Trouble falling asleep or poor sleep quality are often consequences of stress, anxiety, caffeine intake, sleeping environment, and overall, your sleep schedule. According to the CDC, teenagers and adults require eight to ten hours of sleep per night in order to feel well rested. The best way to ensure good sleep quality and no trouble falling asleep would be to keep a consistent sleep schedule by going to sleep and waking up at roughly the same time each day. By regulating the circadian rhythm—the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle—the brain and body learn to anticipate sleep. However, more short-term solutions to help fall asleep faster can act as a quick fix to savor every minute of rest.
- No electronics an hour before bed:
Technology such as cell phones, iPads, and computers all emit blue light, which can disrupt the brain’s signal to the body that it is time to sleep by suppressing melatonin. Thus, by limiting exposure to blue light before bed, the brain can continue its natural cycle of releasing melatonin throughout the body. If no electronics are not plausible due to homework (or mandatory pre-sleep doomscrolling), experts recommend wearing blue-light glasses before bed so that the brain can still release melatonin.
- Relax your muscles:
Exercises such as progressive muscle relaxation (tensing then relaxing in increments) can help calm both the body and mind by releasing physical tension which leads to lower heart rates that then allows for sleep to come more easily.
- Breathing techniques:
Breathing exercises such as the 4-7-8 technique can reduce anxiety and reduce heart rate. The 4-7-8 technique, specifically, starts off with four counts of inhale, followed by seven counts of holding the breath and then eight counts of exhale. The technique can be repeated for multiple rounds to help calm the mind enough to fall asleep.
Although these three immediate strategies will result in falling asleep faster, creating a proper sleep schedule remains the best option for long-term improvement as the brain favors consistency and routine. Personally, I have tested all three methods and can definitely see a difference in sleep quality and how fast I fell asleep on days I wore blue light glasses at night or avoided using my phone before bed. Progressive muscle relaxation also made me feel immediately more tired, but it was a lot of work for a nighttime routine. Therefore, breathing techniques remain the most effective and simple technique that I use to fall asleep faster.