We’ve all been there. You crawl into bed, exhausted after a long day, only to find you’re suddenly wide awake. You toss and turn, trying not to look at the clock and think about how soon you have to be up for work. Finally, you drift off—but it seems to take forever.
About 30% of adults have a hard time falling asleep, according to a recent analysis. Not only is an inability to fall asleep supremely annoying, it may also take a serious toll on your health. Poor sleep is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia, obesity and certain types of cancer.
Luckily, there are steps you can take to shorten your trip to dreamland. Here’s how to fall asleep fast.
Understanding the Challenges
Many factors can prevent people from falling asleep quickly. These include:
- Stress and anxiety, which may cause your mind to race even when your body is tired
- Caffeine, which blocks receptors in your brain that make you feel sleepy and counteracts the sleep hormone melatonin
- Blue light exposure from screens, which disrupts the circadian rhythms that signal your body it’s time for sleep
- Irregular sleep schedules (including sleeping in on the weekend), which throw off your internal clock
- Poor sleeping conditions such as an uncomfortable mattress, a temperature that’s too warm for optimal sleep or too much ambient light
- Back problems or other health issues that cause sleep-preventing pain
- Certain medications (including some antidepressants and stimulants used to treat ADHD), that list insomnia among their possible side effects
When it comes to understanding how to fall asleep fast, addressing these factors is an important first step.
Relaxation Techniques for Quick Sleep Onset
For many people, learning to clear the mind and let go of tension can be a gamechanger when it comes to falling asleep quickly. These relaxation techniques have been scientifically proven to help.
Deep breathing exercises
Breathing exercises activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for slowing down your heart rate and promoting a sense of calm.
Try the 4-7-8 method (inhale for a count of four, hold for a count of seven and exhale for a count of eight) or box breathing (inhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds, exhale for four seconds and hold for four seconds) to help relax your body and mind at bedtime.
Progressive muscle relaxation
This technique is done by tensing and then relaxing all your muscle groups one at a time. You generally start with your lower extremities and work your way up, tensing for 5-10 seconds and then relaxing for 10-20 seconds. Many people with insomnia say this technique helps them fall asleep faster.
Mindfulness meditation
Mindfulness involves focusing on the sights, smells, and sensations you’re experiencing in the present moment. This helps you to see the worries keeping you awake for what they are—just thoughts—so you can move past them into sleep.
For those unsure how to get started with practicing mindfulness, there are many meditation apps that can guide you through the process.
Optimizing Your Sleep Hygiene
The term “sleep hygiene” is used by experts to describe habits that promote good sleep. When you’re working on how to fall asleep fast, you’ll want to consider incorporating these habits into your bedtime routine.
Try these tips to optimize your sleep hygiene.
Sticking to a sleep schedule
This means going to bed and getting up around the same time every day. While it may seem like a good idea to “catch up” on rest by sleeping in on the weekends, doing so disrupts your body’s natural sleep rhythm and may make falling asleep harder.
Create a relaxing bedtime routine
Doing the same soothing activity every night before bed helps signal your body that it’s time to prepare for sleep. Taking a warm bath, doing some gentle stretches or reading a book are all good ways to wind down.
Limit screen time before bed
Research suggests the blue light emitted by your phone and other devices affects your body’s circadian rhythm, which may make it harder for you to fall asleep. Put devices away at least one hour before bedtime to minimize their impact on sleep.
Watch what you eat
Eating a large meal before bed—particularly one that includes fatty or spicy foods—sometimes causes digestive distress that can make falling asleep difficult. Sugar, caffeine and other stimulants too close to bedtime may keep you awake as well.
Move your body
Getting regular exercise during the day has been shown to help people fall asleep faster. To get the most bang for your fitness buck, exercise outdoors. Sunlight helps regulate your body’s internal clock, so you’ll be ready for sleep when bedtime comes.
Creating an Ideal Sleep Environment
Another piece of the “how to fall asleep fast” puzzle is the right sleep environment. To create yours, consider these factors.
Darkness and temperature
We all sleep best in a dark, cool room. Use heavy curtains or blackout shades to prevent light from keeping you awake, and set your thermostat to somewhere between 60 and 65 degrees to promote deep, sound sleep that comes quickly.
Sound control and white noise
Imagine you’re drifting peacefully off to sleep when you’re jolted awake by a car alarm. Even though you were almost asleep mere seconds ago, you now feel wide awake. The worst, right? To prevent unwanted sounds from disrupting your sleep, use tools like earplugs or headphones to block them out or technology like a white noise machine or app to drown them out.
Comfort and ergonomics
A comfortable mattress is crucial to falling asleep fast. The best ones offer cushioned support, keeping your spine properly aligned to promote pain-free sleep while gently hugging your body. Brooklyn Bedding has some excellent options, including:
- The Sedona Elite, which features ultra plush top layers, individually encased coils for zoned support and foam made with a cutting-edge infusion of copper that gives you antimicrobial and cooling benefits.
- The Aurora Luxe Cooling, which features a top comfort layer infused with cooling fibers that are clinically proven to absorb excess body heat and release heat back to you as needed.
- The Signature Hybrid, which comes in three options to meet your personal preferences (soft, medium and firm) and an optional Cloud Cooling Pillow Top for high-tech cooling comfort.
- The Copperflex, which provides a combination of high-quality materials and advanced engineering that ensures consistent comfort and support for years to come.
Brooklyn Bedding constructs mattresses in thoughtfully engineered layers, with every layer serving either a comfort, support or cooling purpose that meets a specific consumer need.
When to Seek Professional Help
If you can’t seem to figure out how to fall asleep fast even after implementing the above strategies, it may be time to talk to a professional. Your healthcare provider or a sleep expert may be able to pinpoint specific reasons why you’re struggling to fall asleep—and help you fix them.
Better Sleep is Possible
It may not feel like it when you’re lying awake watching the clock, but it is possible to fall asleep faster. By taking actionable steps such as practicing relaxation techniques, optimizing your sleep hygiene and upgrading your sleep environment (including your mattress), you can give your body the tools it needs to slip quickly and peacefully into dreamland.
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