Disclaimer! Based on Personal Experience
Are you struggling to fall asleep? Do you frequently experience disturbed sleep?
If you answered “yes” to either question, then this article is just for you.
Now, let’s deep dive into this.
Sleep Disturbances mostly happen because of a series of bad habits. In this article, we will replace those habits with healthier ones and try some practical sleeping tricks.
But my friend, if you’re seeing these signs your sleep might screaming for help.
5 Habits you should avoid to sleep faster (Dont’s)
1. Don’t use screens at least 1 hour before bed
In this modern age, electronic devices like smartphones, laptops and tablets have become an integral part of our daily lives. From work to entertainment, we rely on them constantly. But when it comes to our health – especially sleep – we must set boundaries.
You should avoid all types of electronic devices at least 1 hour before going to bed. Prolonged screen exposure and the continuous emission of blue light interfere with our natural sleep cycle. As a result, sleeping becomes more difficult.
If you’re interested in healthy sleep, you should know to wake-up without an alarm: Alarm Dependent? Surrender now before it’s too late!
Here’s the practical solution that actually works. You can use an alarm or reminder as a signal to turn off these devices. For example, I personally set an alarm 1 hour before bedtime. This reminds me to disconnect from all electronic devices. At that time, I only read physical books.
2. Don’t overeat
Overeating mostly occurs in two ways: either when the food is too delicious, or you want to avoid wasting it. On rare occasions, overeating is okay. But the word “rare” says it all!
Eating too much, especially close to bedtime, is never a good habit. It not only delays your sleep but also causes discomfort such as gas, bloating or indigestion.
There is no exact way to measure overeating – it all depends on how you feel after eating. You already know when to stop. Also, don’t use smartphones while eating. This little distraction leads to overeating, and you don’t even realize it.
But always remember: You can never be healthy without these two!
3. Don’t eat junk food right before bedtime
Junk food takes the longest time to digest, followed by protein and then carbohydrates. Since your body spends most of its energy on digestion, your sleep will be delayed. So avoid these foods close to bedtime.
4. Don’t do any heavy tasks just before sleep
Follow this strictly to helps your body relax and sleep faster.
5. Don’t go to bed with legs crisscrossed
Every time you sleep, keep your legs straight and don’t cross them. Doing so will put pressure on the nerves in your legs. It makes sleep uncomfortable and reduces your overall sleep quality.
10 Habits you should follow to sleep faster (DOs)
1. Fix your sleep time
Suppose you regularly sleep at 11 pm. Follow this fixed bedtime for the next 10 days, and you’ll be surprised to see your wake-up time become consistent.
What’s the science behind it?
Well, it’s the magic of your internal biological clock. Disciplined sleep teaches your body when it’s time to sleep or wake up.
By going to bed at a fixed time every day, your body will adjust to this new schedule. As bedtime approaches, it will naturally signal you to sleep, helping you fall asleep faster.
Fixing your sleep time, doesn’t mean you compromise with your sleep time with the work. This is why you shouldn’t use your sleep time to work
2. Make a habit of reading books
This habit is one of the best and effective way to sleep quicker. Just pick up your any favorite book to read (obviously a physical one). Read it at least 30 minutes before sleep – you can be flexible with the timing here. This both enriches your knowledge and helps you feel calm.
But before you start reading books, you should know these two things.
1) Study under a table lamp or any lamp that focuses on a specific spot. Room lights spread brightness everywhere, making your mind focus on too many things.
That’s why you should avoid reading under room lights. They won’t create the calm and focused environment you need.
In contrast, a table lamp does. It keeps most of the surroundings darker. This creates a better study environment with focus and ultimately helps you fall asleep faster.
2) Don’t read random books you don’t enjoy. Instead of calming you, they’ll only cause boredom and irritation – the opposite of fast sleep. From my experience, storybooks are the best for falling asleep faster.
3. Make a habit of doing meditation
Nothing calms the mind like meditation. If you’re a beginner, start with just 10 minutes. Gradually increase the time until you build a habit to meditate for 30 minutes a day.
4. Stay in dark or dim light
Sit calmly in a dark or dimly lit room for 5 minutes before sleep. Doing so activates your internal biological clock and signals your body: “It’s time to sleep, dear!”
Our natural biological clock understands light as a signal to wake up, and darkness or dim light as a signal to sleep.
5. Flip your pillow 180 degrees
Sometimes you sleep late for various reasons. But falling asleep becomes harder when your pillow feels warm. As a result, you struggle to sleep, even when you’re already tired.
