If you are ready to take initiative on your sleeping problems, then you came to the right place. Here are some tips and mind tricks to help you tackle your lack of sleep:

1.  Wind Down Time

Give yourself about 30 minutes before you go to bed to relax. Make sure you’re not doing any stressful activities in these 30 minutes. Try reading, journaling or listening to calming music. Journaling is especially recommended; writing down all your thoughts is meant to free your mind from any ideas or stress. This doesn’t need to be organized at all and can be short sentences or doodles. 

Also ensure that you are not looking at any bright screens—so no TV and no phones. It’s also critical to not look at your clock either. This will just continue to stress you out by reminding you that you’re not sleeping. Try to have dimmed lights during this time. 

2.  Redesign Your Room

Some environmental factors that you can change is the design of your bedroom. These may be subtle, but they will actually play tricks on your mind that may help you sleep faster. First, remove any clutter out of your view (wires or your work papers). If your desk is in your view from your bed, definitely try to rearrange a little. 

Second, pick a great comfortable mattress and then choose your sheets wisely. This means choosing ones that have a solid color. This is because, sometimes, crazy colours and patterns may distract your mind and are not exactly the most calming imagery. Finally, pick your colours wisely. Blue is the most calming, but grays, silver, light green, and neutral colors are also known to lower your heart rate and your blood pressure. 

 3.  Try the 4-7-8 Breathing Method

This breathing method is a form of meditation. First step is to place your tongue behind your front teeth, on the roof of your mouth. Breathe in through your nose while counting to four in your head. For seven seconds, hold your breath, then breath out for eight seconds, making a quiet whooshing sound. Try this for four times and try to do so mindlessly. It may take a couple of tries to get it right. 

4.  Count Backwards

Another method is to try counting backwards. This may be boring and you might give up in the beginning. Truly try this and start with a high number. Clear your mind, and try enunciating the numbers in your head to solely focus on this task. 

5.  Muscle Tightening And Relaxing

This takes mental and physical effort that will help you unwind. Starting from the head and then down to your toes, what you do is tighten or tense your muscles and count 3-5 seconds in your head. When you release, breathe out and imagine the tension leaving your body. After each muscle, pause for 10 seconds. This exercise promotes relaxation throughout the body. 

6.  The Military Method

This method is famously used with pilots and only takes 120 seconds to work. It took six weeks for pilots to master this, but it completely worked even with the influence of caffeine and noises in the background.

Relax your entire face, drop your shoulders, and have your hands relaxed on the side of your body. Exhale and relax your legs, calves, and thighs. Clear your mind by imagining a calm, serene scene or happy place. If this doesn’t work, say the words “don’t think” repeatedly for 10 seconds. Over time, this should start to work!

7.  Try To Actually Stay Awake

Sounds simple and silly. However, we often do the opposite of what we want to do. This is sort of reverse psychology. Trying to fall asleep can cause performance anxiety. So, instead try to stay awake (but without any tangible distractions) and your mind will probably do the opposite. 

Conclusion

As you have read, sleep can be a complex thing. There are many benefits to sleep that affect your mental and physical health. It’s critical to consider your sleeping habits now before they turn into a serious sleeping disorder in the future, or even affect your happiness and well being. You now have many mind tricks available to choose from—all it needs now is your focus and eagerness for a good night’s rest. Sweet dreams.