Tips from a Former Insomniac
3 am. Staring at the ceiling trying to fall asleep. I closed my eyes and stayed painfully conscious the entire night, maybe getting 2–3 hours if I was lucky.
This was my experience for over 6 months in grad school. It got so bad that I thought I was going to die from exhaustion.
Yes, I was an insomniac. I know your pain if you are or have been one. If you sleep well and are just looking to improve, these tactics will be helpful too.
Graciously, I overcame insomnia and now sleep better than ever. Here’s what I learned and the tactics I implemented that help me sleep sound every night.
** Indicates essential tactics that I have found have the biggest impact.
**1. Consistent Wake/Sleep Time
Your body has a natural circadian rhythm. The more consistent you can keep your sleep and wake time, the easier it will be to fall asleep.
**2. Absolutely no electronics in your bedroom.
You associate certain activities with certain places. If you watch tv in your bed, you will associate your bed with staying awake and being entertained. If your phone is in your room, you will experience a constant anxiety in your unconscious, and your conscious, too. Eliminate all electronics from your bedroom.
**3. Your bed is for sleeping and sex, nothing else.
Similar to the point above, the activities you do in a certain place affect you. If you are solving math problems on your bed, your brain will be in a stressed state even when you are not actively solving problems because of the association. The only activities you should do in your bed are sleeping and sex.
4. Meditate
You can try guided meditation or silent meditation. I recommend guided meditations using the Calm app.
5. Listen to white noise or a soundscape for 30–60 minutes before bed.
This is a tactic I use from time to time when I’m stressed. I open the Calm app and put on the Hot Springs soundscape. I actively listen while I’m winding down and doing my nighttime routine. Combine this with a bath and it will relax you even more.
6. Wear an eye mask.
Even if your room is dark, an eye mask can help block out any excess light.
7. Put up blackout curtains.
Similar to the above, blackout curtains can dramatically reduce the amount of light coming into your room. Even a slight decrease in the amount of light coming in can help with falling and staying asleep. If you have cars outside your window in the night, the light from the headlights could wake you up.
**8. No caffeine after 12 PM.
This is one of the most important. Your body will resist falling asleep with a stimulant in your body. Absolutely no caffeine after 12 PM if you are sensitive; none after 3 if you are less sensitive.
**9. No Screens for at least 2 Hours before bedtime.
The blue light from screens (phone, tv, laptop, tablet) will keep your brain stimulated and make it harder to fall asleep. Cut the screens 2 hours before bedtime.
10. Try the sauna before bed.
After the sauna, your body is naturally forced to cool itself down. This can help you fall asleep, since your body temperature needs to drop to fall asleep.
11. Avoid eating meals 2 hours before bedtime.
If you eat right before bed, your body is forced to invest energy into digesting your food while it’s suppose to be recovering in sleep.
**12. Avoid alcohol before bed
Similar to caffeine, alcohol has a half life of 4–5 hours. Alcohol negatively affects sleep quality, avoid drinking alcohol after 12 PM.
13. No intense exercise 2–3 hours before bed.
An elevated heart rate from a difficult workout will make it difficult to fall asleep. Avoid any intense cardio or exercise a few hours before bed.
**14. Avoid any other stimulating activities
As you have noticed, a lot of the things on this list are things that stimulate you. Avoid any other stimulating activities (listening to stimulating music, dwelling on negative thoughts, etc).
**15. If you are stressing about something, write it out.
If you are stressing about something, the act of simply writing it out on paper can help to stop stressing and getting caught in a negative thought feedback loop. Next time you are stressing about something, write out what it is and why it’s stressing you out. Don’t try to solve the problem. The simple act of just writing it out will help alleviate the stress.
**16. Wear ear plugs.
Many of us are very sensitive to sounds. But even if you are not sensitive to sounds or consider yourself a deep sleeper, ear plugs will help you to stay asleep when there are sounds in your environment.
17. Try stretching
One thing I’ve done to help me fall asleep is stretching on my bed or on the floor. This has helped me when my body is really sore from exercise or I’m stressed about something.
**18. Read
Reading can put you in a relaxed state. When your brain can no longer focus and continue to read, you’ll be ready to pass out as soon as your head hits the pillow. Just make sure to not read anything too interesting or stimulating. I recommend “quote” books or classic Stoic based works.
**19. If you cannot fall asleep, get OUT of bed.
This one is really important if you struggle to sleep. If you stay awake in your bed trying to fall asleep, you will start to associate being awake with your bed, making it harder and harder the longer you stay in bed conscious. Instead, get out of bed. Try reading, meditating, or doing any relaxing activity for 10–15 minutes before getting back in bed.
**20. Don’t try to fall asleep.
If you are consciously trying to fall asleep, it will often have the reverse affect. One trick is to actually do the opposite: try to stay awake. I can’t personally attest to this, but I’ve heard it works for others and I can see why.
21. Don’t count sheep.
I don’t know how this tactic was created, but I think it is one of the worst. The idea is to count sheep in your head starting at 1 and increasing until you fall asleep. This requires conscious effort from your brain — the last thing you want to do when trying to fall asleep.
**22. Get sunlight during the day
If you are inside all day without natural lighting, your body will be confused and won’t be able to distinguish day from night. Your natural body relies on the schedule of the sun (daytime and nighttime) to know when to sleep and when to wake up. Get sunlight during the day.
23. Step outside
Similar to the above, you need to get outside to get your body acquainted with the schedule. If you stay inside all day, your body and mind will not know when it should turn off after being inside all day.
**24. Exercise
Exercising during the day will help you sleep at night. Simply going for a walk to break up the sedentary periods will help you sleep better at night.
25. No pets in the bedroom
Pets are one of the strongest sleep disturbances. Most cats and dogs are consistently moving throughout the night, likely waking you up multiple times.
26. Silence your phone
Even if your phone is outside of your room, it can still wake you up from notifications and vibrations. Make sure your phone is always silenced at night.
**27. Keep your room cool
Your environment needs to be cool for you to fall asleep. Ideally 67–70 degrees Fahrenheit.
**27. Be aware of changes to your environment
If you are a light sleeper like me, you are probably not just sensitive to sounds, but to any changes in your environment. Sleeping in a different location, with a new partner, and any other environment changes can impact your sleep. Be aware and try to keep your sleeping environment as consistent as possible.
28. Dim the lights | Low light exposure
When you are winding down at home, dim your lights. Ideally, use amber colored lamps/bulbs and don’t expose yourself to bright light. You will give your body a confuse and it will think the sun is out and needs to wake up. Dim and amber lighting will help signify to your body and mind that it’s time to wind down.
Sleep well and live long,
— Ash
