Are you sleep-deprived? Or are you trying to sleep, but have not been able to do it? Well, in reality, much of this is related to the time period we are a part of. Then how to fall asleep faster? Here, we will discover the fifteen scientific ways to fall asleep faster.
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Importance of Sleep
We, individuals, are so much choked up with all the rational and emotional thoughts and choices that our brain starts working at a much faster rate than what we had anticipated. Once the cycle starts, it is unable to take a break which could give us some rest.
As per the World Health Organization, nearly two-thirds of adults in developed nations fail to meet the nightly eight hours of sleep. Before dwelling into ways to fall asleep faster tricks, let’s discuss some of the drawbacks of not being able to sleep at the right time.
Firstly, let’s discuss the school going children and working individuals. Going late to sleep or not being able to make it the whole night just takes the productive capacity away from them. Our brain is designed in such a way that it needs rest after it has been exposed to a number of processes.
As a result, young minds are not able to give their best at school or at work. Secondly, we become prone to serious medical conditions like obesity, heart diseases, and high blood pressure. Talking about the remedies, science can help us get out of this fuss. Below mentioned are some of the following scientific ways to fall asleep faster.
How to Fall Asleep Faster
1. Maintain a proper sleep schedule
The first tips to fall asleep faster is having a sleep schedule. Train your body by getting up at the same time each morning, regardless of you having a good sleep at night. Through this exercise, our mind gets trained as it becomes prone to a similar activity every day. Once your body adapts to this schedule, it will be more natural to fall asleep and wake up around the same time every day (1).
Moreover, schedule it by making yourselves go through certain activities like reading a book. Within a few minutes, an individual is bound to sleep by following this activity.
2. Create a darker sleep environment
Studies have shown that darkness increases the production of melatonin (2, 3). By putting yourself in a darker environment helps in releasing melatonin, a useful hormone in determining our sleep. So it is better to dim the light of your cell phones and switch of all the other lights.
3. Keeping our body cool
For fall asleep fast our bodies require us to keep ourselves cool. This affects the melatonin level as mentioned above, and helps us sleep much quicker. One of the useful hacks for this is to have a hot water bath before going to bed.
4. No Caffeine and Alcohol
To us, caffeine seems to be a suitable solution to fight fatigue and enhance alertness. However, having it at the wrong time can affect our sleep schedule. Many studies have found that caffeine can have unfavorable effects on your sleep (4, 5).
It is advisable that one should stay away from caffeine six hours before going to bed. Instead, one can have soothing tea like chamomile tea which enhances our relaxation.
Related: 10 Proven Tips to Sleep Better at Night Naturally
5. Don’t stay in bed after you wake up
Our brains have the tendency to adapt to every situation. By spending excessive time on bed after we have woken up can make our brains adapt to associate bed with staying awake. Instead one should put themselves in activities that create sleep pressure, for example, reading a book.
6. Avoid naps during the day
Due to improper sleep at night, people with insomnia tend to be sleepy during day times. One of the studies mention that adults who napped during the day frequently have poorer nighttime sleep and find themselves surrounded by depressive symptoms.
7. Listen to relaxing music
It is considered as a useful tool to improve our sleep quality. This hack can even help individuals suffering from insomnia. A study conducted on 24 adults explained that amongst all the genres of music, sedative music is preferred to enhance deeper sleep.
8. Exercise during the day
Physical activity is often considered helpful to healthy sleep. Exercising daily can enhance the production of serotonin in the brain and help reducing cortisol, a stress hormone.
However one should refrain from excessive training as it has been linked to poor sleep (6). Furthermore, exercising early in the morning is a comparatively preferred time.
9. Try aromatherapy
Purchasing essential oils is a good way to put yourself in a state of relaxation. Furthermore, it has been proven by studies that these oils improve the quality of sleep, and amongst all the flavors, lavender and damask rose are the most popular ones (7, 8, 9).
10. Visualize things that make you happy
Instead of lying on the bed with all the weird depressive thoughts that can disturb our sleep routine, one should always develop imaginations that calm us and enhance our mood. As per a study, 41 individuals suffering from insomnia were able to sleep better through such imaginations.
11. Adjust sleep position
A proper and good quality sleep depends on our sleeping position (10, 11, 12). We usually had a perception about the back sleepers having the finest sleep.
However, science supports the side position with high-quality sleep (11). For them back position just increases our problems like blocked airways and snoring (12).
12. Turn off the electronics
Staying awake late nights by being busy playing video games, watching TV, and socializing on your cell phones can prove to be disastrous when it comes to sleep. It is better than an individual refrains from all the electronic devices when they are about to sleep.
13. Lower the room temperature
As mentioned previously about the importance of keeping your body cool, same is the case with the room temperature. Having warm rooms can cause problems when asleep. So it is advisable that the room temperature is between 15 to 23 Degrees Celsius in order to have a proper sleep.
14. Practice yoga and meditation
At times our mind is not relaxed and calmed probably due to being exhausted and frustrated. Practicing yoga and meditation can not only just calm our mind, but also help us to sleep well. Having a relaxed and comfortable mind can put us to sleep right away.
Related: 11 Benefits of Meditation on Mental Health
15. Watch what and when you eat
These days’ people are into having high-carb meals. However, such meals may prove out to be dangerous when it comes to having a proper sleep. Science recommends us, we should have high-fat meals that improve the quality of sleep. Even then if individuals are reluctant to change, then they are advised to have high-carb meals at least 4 hours before they sleep.
The above mentioned scientifically-backed ways will help one fall asleep faster and lead a healthy life. In addition to this, proper and adequate sleep ensures that the brain functions well and this is very important. So follow these tried and tested ways to take adequate and uninterrupted sleep.
