Ever find yourself staring at the ceiling at 2 am, thinking about every embarrassing thing you’ve done since kindergarten? Welcome to the insomnia club, where we can’t sleep but at least we have each other—and social media doomscrolling. Forget sheep; we’re counting our life regrets, our unpaid bills, and that mysterious noise coming from the kitchen. Spoiler: it’s probably just the fridge, but our overactive imaginations have already decided it’s a ghost.
Workign out how to fall asleep fast is like playing the world’s worst game of hide and seek with the Sandman. You try all the tricks: hot tea, meditation apps, even counting sheep (which, let’s be real, only works if the sheep are doing something entertaining like breakdancing). Yet, here we lie, wide awake, contemplating the meaning of life and why the cat insists on attacking our feet at this hour. If sleep were an Olympic sport, we’d be the ones waving from the sidelines, chugging coffee, and wondering where it all went wrong.
How to Fall Asleep Fast … mental And physical hacks that work!
Is Sleep Really That Important?
As much fun as it would be to run for 24 hours straight, 7 days a week, our bodies and our minds need to rest. Our brains need sleep to process all the stuff we did during the day, like remembering to buy milk, why we walked into a room, or what day of the week it is.
It also helps our bodies repair muscles, fight off infections, and keep our hearts healthy, so we don’t end up looking like extras from a medical drama. Plus, sleep boosts our mood, sharpens our memory, and improves focus.
Expert Advice
Experts will tell you establishing a good sleep schedule with a consistent bedtime will go a long way to better sleep. Staying off screens, not starting a book after 7 pm, using dim lighting, getting sunlight early in the morning, and developing healthy habits including not smoking, eating healthy, and exercising also help our minds and bodies sleep better.
And that’s perfectly fine until you’re actually in bed with the lights off but your body or mind won’t let you relax enough to fall asleep?
It’s Reddit to the rescue with some hacks to help you sleep.
Boring Bedtime Stories
I don’t mean start reading a book to help you sleep. Nine times out of ten, I end up finishing said book and wake up with a book hangover. Reddit users suggested listening to podcasts like Nothing Much Happens Here: Bedtime Stories For Grown Ups, or the I Can’t Sleep Podcast, and Sleep With Me Podcast.
They’re a bunch of podcasts where the hosts tell non-exciting stories in a soothing tone of voice.
Create Your Own Bedtime Story
My daughter does this when she can’t sleep but she calls it ‘making up a scenario’. She would basically create a story in her head and in making the details, she would fall asleep.
Reddit users commented they do the same thing with some saying the story they created in their minds would give them better dreams.
“I used to have bad insomnia when I was younger, and the only thing that seemed to work for me was imagining a story. I would set the setting, the premise, the characters, and start coming up with it. Basically, I was kick starting the dreaming process. I’d be asleep within a few minutes. I’ve done it as a nightly ritual ever since”. – RGJ587
“I’ve been furnishing an apartment in Duluth for years. I’ve accumulated furniture, added characters. I even had a cat at one point. Lately there has been a terrible snowstorm raging outside”. –jigsawjanelle
“I scrolled and scrolled because I knew I’d find something like this. I create crazy ass stuff in my head. Sea levels rise 100 feet, and I built a bunker and have to save people I know. Lead singer of a killer band. QB of a team. I invented a machine that does all your daily grooming as you sleep. Just weird shit. Usually out in a few minutes”. – rileypunk
Sometimes I put myself in previous dream locations. From there I can expand the former dreams into new ones. Lucid dreams usually follow. – mendobather
Make A List
I love a good list. Actually, my lists have lists. And some Reddit users swear by making alphabetised lists to help lull your mind into slumber.
The key is making lists for something you like or love. For me, it would be the spices in my cupboard. For others, it might be zoo animals, the last names of authors they love, countries, cities, or people you went to school with. One user said they try to find five things for each letter of the alphabet and don’t make it to K.
Trying to find 5 names with each letter. I usually fall asleep by K or L. – MaksiTaxi9
I do this with animals: aardvark, antelope, etc. I usually fall asleep by B or C. – Cherismail
I usually end up naming grocery store items when I use this technique! – Laurie0905
Use Your Imagination
“The boat technique”. A military buddy told me about it when he was stationed in Mali. Imagine yourself in a small boat, on a stream running through a forest with the canopy above you and the sun shining through, or drifting on a lake under a starry sky. Let yourself drift,”
Others said to imagine a hammock in a rainforest, or on the beach. I would probably imagine myself on one of those viral fluffy couches in a bookstore. It’s my happy place.
Trick Your Body
Try some deep breathing exercises like inhaling for four seconds, holding for seven, and exhaling for eight. It calms the mind, decreases blood pressure and heart rate, and helps your body in the right mode to sleep.
Breathing. Slow deliberate breathing. Count the same for in and out. And for every breath out, try and relax your muscles. I just keep doing that. Works most of the time.
But if I can’t sleep I won’t just lay there and get pissed off about it. I will read until I feel tired again.- simonallaway
I used to use a muscle relaxation technique where I started by tensing, stretching, and releasing the muscles in my toes and gradually working my way up my body.
Masturbate. It releases dopamine and helps relax you. – csch1992
Reddit users also say it helps with their restless leg syndrome. – gohome2020youredrunk
I swear to Christ I thought I was the only person that was able to solve RLS by masturbating. Gotta love Reddit. – GoldCat5
If you’re not into taking medications or supplements to help you sleep, and you’ve tried the basics as suggested by doctors, maybe give one of these a whirl and see how you go.
Happy dreaming!
