20 Weird Strategies to Help You Sleep From smelling lavender to finding your purpose, give these time-tested tips a try if you find yourself wide awake when it's time for bed.
By Nina Zipkin
When you don't sleep enough, your mood, focus, health and overall productivity suffer. How can you innovate if you can barely keep your eyes open? If you have trouble winding down at night, we've assembled 20 tips to help you get the rest you need. These go beyond taking your devices out of your bedroom, because hopefully by now, we all understand that staring at an illuminated smartphone or tablet will not get us asleep faster.
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After you read through our strategies, we want to hear from you: Do you have any odd or unusual tricks that improve your health and sleep? Let us know in the comments.
XiFotos | Getty ImagesMind your beeswax.
A recent study out of Japan's University of Tsukuba found that octacosanol, a component found in wheat germ oil, rice bran oil, sugar cane and beeswax, helped lower stress levels and increased sleep in mice.
PeopleImages | Getty ImagesFollow the 20-minute rule.
If you're going to try and nap, know that a nap any longer than 20 minutes will throw off your sleep cycle. "If you were to take a 45-minute nap, you're going to catch yourself right in the deeper stages of sleep when your alarm goes off and you're actually going to feel pretty wiped out for a while," explains MetroNaps co-founder and CEO Christopher Lindholst. Plus, if you oversleep during the day, not only will you be groggy after you wake up, you'll actually make it harder on yourself when trying to fall asleep at night.
Related: 16 Things That Lack of Sleep Can Do to You, According to Science
Luis Alejandro Torres/EyeEm | Getty ImagesEat breakfast for dinner.
Having foods such as bananas (filled with muscle-relaxing potassium), eggs (high in protein which is known to help aid sleep) and toast (a light source of carbs to regulate blood sugar) before you turn in can help you get better sleep. If you've been having some late nights, treat yourself to some brinner.
NelleG | Getty ImagesCool down.
If your bedroom is painted in a high-impact color such as red, yellow or orange, your decorating scheme could be sapping your sleep. According to data assembled by furniture company Made.com, cooler colors such as blue, green and gray are ideal for lowering heart rates and blood pressure.
Harald Eisenberger/LOOK-foto | Getty ImagesGet some sun.
A recent study from the University of Michigan found that people slept better at night when they logged some time outside. Spending part of your day outside helps you regulate your circadian rhythm, and the sun, like those sunnyside-up eggs, is also a good source of vitamin D.
Related: How Getting up at 5 a.m. Has Improved My Health and Productivity
Hero Images | Getty ImagesFind the optimal temperature.
An environment that's too hot or too cold will have you up in the middle of the night. A nice, middle-of-the-road 60 to 67 degrees is what sleep experts recommend to get the most rest.
Klaus Vedfelt | Getty ImagesDon’t make a stop at the bar.
Even though alcohol might make you sleepy, it doesn't actually help you sleep -- it just dehydrates you and depletes your energy. "Part of the process of metabolizing alcohol releases byproducts that are stimulating," sleep expert Dr. Holly Phillips told Refinery29. "[That] creates microarousals where you wake up a little bit. You might not even be aware of them, but they disturb sleep and make it hard to get deep sleep."
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Philipp Nemenz | Getty ImagesGive your life meaning.
A recent study out of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and Rush University Medical Center in Chicago found that subjects who reported feeling a sense of purpose in their everyday lives had a higher quality of sleep and were up less frequently during the night. So, if you find yourself lying awake, think about what drives you.
Tetra Images | Getty ImagesGet out of bed.
If you can't fall asleep, it may just be better to get up rather than stare at the ceiling in quiet despair. "When you're in bed, you're asleep," said Michael Grandner, the director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, in a recent interview with Time. "If you're in bed and you're not asleep, you get out of bed."
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KatarzynaBialasiewicz | Getty ImagesDon’t try to fall asleep.
Yes, really. A study from the University of Glasgow asked a group of insomniacs to try to stay awake for as long as possible -- just lying in bed with their eyes open but without a TV, computer or phone to entertain them. After two weeks, they actually fell asleep more quickly than another group of insomniacs that stuck to their normal pre-sleep routines.
Chris Winsor | Getty ImagesBecome a kid again.
Rachel Marie E. Salas, a physician and professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, recommended a children's activity to The New York Post: blowing bubbles. The lighthearted activity is akin to a deep breathing exercise, and it could take your mind off any pre-bedtime anxiety.
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Darren Lehane | Getty ImagesDim the lights.
Even before you go to bed, make your environment incrementally dimmer to get used to the idea of total darkness. "Melatonin is your hormone of darkness -- it won't flow with the lights on," said Joyce Walsleben, an adjunct associate professor at the New York University School of Medicine, in an interview with Health magazine. "You want to transition to dark as early as 9:00 or 10:00."
petrograd99 | Getty ImagesSimply relax your muscles.
The Mayo Clinic recommends a technique called progressive muscle relaxation. All you have to do is tense and then relax each of your muscle groups, starting with your toes and working your way up to your head -- or vice versa. Tense each group of muscles for five seconds, then relax it for 30 seconds.
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Nico De Pasquale Photography | Getty ImagesListen to music.
A study from Denmark's Aarhus University found that listening to classical music for 25 minutes to an hour at night led to improved sleep among the participants.
JGI/Jamie Grill | Getty ImagesThink about a peaceful, calming place.
In your mind, go to your favorite place, a tranquil beach or another relaxing location. For best results, The Mayo Clinic advises including as many elements of the setting as possible -- sight, sound, smell and touch.
Related: The Extraordinary Power of Visualizing Success
SVGiles | Getty ImagesStop and smell the lavender.
A study from the University of Pennsylvania found that when participants were exposed to the scent of lavender, they reported deeper sleep. Give a candle or the real thing a try in your bedroom and see whether it works for you.
Anakin Tseng | Getty ImagesPut on socks.
If your feet are nice and warm, you'll drift off to sleep sooner. According to the National Sleep Foundation, heating cold extremities prompts the dilation of blood vessels, which signals to the brain that it's time for bed. So, put on a pair of socks or cozy slippers if you find you're up in the middle of the night.
Related: 12 Unexpected Things That Are Stealing Your Sleep
Pete Barrett | Getty ImagesSleep on your own.
You might think that you have insomnia, but if you sleep next to a partner, that extra body could be the culprit of your sleeplessness. Thirty percent of couples experience a "sleep divorce," meaning they decide to sleep separately, according to Matthew Walker, director of the Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. Walker shared this fact at the 2017 Fortune Brainstorm Health conference.
Frederic Cirou | Getty ImagesThink beyond counting sheep.
If you're wide awake at night, sleep expert Neil Stanley recommended to New York Magazine running through meaningless lists to distract your brain. "It can be anything of interest, but of no importance, so you can devote some brain energy to it without clashing into the real world and going straight back to your worries," Stanley said. "I fly a lot, so I imagine I have my own private jet and how would I arrange the furniture on it. If you're someone who likes going to music festivals, what would your lineup be?
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KatarzynaBialasiewicz | Getty ImagesStop looking at the clock.
If you find that you can't fall asleep, looking at the clock and calculating how much time is left before you have to go to work can actually create more stress, which leads to more insomnia. "The clock serves as a wake prompt," New York University School of Medicine professor Joyce Walsleben told Health magazine. "It heightens your arousal level and ruins the night. You should set the alarm clock and put it out of sight. If the bell hasn't gone off, it's none of your business what time it is; roll over and go back to sleep."
