Sleeping is a biological necessity for every human being, so it doesn’t seem difficult to do. For some people, however, falling asleep is a challenge, no matter how tired they are.
Experts have a number of recommendations for good sleep hygiene that will help you fall asleep. These include maintaining a regular sleep schedule, following a consistent bedtime routine, dimming lights, avoiding screens late at night, getting sunlight early in the day, and practicing basic health habits like exercise, eating healthy, and not smoking.
That’s all well and good, but what if you’re lying in bed, with the lights off, and you just can’t fall asleep because your body is going crazy and your mind is racing?
That’s where a few simple tricks to help yourself fall asleep can help. Some of the tricks are physical and some are mental, so what sounds helpful depends on what’s stopping you from falling asleep. As with most things, different things work for different people, so it’s worth experimenting with a few, but here are a few tricks that people on Reddit swear by for falling asleep fast.
Listen to boring bedtime stories
“There’s a podcast on Spotify called ‘Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep.’ Each episode is about half an hour long, but the narrator tells the story twice and the second time she tells it at a slower pace. I’m really curious to see how she slows down the story, but I’ve never made it to the second half. Sometimes I try to concentrate and promise myself that I’ll remember the story when I wake up the next morning. But I can’t remember anything. Not much happens, so it’s extremely boring and my brain shuts down pretty quickly.”
“There’s also one called ‘I Can’t Sleep’ where the host reads random articles from the internet, usually Wikipedia pages. His voice is super soothing and I rarely get past the first 15 minutes or so of an episode.”
“Scooter’s ‘Sleep with Me’ podcast. Same concept as what everyone said. But wow! There are a lot of sleep podcasts!!”
Make up your own bedtime story
“I used to suffer from bad insomnia, and the only thing that seemed to work for me was coming up with a story. I would decide on the setting, the premise, the characters, and start creating it. I was essentially starting the dream process. Within minutes, I was asleep.”
“This has been my trick for years… I’m not even that creative, I’ve probably retold the same 3 or 4 stories hundreds of times and never get close to the end.”
“I scrolled and scrolled because I knew I would find something like this. I make up crazy stuff in my head. Sea levels are rising 100 feet and I built a bunker and have to save people I know. Lead singer of a great band. QB of a team. Invented a machine that does all your daily grooming while you sleep. Just weird shit. Usually gone within minutes.”
Make an alphabetical list
“Trying to find 5 names with each letter. I usually fall asleep on K or L.”
“I do this with animals: aardvarks, antelopes, etc. I usually fall asleep around B or C.”
“In the same way, I choose a category. Countries, cities, street names, etc. and go through the alphabet.”
“This one is foolproof for me. I’ve never fully read the alphabet.”
Imagine yourself lying on a boat or in a hammock
“The boat technique. A military buddy told me about it when he was stationed in Mali. Imagine yourself in a small boat, on a river flowing through a forest with the canopy above you and the sun shining through, or floating on a lake under a starry sky. Just go with the flow.”
“I discovered the boat myself as a child, except it was a raft on very gentle waves. And the Scooby Gang hung out with me.”
“Sometimes I imagine myself lying in a hammock in a rainforest with different animals lying around and on me. I love animals, so this is meant to relax me and make me feel safe. I use a weighted blanket, so I try to imagine different animals draped over my legs to justify the weight of the blanket.”
“Imagine yourself hanging in a hammock between two palm trees on a beach at night. Focus on the waves and the electricity that envelops your body from each palm.”
Breathe – but very, very slowly
“Breathe. Slow, conscious breaths. Count the same for inhalation and exhalation. And with each exhalation, try to relax your muscles. I just keep doing that. Usually works.”
“I came to say this. Breathing exercises changed my life
