Finally Fall Asleep: 18 Tips That’ll Do the Trick

photo by planetchopstick

For the first time in 11 months, I’m not stressed out by sleep. I know, I know—sleep is supposed to ease stress the same way a giant hunk of chocolate cake does. Still, I haven’t felt this relaxed about going to bed since last January. That’s when we rented an apartment beneath a vampire bodybuilder. Or at least that’s what I think lived upstairs from us.

It started the very first night we moved in. I figured the man upstairs was putting in new hardwood floors. Since we hadn’t yet unpacked our clock, we had no idea it was 4 a.m. Ignorance was bliss. Ten months later the marching in formation at midnight wasn’t so easy to brush off. Other activities we stopped finding amusing: throwing the couch from one end of the apartment to the other; training a baby elephant, Barnum & Bailey–style; bench pressing on the floor—without a spotter; and doing step aerobics at 3 a.m. At least that’s what I assume was happening nightly.

Pretty soon, The Man and I would go to bed with anxiety. Would he start jazzercise immediately? Or could we catch a couple hours of sleep before the pounding started? How long would the noise last? It only got worse as the night went on. Our hearts would pound like we were prepping to deliver a big speech. To the United Nations. In German. We’d start counting the hours we had left till morning. Seven! Six! Four! Two!

So you can only imagine how relieved we are to find that our new apartment is almost soundproof. And no, we won’t miss you evildoer upstairs. I feel restored, and find it much easier to nod off at night. All of this got me to thinking how important sleep is to our daily lives. Poor-quality sleep is associated with relationship problems (I’m guessing perpetual crankiness is to blame), weight gain, diabetes, and an increased risk of death. A new study suggests getting too little sleep can also hamper your ability to make split-second decisions like, you know, slamming on the breaks during a sudden traffic jam.

Getting enough sleep, on the other hand, is linked to increased athletic and academic performance and a better mood. I’m sure it also doesn’t hurt in the relationship department either; I’m much more pleasant when well-rested.

Can’t catch some Zzzs? Try these tricks:

1. Look to melatonin. The natural hormone is made by a small gland in your brain and controls your sleeping and waking. The amount of melatonin produced by your body is influenced by light; when day turns to night, your body produces melatonin. When light starts to fill your room in the morning, your body halts production of the hormone. Though scientists are divided on a melatonin supplement’s use as a sleeping pill, some suggest taking melatonin to fight jet lag.
2. Get out of bed. You can’t will yourself to fall asleep. So lying in bed, watching the clock count off another minute will do nothing to help your slumber. Chances are, it will just leave your heart pounding in frustration—and that’s likely to keep you awake longer. If you’ve been laying a wake for an hour, get up and do something. (Skip the murder mystery; you need calm, not excitement.) Find an old biology textbook and read it till your eyelids sink. Then get back into bed.
3. Hang dark curtains. It’s hard enough to sleep—why make it harder by trying to snooze in a light-filled room? Hang dark curtains over your windows to block light that tells your body it’s daytime.
4. Shut off the computer. Because the bright screen can hinder melatonin production, log off an hour or two before bed.
5. Shush the noise. I feel a bit hypocritical writing this, seeing as I never had a good solution for making the giant upstairs shut up. You can invest in earplugs if you can find a pair that still lets in noises like, say, an alarm clock. Or try a loud fan or white noise machine. I resorted to the ridiculous: I moved my bed into the living room and ran the (loud) dishwasher as background noise. Don’t call me crazy until you’ve been lying in bed for four hours while a 400-pound man tap dances to the Electric Slide upstairs.
6. Breathe Deeply. Though it doesn’t help me nod off, lavender’s known to induce slumber. Try an eye mask scented with the flower to block out light, too. I drape one over my eyes to relax.
7. Start a relaxation routine. Sip a cup of tea, draw a warm bath, or listen to soothing music before you slip between the sheets. The practice will help you unwind from your fast-paced day.
8. Don’t chow down before bed. A full stomach can make it hard to fall asleep since your body’s busy with all of that digestion. So stop eating a couple hours before your bedtime.
9. Go to bed at the same time every night. It’s like saying to your body, “Hey! This is when we get sleepy!” Give it some time, and your body may learn that 10 p.m. is bedtime—not food time or laundry-folding time.
10. Don’t sleep in on the weekend. I hate this rule. And I wholeheartedly disobey it every Saturday and Sunday. So sue me. But here’s the thing: If you get up at 11 a.m. on Sunday, you’re less likely to go to bed at 10 p.m. that night. And if you go to bed late on Sunday, you’re probably going to screw up your entire sleep schedule for the week. If you wake up at the same time on the weekend as you do during the week, your body gets set into a groove—and it’s easier to conk out at night.
11. Stop snoozing midday. Those long, glorious naps you take after work? Yep, they’re making it harder for you to fall asleep. Stop sneaking in a few hours of shuteye before bedtime and you may have an easier time falling asleep.
12. Ixnay on the offecay. Give up your venti latte habit and you may nix your insomnia, too. If you need, need, need coffee to get you going in the morning (you didn’t sleep, after all!) then stick to a morning cup but skip the java after noon.
13. Put away the bottle. It seems like alcohol is a great insomnia fix: Drink enough and you’ll zonk out in no time. But, really, you don’t get good-quality sleep when there’s alcohol in your system.
14. Snuff out smoking. Nicotine is a stimulant, so puffing away before bedtime can make falling asleep tough.
15. Work up a sweat. Exercise can rev up your energy, sure. But it can also help you get to sleep at night. Just skip that pre-sleep workout; it can leave you too wound-up to fall asleep.
16. Invest in a good mattress. Tossing and turning till dawn? It could be the uncoiled mattress spring digging into your spine.
17. Tackle depression. Many cases of insomnia are a result of depression, so talk with your doctor about your sleep (or waking) habits. If you are depressed, treating the underlying problem can help you nod off.
18. Chat with a doctor. He may refer prescribe medication or refer you to a sleep expert who will monitor your sleep for abnormalities. People with the dangerous condition called obstructive sleep apnea, for instance, may feel tired all of time because they unknowingly awaken hundreds of times throughout the night. Visiting a sleep lab can catch sleep problems like this, insomnia, and sleepwalking.

What are your secrets to a good night’s sleep?