Hello, the queen of no sleep here – aka, Nicole.
You’ll never guess how I thought of the idea to write this post…..laying in bed tossing & turning on a work night. Dreading waking up in the morning, counting the number of hours of sleep I’m going to get if I can fall asleep by a certain time & getting up to pee 7 more times before I finally fall asleep.
How many of you have trouble falling asleep? Or maybe, you can fall asleep easily, but can’t stay asleep? I’m sure you’ve nodded your head at least once to those two questions.
When people ask me why I can’t sleep, honestly I’m not sure if it’s because I hate sleeping alone, if I can’t shut my mind off at night, if I still have energy, or if I am just genuinely not comfortable….
I have struggled with sleep since high school & have experimented with SO. MANY. THINGS. So please, bare with me as I try to narrow it down to my most successful sleeping advice!
Buy a new mattress or a mattress pad
Ah, yes…the common sense choice – also the most expensive choice.
If you’re not concerned about spending the money to get some extra zzz’s, this is the option for you! I bought a mattress pad in highschool that I still have to this day, it has lasted THAT long & it is still THAT comfy…everyone that has ever laid in it describes it as ‘The Cloud’, if you’re interested in the mattress pad, check out the link!
Maybe a mattress pad isn’t going to quite do the trick, so new mattress it is. My boyfriend & I live that budgeting life, so we did some research & decided on a Zinus mattress in a box – 3 words, BEST DECISION EVER. We love our mattress in a box & I would recommend it time & time again. Check out the ‘Cooling Green Tea Gel Memory Foam’ mattress.
Weighted blanket
My weighted blanket is my saving grace. I actually received my first weighted blanket years ago before they became a fad, so my first one was a tad on the expensive side. However, you can now find them at Kohls, Marshalls, Target or Amazon – all reasonably priced! I have two weighted blankets, a 25 pound one for when I’m having a tough time anxiety-wise/borderline panic attack, then I also have a 12 pound one that I sleep with every night. It’s perfect to wrap up in when you’re feeling antsy or even a little down in the dumps that day. Highly recommend!
Melatonin
I was always afraid to try out melatonin because I thought I would wake up super groggy & tired the next morning if I didn’t sleep it all out of my system – so I did my research. I have a 5mg kroger brand capsule that I buy sometimes when I’m tight on money, but my prefered choice of melatonin is the brand, Olly. Not only do they taste like magic in your mouth, but they kick in SO fast – the recommended dose is 2 gummies, however, I only take 1 & it does the trick. My only complaint about taking melatonin is that they spark VERY vivid dreams/nightmares sometimes, so I would suggest only using a few nights a week.
Sleepytime tea
If you are into tea drinking, this is the stuff. Not only does it taste amazingly soothing, there’s just something about pouring a hot cup of tea into your favorite mug, wrapping up in a blanket on the couch with a book & sipping your tea. By the time you are finished with your cup, brush your teeth & cozy on into bed, it’s hitting you perfectly – allowing you to doze off almost immediately. My preferred brand is Yogi.
Read a book & turn that phone on silent
I never thought I would be the kind of human that read a book before bed rather than scrolling through social media until my eyes got heavy. I am SO glad I made this change in my life & picked up a book. Not only do I feel like reading every night has helped my memory & imagination, but I also feel much more rested in the morning after reading a chapter or 2 before bed. My eyes don’t burn when I finally shut them to go to sleep & I don’t find myself rereading instagram captions in my mind over & over again until I pass out – which is probably very beneficial for me.
Weighted sleep mask
Easily the greatest Christmas present I have ever received. I had never even heard of a weighted sleep mask until I opened it up on Christmas morning. I love my weighted sleep mask for a few reasons – it blocks out background light, the weight of it helps release tension built up in your face, it is so soft & it even helps take away my headache if I have one. This is a great option if you are open to trying new things for a cheap price!
Buy a Fan
I don’t know about you, but I can’t fall asleep in a completely silent room – it honestly almost freaks me out. I have to have some kind of background noise going & personally, my go-to choice is a fan. The only issue I have ever ran into with this is when I travel, it’s kind of hard to throw a fan in my suitcase, thankfully Amazon exists & I found the most perfect travel fan!
Sleep meditation/sleep hypnosis
This is my favorite suggestion to make to people who have trouble falling asleep because they look at me like I’m a nut! I decided to give sleep meditation a try when I was living on my own & having a hard time falling asleep. I pulled up youtube one night, typed in ‘sleep hypnosis’ & quickly fell in love with Michael Sealey’s voice (you’ll see). Sleep meditation/hypnosis is a little tricky at first, you really have to get comfortable & listen to his voice. It took me probably 2-5 times before really benefiting from this. The cool thing about sleep meditation/hypnosis is that there are various different kinds to choose from – weight loss, deep sleep, self confidence, refreshing sleep, self healing, etc. Honestly, just keep an open mind & give it a try.
Counting backwards
This is for those of us that can’t shut our minds off at night – counting down from 100 may sound cliche, however, it can sometimes do the trick. It gets my mind focused on the numbers rather than whatever has my wheels turning.
Close your eyes so tight until you see a ‘black tunnel’
I truly have no idea how to explain this other than close your eyes super tight, until a black shadow appears & starts coming to the center of your eye then slowly relax your eyes while keeping them shut & wait until the dark covers your entire eye – I swear, you’ll be out in less than 5 minutes, if any of that even made sense?
I genuinely hope that one of these tips on how to get to sleep will help you in some way. There are few things worse than laying in bed, beyond exhausted & not being able to fall asleep.
If you do happen to give any of these ideas try, please comment & let me know what worked or didn’t work for you!
Sweetdreams!