good sleep hygiene habits and taking care of yourself during the day. Daily exercise, sticking to a sleep schedule and routine, avoiding blue lights before bed, and limiting caffeine consumption are all ways that can help you fall asleep faster.

Practicing breathing techniques and mediation before sleep can help relax your mind and body, and set yourself up for a gentle transition into sleep. Practicing a set sleeping routine at a regular time is another way to calm your mind and relax your body before bed.

Most adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night. The easiest way to make sure you are getting enough sleep is to stick to a sleep to a regular sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up around the same time every day, weekends included, to give consistency to your mind and body and ensure you are getting enough sleep.

Unfortunately, screen time is typically accessed on blue light, which tricks your body into thinking that it is day light, and prevents it from producing melatonin, which is a the sleep hormone necessary to fall asleep.

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How can I fall asleep faster?

Falling asleep faster is often a result of good sleep hygiene habits and taking care of yourself during the day. Daily exercise, sticking to a sleep schedule and routine, avoiding blue lights before bed, and limiting caffeine consumption are all ways that can help you fall asleep faster.

What can I do to calm my mind and relax my body before bed?

Practicing breathing techniques and mediation before sleep can help relax your mind and body, and set yourself up for a gentle transition into sleep. Practicing a set sleeping routine at a regular time is another way to calm your mind and relax your body before bed.

How much sleep do I need and how can I make sure I am getting enough?

Most adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night. The easiest way to make sure you are getting enough sleep is to stick to a sleep to a regular sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up around the same time every day, weekends included, to give consistency to your mind and body and ensure you are getting enough sleep.

How does screen time affect my ability to fall asleep?

Unfortunately, screen time is typically accessed on blue light, which tricks your body into thinking that it is day light, and prevents it from producing melatonin, which is a the sleep hormone necessary to fall asleep.

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Laura Georgieff
Laura Georgieff

Laura is a mother of three who did not sleep through the night for the first 5.5 years of her kids' lives. She is passionate about sleep quality and loves sharing her experience and knowledge of all thing bedding! It is her mission to help you make the best decisions when it comes to sleep and help you get the best deal on the market!

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