Some people have been blessed with the ability to get into bed and fall right to sleep, but sadly, most of us have not been as lucky. We are up until all hours of the night, tossing and turning, and just wishing sleep would come, but it never shows.
What if we tried some new sleep hacks?
Redditor Joydipisalamer asked:
“What is your life hack to fall asleep faster?”
Here were some of those hacks.
Tense, Relax…Tense, Relax…
“Progressive Muscle Relaxation. I learned about it from therapy, but it’s also very useful in helping you relax both your body and mind.”
“The practice basically boils down to the intentional of tensing and releasing of muscles in a specific order, while maintaining your breathing.”-Technical_Worker_264
“I used to have a job where I’d work freight for about 5 hours straight and then manage the rest of the time I was there, another 3 hours on my feet running around.”
“I would be drop dead exhausted, come home, shower, sit on the couch for 15-20 minutes and feel like I was going to pass out right there.”
“Then when I got in bed because I couldn’t keep my eyes open, I’d just lay there for an hour or longer wishing I could fall asleep.”-justalittleparanoia
“I only have intermittent issues with falling asleep, but I did try a weighted blanket. I’ve heard it works wonders and I’m sure it does for many, but for me it gave me night terrors.”
“I’m already prone to them, and maybe if I gave my body time to adjust to the feel it wouldn’t last, but night terrors are awful and it wasn’t worth it for me.”
“So just a note of caution for anyone who gets occasional night terrors. I’m glad it helps you OP, I did love the feel of it, but my subconscious did not.”-chikaygo
Routines Work As Well Here Too
“If possible, go to sleep at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning. But you have to really stick with it… not just do it for 3 days and then go ‘oh it isn’t working.’”
“As you keep doing it, your body will get used to it and you’ll naturally get tired at the same time every day. Also, make sure you are in a cool dark room. Those are ideal sleeping conditions.”
“If it’s too hot, it’s really hard to fall asleep. Ideally, you should NEED your blanket to actually be a comfortable temperature. If you are not a bit chilly without the blanket, the room ain’t cool enough.”
“And if you have a night light or light coming in from a window, that also makes it tough. Even just a TINY bit of light coming in compared to pitch black makes a huge difference.”
“Blackout curtains are great.”-mew5175_TheSecond
“I try to think of the longest word I can that starts with each letter of the alphabet, in order.”
“Then start over and do words that start with ‘Ab,’ ‘Ac,’ ‘Ad,’ ‘Ae,’ and so on until I’m so bored that my brain says ‘nahhh fam we’re done here.’”-Ok_Security_8657
A New Spot In My Mind
“Visualize standing in a nice cool wooden hallway and you’re turning a brass knob to go through a wonderful door.”
“And remember the door only opens to where you want to go you have to tell yourself over and over slowly as you twist the knob where you want to go keep that picture sharp in your mind and repeat it.”-WolfThick
“Two Gravol and a glass of wine. I don’t necessarily recommend it but I suffered from insomnia for years and this is the fastest way for me to sleep. I rarely do it now.”
“I think there’s a reason (bad job, stress…) that gives us insomnia and if we don’t find the cause it’s hard to get better. For me, the moment I quit my stupid job I was able to sleep a lot better.”-sonia72quebec
“Imitate the breathing patterns of sleeping – close your eyes, deep breath, deep release. Focus on only this, and you can listen to some sleep soundtracks on Spotify to cancel out potential distractions.”
“Honestly though, nothing works as well as physical exercise. I’m practically unconscious by the time the day ends.”-cakehole07
Hygiene?! Now I Gotta Clean My Sleeps?!
“Every few weeks or months I end up giving some version of this comment because someone says they’re having a hard time with sleep issues.”
“I have and sometimes still do, and when I’m having ongoing inadequate sleep I notice my mood and outlook tanks hard.”
“Crabby bastard and everything sucks and !@#$ you for that minor oops that shouldn’t even bother me, you !@#$!@#$.”
“It’s a two part answer. First is sleep hygiene. Second is a little trick that has helped me, and with a few days of using it it can be pretty reliable.”
“So first, sleep hygiene. Some or all of these will definitely help. If you have chronic sleep problems (and surprisingly many people do)”
“Try to limit caffeine to the early part of your day. No caffeine 8-10 hours before bed. Caffeine you had 10 hours ago might not have any noticeable effect on your alertness, but it can stop you from sleeping and stop you from getting good sleep.”
“This can be a huge downward spiral for people who use caffeine to overcome how tired they are from sleep problems.”
“Try not to use any electronics in bed. Try not to watch tv in bed. You want to associate bed with sleeping, and NOTHING ELSE.”
“Want to use your phone before bed? Do it in a comfy chair in your bedroom or livingroom. Even sitting on the floor next to your bed. My only exception is a kindle with the brightness all the way down, with the lights off.”
“Blackout your room if possible. Block all the light coming in from the window, close the door, if your alarm has a dim setting, use it. Light is a trigger for activity in our caveman brains.”
“White noise can be a huge help, blocking out all kinds of noises. There are free apps/websites, my favorite is this site with a combo white noise / rain generator: https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/whiteRainNoiseGenerator.php”
“Lastly, make sure you are budgeting enough time for sleep. Most people need approximately 7.5 hours. After maybe a week or two of enforcing this stuff you’ll probably notice you wake pretty refreshed before your alarm goes off, if you give yourself enough time.”
“Okay one more lastly: If you snore or always seem to be tired even with ‘enough’ sleep, or wake up tired after a normal/long sleep, you might have apnea and should get that checked out.”
“Sleep studies are expensive though, so I definitely will not tell you that a lot of people sell their old cpap machines privately.”
“You should definitely not buy one without a doctor’s input, should definitely not buy a new hose and mask for it, and should definitely not start with the lowest pressure setting and raise it a 1/2 lb at a time until you magically wake up feeling awesome.”
“And you should definitely, ABSOLUTELY never get the idea that shouldn’t ever set the pressure setting above 15 lbs without seeing a doctor, because you should really see a doctor about apnea.”
“Now for the trick. It sounds stupid, but it (hopefully for you) works: However you lie comfortable for sleep, do that.”
“Let your eyes relax to a natural straight-ahead aiming position, and then imagine a black circle in front of you. Don’t think about anything, just imagine the black circle. Any size. Tiny, huge, whatever. What’s that?”
“Your old kindergarten teacher wants you help power wash your old neighbor’s trampoline? Ooops, almost got me, brain, back to the circle.”
“What? No I still am not over what that b*tch Cassie said at work today, but black circle time. It will take a few minutes the first few nights if you really try this, but eventually you’ll discipline your mind to stop thinking weird sh*t (that sometimes results in that adrenaline spike) and you’ll get to sleep quickly.”-inthrees
“Exposure to most kinds of light at night messes up your circadian rhythm, and simply fixing that problem can make a huge difference.”
“In the evening, I use a blue light filter app on top of my phone’s built in filter and it has turned around my sleep SO much. It takes a few weeks to see a huge difference but it’s so easy and so worth it.”-Crabtoe
Do you see any habits that you can add into your arsenal of tricks for getting to sleep early?
For us insomniacs, even one of these tricks can quite literally save a life.
