How to Sleep When You’re Not Sleepy

You want to go to bed early or take a nap, but for some reason you’re not sleepy. There are many ways to help you relax your mind and body to sleep. If you often can’t fall asleep when you’re not sleepy, you can change your routine to make it easier to fall asleep even when you feel fully awake. Please start with step 1 below.

Table of Contents

Stretch the body

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Adjust the temperature. The temperature in the room should be slightly cooler than what you would normally be comfortable with. A slightly lower temperature will make it easier for you to fall asleep. This helps a lot. ^{[1] X Research Source} Don’t let yourself get too cold, especially your feet; Cold feet can disrupt sleep, so you should wear socks. You can wake up in the middle of the night and take off your socks, but that’s better than being woken up by the cold in your feet.

It can take many hours for the body to cool down after exercise or when exposed to high temperatures, so you need to make sure your body temperature is at a normal level when you are getting ready to sleep.

Adjust the light. If you like the room to be completely dark, cover all light sources such as digital clocks or any other light-emitting electronic devices in the bedroom. If you prefer to sleep in dim light, you can wear an eye patch or turn down the lights until you feel comfortable. Do not leave the lights on when you sleep, because the light will disrupt your sleep and make it difficult for you to fall asleep and relax. ^{[2] X Research Source}

Adjust the sound level. “White sounds” (engines running, fans running, etc.) have been shown to help people fall asleep faster. Many people find the ticking of a wristwatch or wall clock to have a lulling effect. ^{[3] X Trusted Source Consumer Reports Go to Source} If you like absolute silence, turn off anything that makes a sound.

You might also consider wearing earplugs before bed. It may take you a while to get used to it, but it will help block out sounds you don’t even realize interfere with your sleep. Earplugs are especially helpful if you share a bed with other people and they can wake you up.

Adjust your sleeping position. Keep your back straight and make sure not to raise your neck too high or too low. Avoid sleeping on your stomach, as this position forces you to turn your head to the side, straining your spine and neck. If lying on your side, place a thin pillow or rolled towel between your knees to keep your hips in a level position. Even turning from right to left can help you fall asleep if staying in one position keeps you from falling asleep.

Prepare the bed for comfort. Swap pillows that are too flat or too high for the ones you keep in your living room. If the mattress is not flat, you can turn it over or place the air mattress on top. The warmer the bed, the more you feel like going in. Everyone has been rocking in a comfortable hammock in the sun and falling asleep even when not very sleepy, right? That’s it, a cozy bed has the same effect.

Choose silk sheets if you feel too hot at night. Choose one made of more stomach fabric if you feel cold at night. In addition, choose a single-layer blanket instead of two-layer, because they will often be softer and more durable.
If you can’t afford a new mattress, buy a memory foam mattress cover for an extra layer of support and increased comfort.
Add a quilted mattress cover, which will help protect the mattress and make the bed softer.
Bringing your sheets and blankets to be washed will also help you feel more comfortable.

Exercise at least three hours before bedtime. Go for a run, hit the gym, go for a walk, or do a stretch to get your heart rate up before you relax and go to bed. Exercise keeps your body active and wants to rest; However, you need to exercise at least three hours before bedtime so that the adrenaline doesn’t pump right before bedtime to wake you up. You will feel like a flute if you exercise right before bed. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Avoid alcoholic beverages or caffeine right before bed. Although a glass of wine may make you drowsy at first, drinking it right before bedtime can disrupt your sleep cycle and cause you to fall into a deep sleep. If you really want to drink a glass of wine at night, you need to drink it 2-3 hours before bedtime so that you don’t wake up. With caffeine, you should avoid drinking after 2-3 pm, it is best not to drink in the afternoon because caffeine can take up to 8 hours to be eliminated from the body, and this will definitely keep you awake even when you want to sleep. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Drink cherry juice. Or you can eat a variety of foods rich in melatonin, a substance that is believed to help you fall asleep or help you fall asleep faster. While eating right before bed should be avoided because it will wake you up due to digestion or discomfort, some of the following foods will help you sleep better if eaten a few hours before bedtime: ^{[6] X Source research}^{[7] X Research source}

Other fruits that can increase your melatonin levels are tart cherries, tomatoes, grapes, and pomegranates.
Rice, rolled oats, and barley are all grains rich in melatonin.
Add melatonin-boosting veggies like asparagus, corn, olives, cucumbers, and broccoli.
You can also snack on sunflower seeds, mustard seeds, walnuts, flaxseeds or peanuts to increase melatonin levels in your body.

