5 Proven Tips to Fall Asleep much Faster

Sleep can be elusive for some people, for various reasons. You may not be able to fall asleep because you're stressed, have excessive energy or simply because your routines don't make you tired enough that you can easily “go out like a light” and stay that way until morning.

Science has, however, come a long way in this respect, and there are now real techniques that you can try for falling asleep which are much more effective than counting sheep ever was. Here are five proven tips for falling asleep faster.

Do your best to stay awake

This may sound like cheap reverse psychology, but it really works. A study found that patients who were forced to try and keep their eyes open while lying in bed ended up falling asleep much faster than those who were actively trying to “nod off”. Aside from the reverse psychology angle, it is also believed that these people felt less pressure, which allowed them to relax and fall asleep.

Get on up

There is no point in staring up into the dark or the ceiling for hours on end because you can't sleep. In fact, some doctors suggest that something like that sets a precedent which leads your mind to associating being in bed with staying awake and looking at nothing. To contradict that, you should only be in bed when you're ready to sleep. The solution is thus to get up and do something stimulating and tiring before getting back to bed, in order to be able fall asleep right away.

Create a digital-free zone

The lights of TV and gadgets have been proved to reduce melatonin, a hormone that induces sleep. So you should turn all of those devices off before going to bed even if you're confident that you can get away from them once you've responded to all texts and checked all social media.

Hot and cold

You should always make an effort to sleep in a cool room since your metabolism slows down faster and your temperature drops a bit, which helps your body relax and fall asleep. To increase this effect, you can also take a warm shower an hour before bed, which will precipitate the drop in your body's temperature and relax your muscles to prepare you for bed.

4-7-8 technique

This breathing technique, as both bloggers and wellness experts swear, will actually make you “go out like a light” and fall asleep in less than two minutes. The idea is that you should make your inhalation last four seconds, then hold that breath for seven seconds and at last perform an eight-second exhalation. If done right, this technique should have you falling asleep by the fourth full breath cycle.