People Who Fall Asleep Instantly Reveal Their Secrets

For most of us, sleeping is a chore. There is no good way to make it happen and we toss and turn for most of the night before we are able to blissfully settle down. But some people can just hit the pillow and go to sleep.

u/tapeoncharger probed their secrets:

People who fall asleep instantly, how do you do it?

Here's what we learned.

Be tired, like full-on tired.

I figured I'd throw some tips here.

First of all, your body will get some "rest" if you just lay there with your eyes closed relaxing.

Usually people "panic" about falling asleep and that keeps them awake.

Just lay there with your eyes closed and think about something fun.

If you don't "worry" about the falling asleep part, it happens a lot faster.

If you do find your mind wandering and you're struggling to sleep, enjoy the time you're laying with your eyes closed. Feel yourself floating - do some meditation.

If you struggle with sleep the first thing you should stop doing is playing video games right before bed. I'd highly recommend no TV, no video games and no phone for an hour before bed.

Do some light reading or relaxation exercises right before bed and you will find that sleep comes much easier. You need peace and quiet to rest.

I used to really struggle to sleep. I stopped looking at screens in the evening and started reading. It helped immensely.

For me it is all about exercise. You can be mentally tired and still your body and brain wont shut off. But you work out hard every day and your body is going to need the rest.

Get up at 4 am get ready for work then work all day get home around 4 work on my yard or other projects until it gets dark . Make dinner clean up get ready for tomorrow and boom by that time I can barely stay awake to begin with hit the sheets and out like a light

I keep a regular schedule and I don't use a screen a half hour before going to bed.

Also a good bed and a dark bedroom helps for me.

And I don't take naps.

I generally go to sleep when I am tired and not at a specific time. That's how I do it.

I only use my bed for sleeping and the no pants dance. I feel this has trained my body to recognize laying down in bed means it's time to fall asleep.

I try to imagine that the mattress im on is floating in the air and im flying through the night sky. Awesome feeling and helps me catch those zzzzzzzz

Equal parts constant exhaustion and chronic depression

Going to sleep fast is a bit like meditating. Most people can't fall asleep because with nothing to occupy you, your mind will wander and just start going from topic to topic.

Just like beginner meditation your mind is going to wander to your problems, that will increase your stress and further prevent sleeping.

To goal of meditation is to eventually empty your mind so that your body can relax. The goal of sleep is to find a restful thought (or no thought) so that your body can relax.

So first thing you have to do is decide that bedtime is sleep time. That means you don't get ready for bed and then decide to do the dishes. Or decide it's time to change the sheets, etc... When you get ready for bed that means it's time to get in bed and go to sleep. You have to develop this because it's a bit like Pavolov's Dogs. You have to train your mind to know that bed means sleep, not more work.

How sleep differs from meditation is that in beginner meditation when your mind wanders you're supposed to accept that and let your mind work to natural conclusions before advancing in your meditation techniques. Fast sleep is not achieved by this. Fast sleep is achieved by focusing your mind on nothing (true meditation) or on a pleasant, relaxing thought. For me I can actually think about nothing and go to sleep. But, when I'm stressed by work my mind can wander and focus on my problems, stress me out in bed and keep me awake. I get past that by finding a pleasant thought and staying with it. Maybe I think about just cuddling on the couch with my SO watching a movie, or a relaxing swim. Maybe there was a great date I had once way back in the day. Or a fun party I had with friends. It's okay, and encouraged to fanatasize take a reality and make it more pleasant.

The key is to find a pleasant, relaxing, happy thought and stick with it. Like meditation this is not something you're going to master in a few tries. It takes consistent Pavlovian training to make your body anticipate that sleep is a time to relax, and have pleasant thoughts. But, if you stick with it you will reap the rewards of faster sleep, and healthier sleep.

I honestly believe this is a "got it or don't" kind of thing. I have always been able to sleep anywhere, anytime kind of guy. At my desk, in the car, on airplanes, whatever. And I fall asleep in my bed in literally seconds. ( I know a LOT of people are going to hate me for this) It amazes my wife. Head on pillow, 5 seconds later, I'm snoring. She lays awake for an hour every night waiting to sleep. I also require more sleep than her. She can function on 5 hours sleep on consecutive nights, where as I would be a zombie requiring multiple naps. I'm sure that has something to do with it.

I wish I could. My husband can be snoozing within 10 minutes. I've been an insomniac my whole life. When I was a baby, the family was on a road trip and thus in a hotel for the night. Am told I kept making noise and wouldn't sleep. My sleep-deprived dad said "I'm about ready to throw that kid out the window."

Spoiler: He didn't. Probably because he was too tired.

Masturbation.

My partner does this and I constantly ask how he does it. He can fall asleep almost anywhere if you give him about five or ten minutes. In the car, upright in a plastic chair...

He says as long as he knows he is in a safe spot, won't get in trouble (ie, at work), and wants to sleep, he can do it. Personally, I think he just tells himself, "okay time to go to sleep" and his body just...does it.

I never lay in my bed unless I'm sleeping. Trains to brain to shut down faster instead of prompting you to grab your phone or a book to kill time

They say you fall asleep if you lay still for 7 minutes straight

Avoid caffeine as much as possible. A cup of coffee makes it so much harder to just go to sleep.

I fantasize about a scenario I would want to happen. I come up with and visualize stories in my head. Usually, I'm doing something heroic. Sometimes I think about my crush... and I live my whole life with them in the span of 10 minutes, when I actually drift to sleep

Do a moderately vigorous exercise throughout the day. That's the only thing that both improved my eating habits and sleeping.

otherwise if I stay up on the computer all day it becomes hard to stay still in bed for some reason.