How to Improve Sleep Fast
8 quick changes to improve sleep immediately
If you are struggling with sleep, especially falling asleep, you’re probably looking for quick solutions to help you fall asleep faster and improve your overall sleep quality.
Here are a few ideas that can be total game changers – they were for me. Each of them had a significant impact on how fast I was able to drift off when I was testing them on myself.
Many reasons for poor sleep are related to bad sleeping habits. However, those may not be possible to change quickly, as it takes time to form a new habit. In this article, I’m going to share 7 things that can help you improve your sleep quickly.
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Please note, the information in this article shouldn’t be taken as medical advice, it’s just what worked for me. It may or may not work for you, as everyone is different and your sleep issues may be caused by different factors.
If you are looking for ways to improve your sleep without medication, these are natural ways to promote a good night’s sleep and can bring fast results.
Ways to improve sleep fast
8 quick wins for better sleep
Here are some ideas of changes you can make to improve your sleep fast:
1. Magnesium and Vitamin B complex supplements
Taking a magnesium tablet before sleep can help you fall asleep faster and sleep better. I also noticed an improvement when taking vitamin B complex in the evening or before sleep – it helps to relax and fall asleep faster.
2. Cool temperature in the bedroom
One of the not-so-obvious suspects, which can keep you awake at night, if feeling too hot. The optimum bedroom temperature is around 18 and 20 ℃, but can be less if you are comfortable with that.
So, to improve your sleep fast, air the room and make sure you don’t use too warm covers or pyjamas.
3. Keep your feet warm
Another not-so-obvious reason, and opposite to the previous one is… cold feet. Actually, many people experience that – you won’t fall asleep with cold feet. Although it may not look sexy, wearing warm socks to keep your feet warm can help you go to sleep faster. To warm up your feet before sleep you can also soak them in hot water (this also relaxes you nicely) or use a hot water bottle.
4. Complete darkness in the room
One of the biggest game changers for me was blocking out the light from the street in the bedroom. Ideally, we should sleep in complete darkness, meaning the room is so dark that you can’t see your hand in front of your face. As it may not always be possible or can be just impractical to install blackout curtains in your bedroom, another quick solution is using an eye mask.
5. No coffee after 9 am
Another thing that had a huge impact on my sleep, when I struggled with falling asleep, was changing the time of my last cup of coffee. It turns out that coffee stays in the system longer than previously thought. We’ve always heard we shouldn’t drink coffee 8 hours before sleep. However, recent research shows that a quarter of the caffeine still remains in our system 12 hours after we had a cup of coffee. So, if you go to sleep at 10 – 11 pm, and drink your last coffee at 10 – 11 in the morning, a quarter of it still runs through your veins when you want to fall asleep and may keep you awake at night!
The conclusion from this is that you should leave more than 12 hours (ideally 14 – 15 hours) between your last cup of coffee and the time you want to go to sleep.
6. No blue light 3 hours before sleep
This one may be difficult to implement in your daily routine, but it’s really worth trying. I definitely sleep better after an evening by candlelight!
Eliminating blue light may be difficult because we are surrounded by artificial light from LED or fluorescent light bulbs which emit blue light. Also, TV screens, computer screens and mobile phones emit blue light. All of them, no matter the colour of light you see, emit light from the blue light spectrum, which is typical for daylight. The reason why it disrupts your sleep is that your brain reads it as if it was daytime, not sleep time.
I know that with all the technology we use it’s really difficult to avoid blue light in the evening. However, it may be nice to spend a romantic evening by candlelight from time to time, meditate, listen to an audiobook or podcast, play board games or have a good long conversation with your close ones. Perhaps it is possible to do it for a short period of time as a quick fix to your sleeping issues. Although it may not be practical to do it long-term, it’s certainly worth trying.
Eliminating blue light
What’s the solution if you can’t eliminate blue light? The solution can be blue light-blocking screens, or software changing colours on your screen such as f.lux. You can also use blue light blocking glasses. Although it’s not ideal as all those things won’t block blue light completely, they do make a difference.
7. Melatonin
This is also a quick fix, but it’s better to be careful with melatonin. The reasons are that some people get addicted. Apart from that, it’s a hormone and taking it may have an influence on your entire hormonal balance.
Taking melatonin for extended periods of time is certainly not recommended. It should only be used as an adjustment or temporary remedy (for a few days).
8. Vitamin D3
Vitamin D3 plays an important role in our circadian rhythm, as it’s something that our brain associates with daylight. The best source of vitamin D3 is from the sun. Spending at least half an hour in the sun between 10 am and 2 pm and without a sun blocking cream can improve your sleep significantly. Vitamin D3 promotes longer sleep, improves sleep quality as well as helps to fall asleep faster.
If you can’t get enough sun on your skin, then supplementation is also an option. If you take vitamin D3 tablets, it’s better to spread your intake of 3 – 4 tablets throughout the day, than take them all at once. Also taking vitamin D3 just before sleep helps to fall asleep faster.
Summary
So these are the things that you can change quickly and fairly easily to improve your sleep. If you want to figure out what works for you, I recommend running a journal where you record everything that may influence your sleep: what you did or didn’t do during the day, and take notes on what quality of sleep you had afterwards.
If you need to fix your sleeping issues fast, you can try all my ideas at once but note it’s not medical advice. If you have major problems with sleep or insomnia, you should seek professional medical advice.
Have you tried any of these? What works for you? What do you do to fall asleep fast?