Bend the toes. When you get into bed, curl your toes up for a few seconds, release, and then repeat. This move helps you relax your mind and body, so repeat this 10 times if you find yourself too awake and unable to sleep. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

Drink herbal tea. Herbal teas such as chamomile or peppermint have been shown to have sedative and relaxing effects on the body, helping you to fall asleep and relax. Drink a cup of tea an hour or two before bedtime – don’t drink too much liquid right before bedtime so you don’t have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. You can even fall asleep faster if you can make tea a part of your bedtime routine.

Eat a light and healthy dinner. Dinner should include a moderate amount of starch, protein, fruit or vegetables. Avoid spicy or overly hearty meals with a lot of fat or sugar, or your body will stay awake and irritable throughout the night. A healthy and balanced dinner will help you feel sleepy. Make sure to eat at least three hours before bedtime to give your body time to digest the food. Here are a few good dinner options that can help you sleep and still feel healthy: ^{[9] X Research Source}

Cheese cooked pasta
Tofu and couscous noodles
A glass of warm milk with oats
Mixed vegetables with kale, salmon and rice noodles

Try a magnesium supplement. Magnesium supplements can help you feel more relaxed. Magnesium deficiency can be an additional cause of mental problems such as anxiety and depression. Try a daily 400 mg magnesium supplement to see if it works.

Relax

Self-created boredom. This is different for everyone, but whatever the activity,

it should make your brain feel tired, not excited. Do whatever you feel most bored with.

Listen to soft and slow music, or read something you don’t like at all
Play puzzles like Sudoku or Spitaire
Listen to a dry podcast
Play tic-tac-toe alone

Practice breathing exercises. You can try belly breathing exercises, yoga pranayam, or “one minute breathing” exercises. Close your eyes and focus on breathing in and out of your body. Visualize each body part relaxing in turn. Focusing on your body will keep you from thinking about anything in the outside world.

Imagine relaxing and repetitive images. For example, imagine gentle and warm waves lapping at you in regular waves to coincide with your breathing. Meditate to relieve stress and to clear the mind. Don’t think images of excitement or suspense, or you will keep yourself awake. Picture a peaceful beach, a lush forest or a beautiful rose garden and imagine yourself walking through it.

Think of one of the most beautiful and peaceful places you’ve ever been (a clear mountain stream flowing through a field full of flowers, a calm lake, a beautiful beach with gentle breezes) in the air). This will help you relax.

Read a book. Reading can help calm your mind and get your thoughts out of the troubles of the day. Read something light and not overly engaging like local news, a book, or a piece of history. A thrilling or emotional story will keep you awake and awake longer if you can’t stop reading.

Challenge yourself and read the most boring thing you can find, from a chemistry textbook to another country’s economic report.

Turn off stimulating images at least an hour before bedtime. Put away iPads, phones, computers that are playing movies continuously and turn off the TV. You need to give your eyes a break and stop viewing images that make you awake or nervous. Quit the habit of falling asleep while watching TV or still holding the phone in your hand, eliminating all entertainment that requires sensory focus that makes your mind work harder when it’s time to sleep. ^{[10] X Research Source}

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Listen to pre-recorded meditations. There are many pre-recorded meditations that you can listen to to relax in the evening. See what’s on YouTube. Or you can check out apps like Headspace or Calm. These are digital services, when you sign up for a recurring subscription, you get access to guided meditations.

Follow the “fifteen minutes” rule. The rule is pretty simple: If you’ve been in bed for more than 15 minutes and still can’t fall asleep, try something else. If you continue to lie there, your mind will continue to be stirred, and you will be more awake than when you just closed your eyes. When 15 minutes have passed and you still can’t fall asleep, do something that doesn’t require too much effort. Read a magazine. Walk around the room. Drink a cup of herbal tea. Humming a tune. Sit up and look at the hands. Do something else and you will start to feel sleepy.

