How to fall asleep faster: A step-by-step guide with advice from experts

Getting enough sleep is integral to both physical and mental well-being. And yet, too many of us struggle to both fall asleep and stay asleep.

If insomnia poses a challenge in your life, it might be time to look at your nighttime routine to make sure it is fully optimized for success. 

To find out how best to do that, we spoke to the experts. Here are 5 tips they shared on how to fall asleep faster, plus what might be the cause of your insomnia. 

1. Cool the body

“Cooling the body helps with sleep onset,” Dr. Hal Alpert, a board-certified sleep medicine specialist explains. “Taking a warm bath or shower and then sleeping in a cool environment will help.” 

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3. Make sure the amount of time is right

“We see a good number of people, especially as they get older, that might not quite need as much sleep as they needed 30 years before, but they’re still trying to stay in bed for nine hours,” Dr. Ronald Chervin, the Division Chief of Sleep Disorders Centers at the University of Michigan explains. 

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4. Ditch alcohol as a sleep aid

“We recommend two to three hours before bedtime to stop alcohol. So that would mean like have wine with dinner instead of late, late in the evening,” Dr. Alicia Roth, a clinical health psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic’s Sleep Disorders Center explains.

Sometimes people turn to alcohol to suppress the anxiety around not being able to fall asleep, and while this may help initially getting to bed, a true restful night is unlikely as alcohol can cause you to wake a number of times throughout the night.

5. Don’t dwell on your insomnia

“A lot of people see it as like a recipe,” Dr. Roth explains, “and if they’re not sleeping, they might put a lot of effort into getting better sleep. And that’s a mindset that’s detrimental. It’s one of those things that the more effort you put into it, the worse it’s going to be.” 

If most people assume sleep is like baking (a science rather than an art), what it’s actually more like is a crockpot, Dr. Roth says. 

You can set up your Calm app and design a fool-proof wind-down routine, but sleep may still not come. The best thing to do in that situation is to avoid drumming up more stress. Don’t stare at the clock or chastise yourself for anything you did throughout the day that might be causing insomnia now. Instead, try to relax into acceptance.

The more you dwell on your insomnia, the more sleep will evade you. 

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What to think about to fall asleep

Positive thoughts before bedtime are helpful, Dr. Alpert says.

It is best to avoid negative thoughts, he explains, dwelling on your problems and worries can make it harder to drift off. This includes worrying about not being able to fall asleep.

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What are some common causes? 

Insomnia can be traced to different origins depending on the individual, but Dr. Alpert lists some common causes as:

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How to fall asleep when you’re not tired

If late evening rolls around and you’re still not tired it might be because you have “poor sleep hygiene.” Dr. Alpert advises that this refers to certain practices that make it harder to fall asleep quickly. 

If you suffer from insomnia, staying in bed for anything other than sleep or sex is not wise. “Good sleep hygiene trains the mind that the bedroom is the place for sleeping, not being awake,” Dr. Alpert says. 

If you’re having trouble sleeping, turn that clock around, he advises, checking the time can increase anxiety, making it harder to drift off. If, after 20 or so minutes of trying, you are unable to sleep, leave the bedroom and engage with the relaxation techniques used during “the wind-down period.”

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