Top 12 Tips for Falling Asleep Fast (That Really Work)

Sleep is a primary need, essential for our body and brain to rest and can consolidate all the information learned during the day. Not resting well leads to a decrease in productivity, concentration, performance and a worse, more irritable mood. In this way, it is important to establish a routine, some activities to do before going to bed to get as relaxed as possible.

It has been seen beneficial to control the amount of food as well as the time for dinner, avoid electronic devices, at least 30 minutes before going to bed, try to make the conditions in our room as calm and quiet as possible, do sports but not the hours before sleeping or being relaxed and taking a calm abdominal breathing.

In this article we will mention some of the most effective recommendations to be able to sleep more easily and thus achieve better performance, avoiding possible sleep disturbances or disorders such as insomnia.

How to get to sleep more easily

Sleeping is a fundamental activity to feel rested, to be productive, as well as to be able to consolidate the information acquired during the day, that is, it is an important process for memory. It is recommended that an adult should sleep at least 7 hours to be able to perform well in their day to day. The Diagnostic Manual of the American Psychiatric Association classifies different disorders related to sleep-wake problems. The most common of these types of disorders is insomnia disorder.

Insomnia is described as the difficulty of initiating or maintaining sleep or the feeling that it has not been restorative. In this way, in order to improve people's rest and sleep process, different recommendations are given related to the schedule, the environment, the preparation, the activation of the individual ... So, below we will give some tips to get to sleep faster when we go to bed.

1. A correct and stable schedule

As we have said, it is important to sleep the appropriate number of hours so that our body can rest and be productive the next day. In this way, It is recommended that you set a schedule, what time will you wake up and what time will you go to sleep and try to keep it as stable as possible. Likewise, we favor that our body is regulated and that our sleep follows a circadian rhythm, that is, adapted to a cycle of 24 hours more or less.

2. Take short naps or no nap

This recommendation will be adaptable to each person since there are individuals who prefer not to take a nap and others who need it, in any case, it can never be very long, it is recommended that they be at most 30 minutes since it has been seen that it is the period that helps us to rest and recover but does not affect the hours of night sleep.

In the same way, try not to take a nap after three in the afternoon, so that it is as far apart as possible at bedtime, it is important to go to bed with a certain degree of fatigue to be able to fall asleep earlier.

3. Establish a ritual before going to sleep

It has been seen beneficial to establish a ritual, some acting habits before going to bed, to encourage us to sleep better. In this way, we will relate these activities with the time to go to sleep is approaching and thus achieve that our activation decreases.

For example, we can establish activities such as turning off the computer, setting the alarm clock, removing make-up, putting on cream, brushing our teeth, reading, turning off the general light in the room and only leaving the night lamp ... Simple activities that do not require a lot of activity and thus anticipate when to go to sleep.

4. Eat light

Another activity that is necessary to control before going to sleep is not eating very large amounts of food just before going to bed, since digestion will be heavier and we will feel too full, making it more difficult to fall asleep. Likewise, it is also recommended to have an early dinner allowing enough time to digest the food well before going to bed.

In the same way, it is good to have a glass of warm milk before going to sleep, since it has been observed that it contains tryptophan amino acid which is a precursor of serotonin which in turn is transformed into melatonin, a hormone related to sleep. Finally, as is obvious, it is not recommended, before going to sleep, to eat foods that activate our body such as foods with caffeine or theine.

5. Play sports

Playing sports provides us with many benefits by keeping our mental and physical health stable. Thus, it has been seen that sport also helps to sleep better and that this sleep is more restful.

But it is important to control what type of exercise we practice and at the time of day we do it. In this way, it is recommended that if the sport we do generates great physical activation we do not do it just or shortly before going to bed, avoid playing sports in the 2-3 hour period before going to bedOtherwise, it will cost us more sleep because our body will remain active.

Yes, we can do more relaxed activities such as stretching, which can also help to reposition the body, doing them, as we have already pointed out, as a ritual before going to bed.

6. The ambient conditions of the room must be suitable

To get to sleep more easily, it is good that the conditions of our room are as relaxing and calm as possible. In this way, it is recommended that both the mattress and the pillow are comfortable, providing a good posture to our neck and back. You also need to find the right temperature, neither too cold nor too hot, and that the room is as dark as possible. Finally, as far as possible, try to make the room where we sleep as quiet as possible so that it costs us less to sleep.

7. Don't look at screens just before going to sleep

Watching your cell phone or television in bed or just before going to sleep, more or less in the interval of 30 minutes beforehand, is not good and it has been seen that it can make it difficult to fall asleep faster, since watching This type of screens can activate us and our brain, given the light that these devices project, can be confused thinking that it is daytime, being the opposite reaction that we want before falling asleep.

In the same way, it is good that as a ritual before going to bed we turn off all electronic devices or put them on silence to make sure they do not ring at night.

8. Proper activities in bed

It is important that we perceive our bed as a place of rest, of tranquility, as a stimulus that we associate with sleeping, therefore we do not recommend doing other activities other than sleeping and resting, since in this way we will not make it easier for the bed to remind us or make us sleepy. For example, it is not recommended to study in bed, eat, watch videos, etc., since they are activities where our degree of concentration or activity requires being high.

9. Save or prevent objects that can increase our activation from being visible

In the same way that we have recommended before, we have to try to make the environment as relaxed as possible and that no stimulus can capture our attention and hinder our sleep process. Therefore we will try to keep the clock out of sight, since seeing the minutes go by when we cannot sleep increases anxiety, therefore our activation and makes us unable to fall asleep; nor any device such as mobile or tablet that can make noise or light and can distract us.

10. Try to breathe calmly and using the diaphragm

It is good and helps to relax and fall asleep faster to breathe in a calm and calm way, using the diaphragm and abdomen to breathe, avoiding accelerated breathing with the chest related to anxiety. Similarly, shorter breaths and faster breaths are recommended so that in this way we relax, thus benefiting the sleep behavior.

11. Use relaxation techniques

We can use relaxation strategies to be able to fall asleep faster so we will place ourselves in a comfortable position, relaxing the muscles, breathing in a relaxed and with the diaphragm, as we have pointed out previously, focusing our attention alternately on each part of the body, noticing how it relaxes, for example first the feet, then the knees and thus go up.

It can also help us to think of an image or place that calms us down and produces peace, in order to try to avoid worries coming to mind.

12. Do not stay in bed if we do not fall asleep

This recommendation may seem strange, since advising to get up to sleep better may seem to be nonsense. But it has been seen that after about 15-20 minutes, staying in bed if we don't fall asleep is not good, since in many occasions if we do not do it we will only increase our degree of restlessness and have more difficulty sleeping.

In this way, after the established time, we will get up, go to another room, do some quiet or relaxing activity and return to our bed when we notice that we begin to fall asleep.