However, no matter what you do, remember to keep the light dim – even when reading a book, the light should not be too bright.

Avoid stressful conversations before bedtime. Five minutes before bed is not the time to have a heated argument with your partner or call a friend to complain about the stress you face at work. If someone else lives in the house and has to say something before bed, remember not to bring up anything more stressful than what kind of herbal tea you’re going to buy tomorrow. Otherwise, the dialogue can make you more alert and awake and it will take longer to fall asleep.

If the person you live with likes to talk about stressful things before bedtime, schedule a time to talk about it 2 or 3 hours before bed if possible.

Think about all your activities for the day. Another way to calm your mind is to review everything you do during the day from the smallest and most boring details. Start by remembering how many strawberries you put in your cereal for breakfast and end with which teeth you last brushed. Try to break it down into hours and see how much detail you can remember. Unless you’re a superhero or an ER doctor, things like that will be pretty boring enough to put you to sleep.

If you’ve reviewed everything for the day and are still awake, try reviewing what you’ve done for the past week. It’s guaranteed to make you so bored that you fall asleep.

Use essential oil treatments. Pleasant scents like lavender can help relax your body by stimulating the brain to produce serotonin and endorphins.. ^{[11] X Trusted Source Science Direct Go to source} Try lighting scented candles in your bedroom and add a few drops of essential oils to the bath, or use a scented pillow spray before bed.

Set up a sleep-friendly sequence

Come up with a bedtime routine. If you want to fall asleep when you go to bed, you have to come up with a sequence that will help you relieve stress and be able to fall asleep as soon as you get into bed. This sequence should begin at least half an hour before bedtime, and may include activities such as reading a soothing book, listening to classical music, reading the newspaper, or doing anything non-stressful to help. you forget your troubles and begin to notice that your body needs rest. ^{[12] X Research Source}

Once you’ve established this sequence, stick to it, and if you need to go to bed a little earlier even though you’re not sleepy yet, do it earlier to trick your brain into feeling early sleepiness.

Go to bed at the same time every night. You won’t feel sleepy if you try to go to bed three hours earlier than usual because you have to wake up early tomorrow. If you want to make it easier to fall asleep, you have to get used to going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning. That way your body will get used to feeling sleepy at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning.

The bed is only for sleeping if you want to sleep easily. Even if you’re not sleepy, don’t watch TV in bed, do your homework in bed, talk on the phone with friends in bed, or do anything else in bed. You’ll be more likely to fall asleep with your eyes closed, as this is signaling to your body that the bed is only for sleep.

Find a space or room in the house to “specialize in work”. This will help you save relaxing activities for the bed.

Advice

Sleep with a big pillow or stuffed animal, because no one likes to sleep alone.
Dreamy. Dreamy thoughts will help dispel stress or anxiety and transport you into your fantasy world.
Going to the bathroom before bed will help you feel more comfortable and avoid having to wake up in the middle of the night.
Think of your dream vacation. Where is it? When will come? What’s there? Is anyone there? What will you do?
You can open the window to let fresh air into the bedroom.
Drink a glass of warm milk before going to bed, it’s great!
Try not to sleep during the day even though you are sleepy. Do something and save sleep for the night.
Listen to the wind outside.
Remember to close the door so you won’t be disturbed while you’re trying to fall asleep.
Put the pillow in the freezer for 10-15 minutes, and sleep with it. Cool air will help you fall asleep faster.
Leave a fan in your room, it will cool you down and can help you fall asleep.
Do not watch horror or suspense movies before bedtime; you might be horrified by those images.

Warning

Don’t stress too much with the thought, “I have to sleep now, or else…” This will put more pressure on you to fall asleep. Instead, take it easy: “It’s fine to sleep now, but If I can’t, it’s not a big deal. At least I can rest a bit and have time to relax.”

Steps

Stretch the body

Relax

Set up a sleep-friendly sequence

Advice

Warning

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