The very thought of going to bed, can give a feeling of anxiety and stress. Often times, many of us who struggle with sleep, know that going to bed is only going to lead to tossing and turning all night.
In this article, we will focus on a few ways to improve your sleep and help you fall asleep faster at night. By the end you will be able to understand how to implement these 3 steps and see results.
- No Phone while laying in bed
- Read at least 10 pages of any book
- Visualize your entire day in your minds eye
No phone while in bed
You may think that scrolling through Tik Tok, watching Youtube videos, or playing a game on your phone while lying in bed helps you wind down. That is the complete opposite of what is happening.
Each time you pick up your phone or scroll through social media, you are stimulating your brain. The definition of stimulate is to raise physiological or nervous activity in the body. So, you think it is a way for you to relax from your day before resting your head on the pillow. In reality all it is doing is adding more stress on your mind.
Most people know this, but continue you to do it day after day. Why is that? If you know you spend too much time scrolling on your phone and it is probably contributing to why you don’t sleep well at night, why do you continue you to put yourself through that?
Is it because you have a stressful job and you dread going to sleep, because you know you will inevitably need to wake up and go to work?
Is it because your mind races at night while lying in bed and being on your phone is the only thing that calms it down?
Or is it because it is a habit that has been formed over the years and it is difficult to break?
Whatever the case may be, if you have a hard time sleeping at night, put down the phone. Don’t even touch it unless it is to set your alarm for the morning. I would even say before you sit down on your bed set your alarm. That way once you lay down you don’t even have to mess with your phone.
Read 10 pages of any book
Yes, reading is boring, but that is the point. You need to tire your mind out not stimulate it to the point where you can’t fall asleep. You don’t have to read a full book or even 100 pages before bed. All you would need is 10 pages of any book you want to read or something you want to learn.
I have a stack of books right by my bed side to satisfy my desire and feeling. Reading should take place of your phone. As soon as you get the feeling to pick up your phone, grab a book and start reading. Don’t let your habit take control of you and ruin the night sleep your brain needs. Often times, I will actually catch myself falling asleep while reading, that’s when you know your mind is ready to fall asleep.
My challenge to you: get a book put it next to your bed. Every time you get the urge to scroll through your phone, grab that book and read 10 pages. You will be amazed at how tired it makes you.
Read more about how reading before bed can help improve your sleep: Healthline.com
Visualize your entire day in your minds eye
Putting down your phone and reading are just the preparation. The Icing on the cake and the thing that puts me to sleep in less than 5 minutes is visualization.
After not using your phone and reading 10 pages, I want you to lay there and close your eyes. With your eyes closed, imagine your day from the very moment you got into bed to go to sleep and work your way backwards. Replay each step one by one. This works wonders. I didn’t even make it through the last hour of remembering my day before falling asleep the first week. This allows you to take your mind off the problems from that day or the problems that may arise in the future. By focusing on and retracing your steps you allow your brain to mindlessly drift into a dream.
From there you are asleep. Great job!
Now do that every day for 90 days until it’s a habit you cant live without.
Here are some books to help with your visualization skills:
Conclusion
Getting a good nights sleep is one of the most important factors to achieving success. In todays day an age we do too many activities that stimulate our brains before we retire for the night. In order to change that we need to allow our minds to transition into sleep mode.
1 hour before bed, try not to scroll through your phone. Fill that time with more beneficial activities like reading, listening to a podcast, or even writing in a journal. Start prepping your mind for the great night sleep you deserve.
Try this out for a week. Feel free to add or drop any of those steps. This is what helped for me and I hope it helps you. Comment below if you are going to try. I am excited to hear your results.