I’m sure everyone has had a night where no matter what you do, you just can’t seem to fall asleep. Maybe you have something important to do in the morning, or you just want to get a good amount of sleep. Trust me, I’ve been there, and I’m here to help. Here are my favorite and most effective ways to fall asleep:
Use Lavender or a Calming Scent.
Lavender is one of the most relaxing scents, it just makes me feel so cozy and serene. I have an oil diffuser where I can put a few drops of lavender essential oil in, and shortly after, my room smells so soothing. I also like the Bath and Body pillow spray in the Sleep edition. I just put a few spritzes on my pillow about 15-20 minutes before I go to bed, and I promise you, I knock right out. Mouth open, loud snores, drool, the works, lol.
Melatonin Gummies.
Oh my gosh, I talked about these in my 10 Things Every College Student Needs post, these are my FAVORITE. I’m not talking about the OLLY ones, they don’t work for me, and they don’t taste that great, I’m talking about the Hello Bello ones, they come in a purple jar. Y’all, these taste amazing, if I could eat them like fruit snacks, I would, they also work super quick, I’d say with about 10-15 minutes, I start feeling groggy. I suggest these to everyone I know, and they all agree that these are the best gummies for sleep. Now even though they work, try not to take them every night, you don’t want your body to depend on melatonin supplements to sleep.
Stretch.
I know you’re probably thinking “What does stretching have to do with me falling asleep?” let me tell you: your body is most likely stiff or sore from what you did that day. Stretching is something that you should be doing every day, especially right after you wake up and before you go to sleep. Give your body the chance to let loose and be comfortable. I found a picture on Pinterest of nightly stretches you can do before bed. DM me on Instagram if you want it.
Give the phone a rest.
Your body needs time to relax before bed, and being on your phone definitely doesn’t help. Your eyes can become sensitive to the blue light that emits from your phone, it puts a strain on them. Now yes, some phones have an option to turn down or remove the blue light, and yes, you can invest in blue light glasses, but being on your phone is preventing you from completely relaxing and is also keeping you awake. It’s also not good to fall sleep with your phone on your pillow or directly next to you, try putting it on your nightstand, or somewhere further so that you have to get up to turn off your alarms in the morning.
Listen to sleep music.
Did you know that there is a whole genre of music for sleep and relaxation? There are many things you can listen to so that you can calm down and fall asleep. There’s ASMR, classical music, bedtime stories, nature sounds, lullabies, etc. Spotify is filled with different playlists for sleep, I like to switch it up every now and then. The Calm app has mediation, sleep stories, and relaxing sounds to help you fall asleep. Just lay down, take deep breaths, remove any distractions that may keep you from listening to the sounds, and feel yourself fall asleep.
Stop eating and drinking right before bed.
Sometimes the reason why you can’t fall asleep is because you have to keep going to the bathroom. You didn’t give your body the time is needs to fully process and digest your meals. You should stop eating and drinking at least 2 hours before you plan on going to bed, that way there won’t be any disturbances, and your body can focus on going to sleep.
Drink a soothing beverage.
Now I know this kind of contradicts what I said previously about not eating or drinking before bed, which is why I put this idea last. There are multiple teas and other drinks that can help soothe the body to prepare you for sleep. I don’t know about you, but there’s something about a nice, warm drink that makes me feel so cozy and warm. A few of my favorite teas that calm me down are chamomile, green tea, lemon balm, and valerian root tea.
If you give any of these ideas a shot, let me know how you liked it in the comments. I’d also love to hear if you have any other ways that help you fall asleep.
Great tips, a post to revisit when insomnia kicks in!
Love the idea of stretching before bed. Great tips!
Author
Glad you enjoyed the tips!
Such great tips! Thank you for sharing these🙌I’ve never thought about stretching before bed, but will definitely try that!
Author
Stretching helped me so much! Definitely give it a shot!!
Stretching is so helpful and calming. I need to do better at putting the phone down earlier before I go to bed. Probably like a lot of people!
Author
Putting the phone down is definitely a struggle, but you’ll feel so much better when you do!
I love these tips! I actually posted some tips to help fall asleep on my blog also. But I love the one about music, I actually play the same song on a timer for 30 minutes to help me fall asleep lol.
Charline
http://www.charlineliu.com
Author
I do the same thing sometimes! The music really calms me down.
I‘ve been using little lavender satchel and pillow sprays for a while now and it really did help me sleep better!
Thanks for sharing all these tips! If Lavender doesn‘t work anymore, I‘ll definitely try the other tips!
Author
I absolutely LOVE the pillow sprays! Let me know if you try anything else!
These tips are so helpful! I definitely need to be better about putting my phone away before bed!!
Author
I’m so glad you found it helpful!
I needed this! Going to try stretching before bed tonight! Thanks!
Author
Glad you enjoyed it!! Hopefully it goes well for you
Love to hear soothing music and drink some milk before going to bed. Love your article.
Author
I love listening to soothing music, thank you so much for reading. I’m glad you liked it!
these are such great tips thanks so much for sharing
Author
thank you! glad you liked it!
As a college student, these tips are much needed! Thanks for sharing!
Author
I’m glad you enjoyed it! If you want, I have a post about things every college should have that you can check out.
Really needed this today. Thank you for sharing
Author
You’re welcome, hopefully I was able to help.
I used to think tips like these wouldn’t really make a difference, but * not * having that midnight snack has been a noticeable factor for me. I just made a related post! Pacifica has spray that’s really helped, but I’d love to try that Bath & Body one.
Author
Ooo, I’ve never heard of the Pacifica one, I’ll definitely check it out.
Great suggestions for sleeping. Going to try stretching tonight. Thanks!
Author
Glad I could help! YouTube and Pinterest have some great stretching guides for nighttime.
Great advice! I need to try the gummies. I wish I had the ability to just fall a sleep in 3 seconds.
Author
Thank you! Definitely try the gummies, they work amazingly well.
This is awesome. Well written and common sense advice. I just found that putting down the cell phone at least 30-40 minutes before bed has helped me a lot!
Author
Thank you so much! And yes, putting the phone down way before I go to sleep has definitely helped me so much.
I have been suffering with insomnia since having my kids and would agree with all of these 🙂
Author
Oh wow, which way works best for you? Or do you do a mixture of different ones??