How to Fall Asleep Fast: 12 Science-Backed Tips That Work

To fall asleep faster, make the bedroom cool and dark, put screens away an hour before bed, cut caffeine at least six hours before bedtime, and if you are still awake after about 20 minutes, get up and do something calm until you feel sleepy. A warm shower an hour or two before bed and writing a short to-do list can also help, and both have been tested in studies. Trying hard to force sleep usually backfires, so most of the methods below work by lowering arousal rather than pushing for sleep. This guide covers 12 ways to fall asleep fast, what to do when you cannot sleep, and when to talk to a doctor.

It is educational, not medical advice.

Key Takeaways

• Get up if you cannot sleep: stimulus control, which includes leaving the bed when you cannot sleep, is one of the approaches the American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggests for chronic insomnia (Edinger et al., 2021).
• A warm bath or shower 1 to 2 hours before bed at about 40 to 42.5 °C shortened the time to fall asleep in a meta-analysis (Haghayegh et al., 2019).
• Writing a to-do list for 5 minutes at bedtime helped young adults fall asleep faster than writing about tasks already done (Scullin et al., 2018).
• Screens delay sleep: reading on a light-emitting device before bed meant taking longer to fall asleep than reading a printed book (Chang et al., 2015).
• Caffeine lingers: a dose taken even six hours before bed disrupted sleep (Drake et al., 2013).

Why You Can't Fall Asleep

Falling asleep needs two things at once: enough sleep pressure built up during the day, and a body and mind calm enough to let go. The most common things that get in the way are a racing mind or worry, bright light and screens late in the evening, caffeine or alcohol, an irregular schedule, a warm or noisy bedroom, and going to bed before you are actually sleepy. Lying in bed awake and frustrated can also teach your brain to link the bed with being awake, which makes the next night harder. If a busy mind is what keeps you up, our guide on how to stop overthinking covers a worry period and a bedtime to-do list.

Falling asleep starts with light N1 sleep, the first of four stages your brain cycles through each night; our guide to the stages of sleep explains what happens in each one.

How to Fall Asleep Fast: 12 Tips

1. Get out of bed if you are awake after about 20 minutes

It sounds backwards, but it is one of the best-supported habits. Stimulus control, which means going to bed only when sleepy and leaving the bed when you cannot sleep, is one of the treatments the American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggests for chronic insomnia, alongside cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (Edinger et al., 2021). Go to another room, keep the lights low, read something dull or listen to calm audio, and return to bed when you feel sleepy.

2. Keep the same wake time every day

A steady wake time, weekends included, builds a reliable sleep drive for the evening. Sleeping in after a bad night feels good but makes it harder to fall asleep the next night. Our morning routine checklist shows how to anchor the start of the day.

3. Take a warm shower or bath 1 to 2 hours before bed

Warming up and then cooling down helps the body's core temperature fall, which is part of how you get sleepy. In a meta-analysis of 17 studies, a warm bath or shower at about 40 to 42.5 °C, taken 1 to 2 hours before bed for as little as 10 minutes, shortened the time it took to fall asleep and improved self-rated sleep quality (Haghayegh et al., 2019).

4. Write tomorrow's to-do list

If unfinished tasks keep you awake, get them out of your head. In a sleep lab study of 57 young adults, those who spent 5 minutes writing a to-do list for the coming days fell asleep significantly faster than those who wrote about tasks they had already completed, and the more specific the list, the faster they fell asleep (Scullin et al., 2018).

5. Put screens away and dim the lights

Light in the evening tells your body clock it is still daytime. When people read on a light-emitting device before bed, they took longer to fall asleep, felt less sleepy in the evening, released less melatonin and were less alert the next morning than when they read a printed book (Chang et al., 2015). Switch to lamps and a paper book for the last hour.

6. Stop caffeine at least six hours before bed

Caffeine stays in your system for hours. In a study that gave 400 mg of caffeine at bedtime, 3 hours before or 6 hours before, every timing disrupted sleep compared with placebo, and the authors recommend avoiding substantial caffeine for at least six hours before bed (Drake et al., 2013). For many people, that means no coffee after early afternoon.

7. Make the bedroom cool, dark and quiet

A cool room, blackout curtains or an eye mask, and earplugs or steady background noise remove the small disturbances that keep you alert. Keep the bed for sleep, so your brain links it with sleeping rather than scrolling or working.

8. Try slow breathing

Slow, longer breaths out help shift the body toward a calmer state. A popular pattern is the 4-7-8 method: breathe in through the nose for a count of 4, hold for 7, then breathe out slowly through the mouth for 8, and repeat four times. Any slow, steady rhythm works; the goal is relaxation, not perfect counting.

9. Relax your body from head to toe

Progressive muscle relaxation means tensing one muscle group for a few seconds, then letting it go, working from your feet up to your face. The so-called military method is a variation: relax the face, drop the shoulders and arms, relax the legs, then picture a calm scene for 10 seconds. Neither will knock you out in seconds every time, but both give a busy mind something calm to focus on.

10. Give your mind something boring to do

Picture a calm, detailed scene, or try a word game such as thinking of a word, then picturing a simple object for each of its letters. Gentle, low-stakes thinking crowds out worry without waking you up.

11. Stop watching the clock

Checking the time and counting the hours left until the alarm raises stress and keeps you awake. Turn the clock away and keep your phone out of reach.

