Want to fall asleep faster? Try this
Tired of lying awake at night trying to fall asleep?
How often do you find yourself calculating how many hours of sleep you’ll get if you could start sleeping that moment?
A study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology suggests something you can try.
Researchers sought to determine if writing down future-focused thoughts before bed could help people sleep faster. They studied the sleep patterns of nearly 60 participants between the ages of 18-30 as they slept overnight in a lab. Half of the participants were asked to spend five minutes before bed writing down a to-do list of things they’d like to complete in the next few days.
The other half of participants were told to spend five minutes writing a “completed” list of things they had accomplished in the last few days.
The results were promising.
The participants who wrote to-do lists fell asleep nine minutes faster than those who wrote completed lists. Also worth noting – those who wrote longer, more specific lists fell asleep faster than those who wrote shorter, more general ones.
“My experience has shown that this type of technique can work very well for some people,” says Dr. Kevin Krippner, clinical psychologist with Advocate Medical Group.
“Many people have a hard time falling asleep because they are thinking about problems or their work for the next day,” Dr. Krippner says. “Making a list of tasks that will need to be addressed during the next day can help many people let go of their worries, as they have a plan in place for addressing the issues.”
Dr. Krippner cautions that some people may become more anxious by pulling together a list of uncompleted tasks.
“It would be important for someone who is considering this strategy to determine if making a list would make them more or less anxious,” he says.
How can you tell?
“The best way might be to try the strategy for a few days and see how it impacts the length of time it takes to fall asleep,” Dr. Krippner says.
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About the Author
Holly Brenza, health enews contributor, is a public affairs coordinator on the content team at Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago. In her free time, Holly enjoys reading, watching the White Sox and Blackhawks, playing with her dog, Bear and running her cats' Instagram account, @strangefurthings.
I put a bar of Ivory soap in my bed at night. Sometime I tuck it in my pajama bottoms. It helps me go to sleep faster, have more vivid good dreams, and I wake up more fully. Unwrap it. Don’t wet it. Put it under your pillow during the day so it doesn’t dry out. Replace it when it dries out.
Never take tomorrow to bed with you.
I watch funny things last not drama/sad TV shows or the news which can be all bad.
What is the significance of the bar of soap? How does it help?