A couple years ago, I was experiencing a difficult time in my life and with that came many sleepless nights. I remember laying in bed most nights, exhausted, but also wide awake. I was emotionally drained and could not get myself together, it seemed. Some nights I would toss and turn and would get about 3 hours of sleep per night. I was exhausted, but still couldn’t figure out how to make it better.
I’ve always been someone that enjoyed falling asleep while watching TV. I knew that people said that it’s not a good idea to do this, but it never bothered before, so I didn’t see any problems with it. It worked for me until I went through the difficult time in my life when I was having a hard time sleeping.
After struggling to sleep for a while, I decided that it was time to start researching & implementing some techniques to try out.
After doing some research online and getting some guidance from my counselor, I figured out several techniques that I could implement to help me fall asleep at night. Alas! I found a list of things to do that helps me sleep at night! So, I want to share them all with you because nobody likes to toss and turn at night!
Related: My night routine for a more productive morning
This might seem excessive to some people, but I actually try to give myself a good hour before I want to “fall asleep”. Giving yourself time to wind down & get your mind and body ready to fall asleep is super helpful.
Here are a list of things that I try to pull from every night. I hope some of these tips help you too!
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Turning off electronics an hour before bed (Phone, computer, TV)
Like a lot of people, I have always enjoyed laying in bed, watching TV until my eyes get sleepy and about to fall asleep. I also got into a habit of doing some social media scrolling at the same time as well. But, when I started having a hard time falling asleep, I was experiencing some extreme anxiety and those things started to not help me out at all. I know a lot of people mention turning off electronics, but watching TV & scrolling really did help me out in terms of helping me fall asleep (so I thought).
So, I started turning off my TV and stop scrolling an hour before I go to bed. I’m not perfect and don’t always follow this, but when I do, it definitely helps being able to refocus and start calming my mind down. However, I know that some people actually enjoy watching TV right before bed and find it to be incredibly relaxing. Whatever works for you! But, if you start noticing constant struggle to fall asleep, I would recommend at least giving this a try!
Take Some Melatonin
About an hour before I go to bed, I usually take 3-6g of melatonin. This is just a natural remedy to help you naturally fall asleep. I personally love melatonin because it helps me fall asleep, but it doesn’t make me feel all groggy the next morning. When I take a sleep aid, I can sometimes feel all groggy and half asleep if I didn’t get enough sleep for the sleep aid to wear off. Right now, I am enjoying the Nature Made Melatonin.
Take Magnesium
One of the main reasons why people have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep is that they can’t get their minds to calm down. There’s just too much on our minds to think about! Like melatonin, magnesium helps your body relax. I use both and it’s a perfect combination! In addition to taking one of my Nature Made Melatonin tablets, I mix 4-8oz of Natural Vitality Calm Magnesium Powder. I warm up 4-8oz of water in the microwave for 45 seconds and mix in a scoop of the powder! The fizz it makes is entertaining in itself! Do this an hour before bed and you can literally feeeel your body start to relax. Seriously, you need to give this a try!
Essential Oil Diffuser
I absolutely love my essential oil diffuser! An hour before bed, I also like to turn on my essential oil diffuser. There’s something so relaxing about diffusing lavender/eucalyptus/ tea tree oil to calm your mind. I have mine sitting right next to my bed on my night stand. I love climbing into bed with relaxing aroma already there, mmmm allll the calming feels right there!
The oil that I like to use is Pure Aroma because it comes in a package that contains allll of the oils that I like to use on a daily basis. I usually always have one package in my amazon cart because I know that I’m going to need a refill!
Related: Developing a self care routine that works for you
If you don’t have an essential oil diffuser yet, I would recommend getting one that comes with some oils to get you started, like this one. That way you can test out which oils you really like so you know which ones you would like to get a refill on.
Bubble bath/hot shower
One of my favorite things to do to wind down on a Sunday night is to take a relaxing bubble bath! I like to fill the tub with lavender bubble bath and bath salts. Light a couple candles, play relaxing music and soak for about 20 minutes or so.
If you’re like me & don’t currentIy have a bath tub, I will sometimes take a hot shower with essential oils before bed! It’s so relaxing & definitely gets you in the mood to start winding down for bed!
Reading
Reading is one of those activities that I really love, but I sometimes have a hard time getting myself to settle down with a good book. Instead of turning on TV to help me fall asleep, I started picking up a book and reading while in bed. Reading has been the perfect way for me to really calm my mind down and lets me naturally get sleepy. Sometimes I can only make it a couple pages before I have to turn off the lights.
Some books that I’m LOVING right now!
Journaling
We’ve all heard about the major benefits of journaling. Maybe you are rolling your eyes at this point because you’ve heard it so much. Some nights I find myself talking myself out of it, but I’ve been trying to be better about it. Just picking up a journal and a pen and writing about your day- things that went well and what didn’t go so well. It really, REALLY helps to get everything out of your head and onto paper.
Related: The Power of Journaling
Even starting off with a couple sentences every night might help to make it a habit. You never know what you might discover! It definitely helps getting everything out so it doesn’t sit on your subconscious.
>> If you would prefer some journal prompts, make sure you check out my 50 Journal Prompts For Self Reflection & Self Discovery!
Meditation
Ahhh, meditation. I personally have a love/hate relationship with meditation because I’m still really bad at it. I’ve been trying to make this a daily habit for a couple years now and it’s one of those things that takes some (lots) time to master. But, when I do practice meditation, I notice how much more relaxed and calm my mind is. Even if it’s just listening to calming music, rather than a guided meditation. Just a couple of minutes can work wonders! I do recommend getting some guided meditation apps on your phone to try out nightly. Most of them have free options so you don’t have to commit to monthly payments if you don’t think that you’ll need that kind of investment.
There you have it! Those are my 7 tips for helping with sleepless nights. I don’t do allll of them every single night. But, they have all helped in my journey to sleeping better. Nightly, I try to at least take melatonin, set my essential oil diffuser, journal & read.
Give these tips a try and see if they can help you start falling asleep!
I do offer 1:1 coaching and invite you to check out my opportunities if that is something that you would be interested in. Click here for more information on my 1:1 coaching opportunities! <3
>> click here to download my 5 tips for crushing your goals
>> click here to download my self care planning worksheet
>> click here to download my 50 journal prompts for self reflection & self discovery
Xx,
Jess