12. Consider melatonin for short-term help

Melatonin is the hormone your body releases in the evening as it gets dark. In a meta-analysis of 19 placebo-controlled trials with 1,683 people with primary sleep disorders, melatonin shortened the time to fall asleep by about 7 minutes on average (Ferracioli-Oda et al., 2013). Low doses are usually enough; our guides to melatonin dosage and how long melatonin lasts cover timing and grogginess. If you prefer to avoid melatonin, see sleep supplements without melatonin. For how melatonin compares with GABA, another popular sleep supplement, see our guide to GABA vs melatonin.

Falling asleep is only the first step; to learn how sleep deepens through the night, see our guide to how much deep sleep you need.

Quick Fixes for Tonight vs Long-Term Habits

Tonight	Over the next few weeks
Get up if awake after about 20 minutes	Same wake time every day
Write tomorrow's to-do list	Caffeine only before early afternoon
Slow breathing or muscle relaxation	Screens off an hour before bed
Turn the clock away	Warm shower 1 to 2 hours before bed
Cool, dark, quiet room	Bed used only for sleep

How to Fall Asleep When You're Not Tired

If you are not sleepy, lying in bed rarely helps. Stay up in dim light doing something quiet until you feel drowsy, then go to bed, and keep your usual wake time the next morning. Over a few days, a fixed wake time, daylight in the morning and less evening light will move your sleepiness earlier.

Our guide to how to fix your sleep schedule lays this out as a day-by-day plan.

How to Fall Asleep When Your Mind Is Racing

Write down what is on your mind, including a specific to-do list, then try slow breathing or a calm mental image. If worry keeps you awake most nights, our guide to L-theanine for sleep and our sleep health guide cover more options, and talking to a professional can help.

A guided body scan is another option for a busy mind; our guide to non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) walks through a simple 15-minute routine.

If you fall asleep easily but wake in the night, our guide on why you wake up at 3am covers the causes and how to get back to sleep.

If you cannot sleep after a long flight, our guide to jet lag explains how to shift your body clock with light, sleep timing and melatonin.

Want a full evening plan? Our night routine guide sets out a sample bedtime schedule, from the last coffee to lights out.

Where Our Products Fit

Our Melatonin Nasal Spray provides 200 mcg of melatonin with L-theanine per serving as part of a bedtime routine, and our Theanine Nasal Spray provides 36 mg of L-theanine per two-spray serving for calm evenings. Follow the directions on the label. For a comparison of options, see magnesium glycinate for sleep.

For a melatonin-free option, our coming-soon Melatonin-Free Sleep Powder is one scoop in water 30 to 60 minutes before bed, with 3 g of glycine, tart cherry, 200 mg of magnesium, myo-inositol and apigenin. You can join the waitlist on its page.

When to See a Doctor

Safety note: talk to a doctor if it regularly takes you more than about 30 minutes to fall asleep, if you wake often and cannot get back to sleep, or if poor sleep affects your days for more than a few weeks. Ongoing trouble sleeping can be linked to conditions such as insomnia, sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, depression or anxiety, and to some medicines. Loud snoring, gasping in sleep or falling asleep during the day without meaning to also need a check. Do not drive or operate machinery if you feel drowsy. Check with your doctor before using melatonin or other sleep aids if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or giving them to a child.

Sources

• Edinger JD et al. Behavioral and psychological treatments for chronic insomnia disorder in adults: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline. J Clin Sleep Med, 2021. PubMed
• Haghayegh S et al. Before-bedtime passive body heating by warm shower or bath to improve sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev, 2019. PubMed
• Scullin MK et al. The effects of bedtime writing on difficulty falling asleep: A polysomnographic study comparing to-do lists and completed activity lists. J Exp Psychol Gen, 2018. PubMed
• Chang AM et al. Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2015. PubMed
• Drake C et al. Caffeine effects on sleep taken 0, 3, or 6 hours before going to bed. J Clin Sleep Med, 2013. PubMed
• Ferracioli-Oda E et al. Meta-analysis: melatonin for the treatment of primary sleep disorders. PLoS One, 2013. PubMed

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I fall asleep in 10 seconds?

Few people reliably fall asleep that fast. Relaxation methods such as the military method or slow breathing help you settle quickly, but the habits that matter most are a regular schedule, a dark room and no late caffeine.

How long should it take to fall asleep?

Usually well under half an hour. If it regularly takes more than about 30 minutes, it is worth looking at your habits and talking to a doctor.

What should I do if I can't fall asleep?

If you are awake after about 20 minutes, get up, go somewhere dim and quiet, do something calm and return to bed when you feel sleepy.

What is the military method for falling asleep?

It is a relaxation routine: relax your face, drop your shoulders and arms, relax your legs, then picture a calm scene for about 10 seconds while clearing your mind.

Does a warm shower help you fall asleep?

Yes, when timed well. A meta-analysis found that a warm bath or shower 1 to 2 hours before bed shortened the time to fall asleep.

How do I fall asleep when I am worried?

Write down your worries and a to-do list, then use slow breathing or muscle relaxation. If worry keeps you awake most nights, talk to a doctor or therapist.

Does melatonin help you fall asleep faster?

Modestly. In a meta-analysis of 19 trials, melatonin shortened the time to fall asleep by about 7 minutes on average.

How do I fall back asleep after waking up at night?

Keep the lights low, avoid checking your phone or the clock, and try slow breathing. If you are still awake after about 20 minutes, get up briefly and return when sleepy.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This content is for education and is not medical advice. Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Talk with a healthcare provider before starting a new supplement if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or taking medication.