10. UNCOVER YOUR FEET
Doing something as simple as sticking your feet out of the blanket and letting them breathe can help increase your fatigue levels and get you sleeping faster.
9. READ
Even if it’s just this blog post. Nothing gets you sleepy like reading small text on a brightly lit phone or tablet late at night. But don’t do this for more than ten or fifteen minutes because then it can actually stimulate you and cause you to be even more awake…and try not to get caught up in your social media feeds 🙂
8. ADJUST THE ROOM TEMPERATURE
When trying to sleep, an easy rule to remember is the cooler, the better. Reduce your room temperature to between 67 and 72 degrees. If you’re using a heavy blanket, try something lighter or just cover yourself with a flat sheet. Which brings us to number seven.
7. CHANGE YOUR BED SHEETS
Ever lay in bed unable to sleep and can’t figure out why? A lot of times it’s your sheets and your pillow. When you haven’t changed your sheets and pillow cases in a while, they can accumulate dead skin cells or dust which may make it difficult to fall asleep (and yes, it’s gross too). It’s worth the ten minutes for you to get up and change your sheets and pillow cases. Hopefully you have a set of cotton or bamboo fiber sheets which are the most breathable and help you get optimal sleep. If you don’t have them you can learn more about bamboo fiber sheets here. Also, if you don’t have a nice firm pillow, or not enough pillows now’s a good time to grab some from the linen closet or the other room.
6. KEEP IT BETWEEN THE KNEES
This one is for side sleepers. Picture an eye level view of your body laying down on its side. Your bottom leg is straight because it is resting on your mattress but the leg on top is slanted down on an angle from your hip to your foot because it is resting on your straight leg. This is causing stress and pain on your hips and lower back. To fix this, simply place a pillow in between your knees and your upper leg is now straight. Some people may need one pillow in between their knees, and another pillow in between their ankles.
That same stress that was on your hips is also on your shoulders. Simply hold a large, firm pillow against your chest and wrap your arms around it. Now you have relieved your hips, and your shoulders from stress and pain while sleeping on your side. Bonus: since you are now hugging a pillow, you will no longer feel lonely.
5. GET RID OF LIGHTS AND NOISE
If you have a computer in the room that has a fan running, turn it off. If you have a TV or cable box that may have a little red light on even when turned off, cover it with a piece of electrical tape. Get rid of as much light and noise as you possibly can. Sleeping in an environment where light is present can reduce your body’s capability of producing essential cancer fighting antibodies. If you have a high quality and comfortable eye mask, wear it now.
4. SLEEP HYPNOSIS (AT YOUR OWN RISK)
YouTube “Sleep Hypnosis” but make sure you have done your research on hypnosis and you are comfortable with it first. Pick a youtube video that looks good to you. Plug your headphones in your ears and turn of the screen. You are getting sleepy…
3. GET RID OF YOUR PHONE
If by now you are still awake, then obviously steps nine and four didn’t work. So let’s try something else. You may be sensitive to electromagnetic waves. Unplug your phone, and charge it in another room. I can’t tell you how many people this does wonders for. Not just to help you fall asleep, but also just to cut the digital leash once a day…we all can use that.
2. TAKE A SHOWER
Ugh, you so don’t want to get up right now and take a shower. Besides taking a shower could take 20 minutes. That’s true, but the alternative might be laying in bed wide awake for the next few hours. Taking a shower will change your body’s core temperature which is sometimes exactly what you might need in order to fall asleep. If you really don’t want to do this step, we understand. Have a cold glass of milk instead
1. GET NAKED
That’s right, get completely naked right now. You will not believe what a big difference this will make and how fast you will fall asleep after you take everything off and we mean EVERYTHING. Clothes can be restrictive to your blood flow and cause you to toss and turn. Our number one thing that you can do right now to fall asleep is to take it all off.
