First of all, you have to know that sleep experts assess that a healthy adult should fall asleep between 5 to 30 minutes once the person climbs into bed and closes his eyes in a dark place. Falling asleep below 5 min or above 30 minutes is not considered as normal. 

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But for most people, falling asleep outside of this slot does not mean that you are suffering from sleep disorders. The causes can be multiple and it takes just a little bit of willpower to fix that.

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Experience both daylight and darkness

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Light influences your body’s internal clock, which regulates sleep and wakefulness. Irregular light exposure can lead to disruption of circadian rhythms, making it harder to fall asleep. That's why if you live in a country where there is not a lot of sun or winters without sun, it is normal for you to have episodes where you sleep badly. It is important to expose your body to bright light or artificial bright light during the day and sleep in a dark room at night. (Click here to know more about Circadian Rhythm)

Respect a regular schedule

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The second most important tip is to follow a regular schedule. This means going to bed at the same time each night to regulate your inner clock and to wake up at the end of your sleep need. 

Generally, night people tend to have difficulty in falling asleep quickly. And people tend to comfort themselves with the fact that they are not morning people so they can’t do anything about it. Even if it is genetic, I personally am a night person and I succeeded in decreasing my time to fall asleep. To make the changes, you have to be patient. Do it slowly, over days or weeks, and then stick with them for maximum effect. It takes discipline, but it can be done.

If you are a night person, I’ll give you a tip to adapt very quickly. Force yourself to wake up earlier than expected by an hour or two. Tired in the following days, you will be able to easily fall asleep sooner and faster. Once you see the change, stick to this bedtime and you will see that you will adapt easily.

The Circular app can help you with that because it will analyze for you, your sleep needs and tell you at what time you should go to bed depending on your time to fall asleep and your waking up time.

No nap for you

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If you are having naps, get rid of them.

Be active

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If you are not already doing physical activity, be active during your day. But be careful, do not do sports too close to the time you go to bed or your system will still be stimulated and you won’t be able to fall asleep correctly. Give your system at least 3 hours before sleeping.

Avoid digital screens

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The following factor is the number one cause for extremely high falling asleep time. SCREENS. Digital screens are a plague for sleep and this for two main reasons. Firstly because watching something on a screen requires a lot of effort for your eyes and is very stimulating for your brain. This will make your brain think unnecessarily (even unconsciously) before and during your sleep. And secondly, because the blue light of these screens will disrupt your circadian rhythm. Blue light is harmful to your internal clock since it delays the release of melatonin, the hormone responsible for making you sleep. It will make think your inner clock that it is not time to sleep, and therefore delay your sleep even if you put yourself in the dark. 

So don’t watch digital screens before sleeping. And if you want to watch your screen, install an app/software to make rid of blue light, lower the brightness to the minimum and do not look at your screen in the dark but rather in a lit room. Finally, do not look at your screens in your bed while lying down. Because lying in bed for a long time without sleeping will also disrupt your inner system. The gesture of lying indicates to your system that you want to sleep, so don’t miss your opportunity to sleep.

Be smart about what you eat and drink

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Minimizing caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine before sleeping seems logical. But less known, avoid having heavy and late dinner. A light dinner, without quick sugars and red meat but with a portion of slow sugars.

Do not eat within 4 to 6 hours of the time you want to sleep. 

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Create a comfortable environment for sleep

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Don’t work too late to free your mind (within 2 hours of the time you want to sleep).

Sleeping in a quiet, dark room and at a cool and comfortable temperature will help you sleep faster. The ideal room temperature for sleep is between 18 - 22 Celsius degrees (64.4 - 71.6 Fahrenheit degrees).

Practice meditation

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Meditation and relaxation training will help you improve fall asleep faster and sleep better. There is a simple but powerful breathing method called 4-7-8 method that is used by the military and ancient yogi that will lower your heartbeat, calm yourself and make you fall asleep faster, sleep better and increase your natural defense. 

Here are the steps. Exhale completely through your nose until you empty your air. Close your mouth and inhale through your nose until you are filled with air (belly and lung) while mentally counting to four. Hold your breath and mentally count to seven. Close your mouth and exhale completely through your nose, and mentally counting to eight. If 4-7-8 is easy for you to double the ratio to 8-14-16 and so on. The higher the ratio the better it is. Repeat this cycle 7 times. Do it at least three times a day, the more you do it the better it will be. 

Do not pay attention to time

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People who can’t fall asleep often tend to watch the clock and are obsessed with the fact that they cannot fall asleep. But this behavior causes anxiety and that’s what you want to avoid. So get rid of any clock in your bedroom that shines in the night or forces yourself not to watch it. Even if it is tempting, watching the time is useless. Anyway, you will have to wake up at the time you have to and it is not by looking at it that you will fall asleep faster.

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Fight anxiety and stress

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One of the major cause of falling asleep issues is anxiety and stress. I am anxious myself and I hate it when my brain starts working hard just before sleeping when I have my eyes closed. It causes me trouble relaxing and turning off my thoughts. 

There are techniques that I tested and that I can confirm are helping. Try to visualize something that makes you happy and smile while you have your eyes closed. This technique will help you occupy your mind with good thoughts instead of engaging with worries and concerns during the pre-sleep time. But if you think of something important and you feel that it develops in your mind. Stand up and write it down on a piece of paper. At first glance, one may think that getting up will make you start over from the beginning but on the contrary, it will allow you to move on and fall asleep more quickly.

But the best techniques to clear your brain before sleeping are still meditation and breathing exercises.

Conclusion

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Yes, there are a lot of parameters to take into consideration to find a good sleep. But you are certainly doing great on some of these factors. And if you are not, it is okay, try to apply these changes step by step. This may take several weeks of adaptation, but anyway you are used to taking a long time to fall asleep or sleep badly for a while now. 

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Photo credits to Shingo_No from Pixabay