How to Fall Asleep Fast: What Actually Works

How long should it take to fall asleep?

Not five minutes. A panel of sleep experts agreed that falling asleep within about 15 minutes is a sign of good sleep, that up to half an hour is still fine, and that regularly taking 45 minutes or longer is not.¹

So the goal isn’t to knock yourself out instantly. It is to stop lying awake for long stretches.

What to do tonight

• Have a warm shower or bath one to two hours before bed. A meta-analysis found that warm water at that time, for as little as ten minutes, shortened the time taken to fall asleep and improved sleep quality. Warming the skin helps your core body temperature drop afterwards, which is one of the body’s signals for sleep²
• Put screens away. In a controlled study, people who read on a light-emitting screen before bed took longer to fall asleep, felt less sleepy at bedtime and were less alert the next morning than when they read a printed book³
• Write tomorrow’s to-do list. In a sleep lab study, people who spent five minutes writing a specific list of what they needed to do fell asleep faster than people who wrote about what they had already done. Getting tasks out of your head seems to matter⁴
• Use a relaxation routine. Slow breathing or tensing and releasing each muscle group in turn. Relaxation training is one of the approaches sleep specialists recommend⁵
• If you’re not asleep, get up. After about 20 minutes awake, go to another room, do something quiet in dim light and return when you feel sleepy. This keeps your brain from learning that bed is a place for lying awake⁵

Stop trying so hard

Trying to force sleep keeps you alert. A technique called paradoxical intention turns this around: lie comfortably in the dark with your eyes open and gently try to stay awake, without screens or effort. A meta-analysis of trials in people with insomnia found it produced marked improvements, largely by reducing the performance anxiety that builds around sleep.⁶

What about the military method and 4-7-8 breathing?

Both are popular online, and both are forms of relaxation, which does have support. Neither has been properly tested as a way to fall asleep in two minutes, and no technique reliably does that. They are harmless to try. If they frustrate you, drop them.

What to change during the day

• Move your caffeine cut-off earlier. A large dose of caffeine taken six hours before bed still reduced sleep by more than an hour in one study, and people didn’t always notice⁷
• Exercise regularly. A meta-analysis found regular physical activity helps people fall asleep faster and sleep better⁸
• Get up at the same time every day, including weekends. A steady wake time sets your body clock more than a steady bedtime does¹⁰
• Go easy on alcohol. It can make you drowsy, then it breaks up sleep later in the night¹⁰
• Try mindfulness. A review of randomised trials found mindfulness meditation improved sleep quality compared with other programs⁹

When it’s more than a bad night

If you have trouble falling or staying asleep at least three nights a week for three months, and it affects your days, that is chronic insomnia. Tips alone usually aren’t enough at that point. Sleep specialists advise against relying on sleep hygiene advice as the only treatment, and recommend cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia as the first choice.⁵

Sleeping tablets can help for a short period, but they aren’t recommended for long-term use, and they don’t fix the underlying pattern.¹¹

When to see a doctor

• Trouble sleeping most nights for more than a few weeks
• Loud snoring, gasping or pauses in breathing at night. See sleep apnoea
• An urge to move your legs in the evening. See restless legs
• Low mood, worry or pain that is keeping you awake

References

1. Ohayon M, Wickwire EM, Hirshkowitz M, et al. National Sleep Foundation's sleep quality recommendations: first report. Sleep Health. 2017;3(1):6-19.
2. Haghayegh S, Khoshnevis S, Smolensky MH, 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;46:124-135.
3. Chang AM, Aeschbach D, Duffy JF, 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;112(4):1232-7.
4. Scullin MK, Krueger ML, Ballard HK, 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;147(1):139-146.
5. Edinger JD, Arnedt JT, Bertisch SM, 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;17(2):255-262.
6. Jansson-Fröjmark M, Alfonsson S, Bohman B, et al. Paradoxical intention for insomnia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sleep Res. 2022;31(2):e13464.
7. Drake C, Roehrs T, Shambroom J, et al. Caffeine effects on sleep taken 0, 3, or 6 hours before going to bed. J Clin Sleep Med. 2013;9(11):1195-200.
8. Kredlow MA, Capozzoli MC, Hearon BA, et al. The effects of physical activity on sleep: a meta-analytic review. J Behav Med. 2015;38(3):427-49.
9. Rusch HL, Rosario M, Levison LM, et al. The effect of mindfulness meditation on sleep quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2019;1445(1):5-16.
10. Sleep Health Foundation. Ten tips for a good night’s sleep.
11. healthdirect. Insomnia.