How to Fall Asleep Faster: Techniques That Help

First, check your timing

The most common reason people cannot fall asleep is that they go to bed before their body is ready. Sleepiness depends on two things: how long you have been awake (sleep pressure) and where your body clock is. If you sleep late on weekends, nap in the evening or drink caffeine in the afternoon, both are working against you at bedtime.

Go to bed when you are actually sleepy, keep your wake time fixed, and the time it takes to fall asleep often shortens on its own within a week or two.

Wind down in dim light

Spend the last 30 to 60 minutes before bed doing something calm with the lights low. Bright light in the evening delays the release of melatonin, the hormone that signals night to your body. Avoid work email, news and intense shows or games. A warm bath or shower 1 to 2 hours before bed can help some people, as the body cools afterwards.

Relaxation techniques to try in bed

• Slow breathing: breathe in gently through your nose for about 4 seconds and out for about 6. A longer out-breath tends to calm the body.
• Progressive muscle relaxation: tense a muscle group for about 5 seconds, then release, working from your feet up to your face.
• Body scan: move your attention slowly through your body, noticing sensations without trying to change them.
• Imagery: picture a calm, detailed scene and explore it with all your senses.

These work better with daytime practice, so the technique feels familiar at night.

Quiet a busy mind

If your thoughts race, try writing a to-do list for tomorrow before bed. A small 2018 study found that people who spent 5 minutes writing a to-do list fell asleep faster than people who wrote about tasks they had already completed. During the day, schedule 15 minutes of 'worry time' to deal with concerns so they are less likely to arrive at bedtime. Some people find boring mental tasks, like picturing random unrelated objects one after another, crowd out anxious thinking.

Stop trying so hard

Sleep cannot be forced; effort creates arousal. If you have been in bed for what feels like 20 minutes and you are frustrated or wide awake, get up, go to another dim room and do something dull until you feel sleepy. This prevents your bed from becoming a place associated with struggle. Turn the clock away so you are not calculating how much sleep you have left.

What tends to backfire

• Alcohol: it may speed sleep onset but disrupts sleep later in the night.
• Scrolling in bed: the content keeps you engaged and awake.
• Going to bed very early to 'bank' sleep: lying awake longer usually makes insomnia worse.
• Over-the-counter sleep aids taken nightly: antihistamine sleep aids can cause next-day grogginess and are not recommended for chronic insomnia, particularly in older adults.

When it is more than a bad night

If it regularly takes you more than 30 minutes to fall asleep, at least 3 nights a week, for 3 months or more, and it affects your days, you may have chronic insomnia. CBT-I is the recommended first treatment. An uncomfortable urge to move your legs in the evening may indicate restless legs syndrome, which a doctor can assess.