5 Nighttime Habits to Get Yourself Asleep Faster

All those opportunities I had to sleep as a child come back to haunt me at times like this.You know where you're mentally exhausted, and you found time to finally sleep. But your brain decides that the stillness of the room is the perfect environment to dissect every problem and worry you have.

Or think of all the ways you could have won that argument (my personal favorite).

Or think about everything you didn't allow it to think about when you were okay with being awake.

In retribution, your brain will keep you up for hours, leaving you sleep-deprived or with a late start the next day.

The bottom line is we're not getting enough sleep, and I'm tired (no pun intended, but secretly intended) of it. So, for our sanity, I'm going to take the time to understand why sleep is important, how much sleep we should be getting, and, most importantly, ways to fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.

How much sleep do we need and why?

Adults need at least 7 hours of sleep every night to regulate our bodies.

Sleeping balances our weight, hormones, blood sugar, etc. A proper night’s rest also boosts our immune system, and with the past couple of years that’s nothing to play about (source).

Sleep is our bodies way of recharging and allowing us to longer, healthier lives. But according to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), more than 70 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep deprivation.

So how do we stay out of that statistic?

How to fall and stay asleep

1. Make your room as dark as possible

The first step to getting yourself to sleep is ensuring your room is as dark as possible. If you have curtains or blinds, close them, and don't forget to turn off any lights in the room. If necessary, use a sleep mask so that even the tiniest bit of light doesn't keep you awake at night.

2. Stay away from devices before you sleep

If you're reading this at night, there's a good chance that it’s on your phone. If so, please turn it off and put it away—after you finish reading (or at least subscribe before you go)!

If you have an iPhone or iPad with iOS 9 or later installed, try turning on Night Shift mode.

Night Shift changes the color temperature of your screen according to its current time: warmer colors like reds and oranges are reduced in brightness, while cooler blues are increased in brightness. This reduces eye strain during nighttime hours when our bodies naturally produce less melatonin than during daytime hours; we need melatonin if we want quality sleep!

3. Keep it cool

The ideal temperature in your bedroom should be between 60°F and 67°F (16°C to 19°C). Anything above 75°F (24°C) may make it harder for you to fall asleep and stay asleep all night long.

If you can't control the temperature of your room (e.g., if you live in an apartment building or dorm), try wearing lighter clothes to bed and sleeping with a fan on if possible.

If you can control the temperature of your room, try setting it to between 65 and 68 degrees. This will help keep your body cool while you sleep, reducing the risk of night sweats.

4. Listen to brown noise

If you're looking for a way to fall asleep faster, one of the best things you can do is listen to brown noise. Brown noise is an audio track that sounds like the ocean or wind. It's not just something that works in theory; there's actually science behind it.

According to research from Harvard Medical School and MIT, listening to white noise helps people fall asleep faster by enhancing their ability to block out distractions and focus on their breathing.

And when we're more focused on our breathing, it's easier for us to relax our bodies enough for sleepiness take over.

5. Sleep on a regular schedule

This is probably the most important habit of all. If you want to get yourself asleep faster, you need to go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning. This will help your body settle into a natural rhythm that allows for more restful sleep—and less tossing and turning in bed!

As with any new habit, this can be difficult at first; after all, you've been doing things differently for years! But once your body gets used to this regularity again (and it will), things will immediately start feeling better.

Conclusion

The best way to sleep faster is by following a regular routine that includes the steps above. Especially going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time each morning, even on weekends! It may seem like a huge commitment at first, but trust me, after just a few days of this routine, your body will start feeling more rested than ever.

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▶️ Introduction

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😴 How much sleep do we need and why?

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🛌🏻 How to fall and stay asleep

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🏁 Conclusion

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