This happens when the heat of your head transfers to the pillow. To be honest, it is uncomfortable to sleep on a warm pillow. Thus, it prolongs your sleep time.
The solution?
Just flip your pillow 180 degrees and try sleeping again.
Now, you will feel much more comfortable sleeping. The opposite side of the pillow stays cool since no heat has transferred from your head.
6. Try to sleep straight (neither left nor right)
If you’re a healthy person but aren’t sleeping straight, try to change it.[1]
At first, you will struggle. But sleeping straight consistently, you will get faster sleep.
Okay, I get it! Then what’s wrong with sleeping in other positions?
Your body weight isn’t evenly distributed. This puts too much pressure on one side while the other side bears very little.
This imbalance of position and pressure affects your body organs and nerves negatively. That’s why sleeping straight is considered the most ideal and comfortable sleep position.[2][3]
But…watch out! Are you sleeping naked? This is why you shouldn’t!
7. Wear clean, comfortable clothes suitable for the monsoon
Always wear clean and comfortable clothes while sleeping. Separate sleeping clothes are ideal and highly recommended.
Don’t sleep in clothes that are dirty, tight, or worn throughout the day. Dirty or regular clothes contain sweat, odor, and germs. In no way can this be considered suitable for sleep – forget about quality sleep.
Modern fashion trends often encourage Gen Z to wear tight clothes. This is mostly to show off the perfect shape of our body in front of others. While it may look stylish, we often forget about our health.
Wearing those tight and synthetic fabrics causes skin irritation. They also put pressure on our nerves, veins, and arteries – affecting our overall health.
For both sleep and daily activities, wear slightly loose, 100% cotton clothes. They allow proper airflow around your body, keeping you comfortable throughout the day.
I’m confident you already know how good drying clothes is. But did you know? Sun drying is better than Indoor drying?
8. Always keep your bedsheet and pillowcase clean
Just like your clothes, always keep your bedsheet, pillow cover (pillowcase), and room clean. After all, no one wants to sleep on a dirty, smelly bed, right?
9. Finish eating at least 2 hours before sleeping
This is one of the vital habits for quick sleep. Many people go to bed right after eating, saying they are in a hurry. They want to sleep as fast as possible without following any healthy routine.
Unfortunately, the result happens mostly the opposite.
Firstly, let’s agree on a fact: we all have 24 hours a day. If someone says they don’t have enough time to do anything, it’s mostly due to their poor time management.
The human body, like us, is designed to do one task at a time. It can’t handle two tasks simultaneously. This is why you shouldn’t sleep right after eating. At this time, you’re giving two jobs to your body: sleeping and digesting.
Hey! Medicines can’t always fix your digestion. True relief comes only when you make these home remedies and habits an integral part of your life.
Don’t get it?
No issue! Let me give you an example.
Close your nose and mouth with your hands. Try to hold your breath for 20 seconds. During this time, try to think about something – your career, a particular person, or a place.
Can you think?
Hardly!
Ok, now start your breathing again. Now, can you tell me why you can’t think about anything else at that time?
Because your whole body was optimized to breathe. At that time, getting oxygen became the most vital task for your body. So it put all its energy into breathing. That’s why you couldn’t think of anything else except breathing at that time.
A similar thing happens when you try to sleep immediately after eating. Your body is already using energy to digest the food, and you add another task to it – sleeping.
When it comes to food, you would so much eager to know the richest source of natural protein. Obviously, that’s protein powder. But before you start taking it, do you know why a shaker bottle is essential? If not, this is a must-read for you: Protein Shaker Bottle: a look from inside!
But also don’t eat foods with artificial additives. This is why! Artificial Food Additive: Its dirty secrets in Processed Food
Doing both overloads the body and causes bloating, indigestion, restlessness, and poor-quality sleep.
Let’s suppose you manage to fall asleep just after eating. Even then, you will soon notice many health problems like the ones mentioned above.
Therefore, a break of 2 hours between your eating and sleep is necessary.
10. Stay calm
At the end of the day, don’t put too much pressure on yourself to sleep. Just follow the tips above according to your needs. Stay calm and be yourself. You will naturally get a good, refreshing sleep!
Yes, I do agree – work tension and stress make it hard to stay calm.
Here’s what I think: stress and relaxation are integral parts of our life. The absence of either will make our lives dull and boring. Since both are always with us, why worry about them? Just relax and enjoy your sleep!
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