How To Fall Asleep Instantly

With the recent publication of Tim Ferriss’s brilliant but semi-controversial new book The 4-Hour Body there has been a lot of discussion on the chapter regarding The Perfect Night’s Sleep.  Tim’s methods include everything from changing the temperature of your room, changing your eating and bathing habits, and even changing your light bulbs.  While this information does work (for research and out of curiosity I tried all of them) I can tell you that there is a much simpler way to achieve a perfect night’s sleep.  Below you’ll find my easy 5 step life-hack guide to falling (and staying) asleep in less than 5 minutes:

Only Go To Sleep When You Are Sleepy – This might sound strange but it’s the truth and the easiest step to follow.  Forced sleep when in an awake state is detrimental to the sleep process and can lead to chronic insomnia.

Only Use Your Bed For Sleeping Purposes – No reading in bed, watching TV in bed, chatting in bed, resting in bed, etc…  Napping is also included in this step.  The goal here is train your body to recognize your bed as the only place where sleep can occur, much like your bowels are trained to empty while sitting on a toilet and not in a chair.  This is the most important of the 5 steps and the one that must be followed with the strictest adherence.

Do Not Nap – Boooooo!  Sorry, I know but this is important.  No matter how tired you may feel during the day DO NOT NAP.  No power naps, espresso naps, desk naps, or couch naps.  None!

Wake Up Every day At The Same Time – Set a constant alarm that wakes you up at a constant time on both weekdays and weekends.  The time should be standardized and adhered too.  Note, you may find the early days/weeks of this step difficult but your body will eventually adapt and with a little extra training, you’ll be able to wake up at your set time consistently even without the aid of an alarm clock.

Stay Up As Late As You Can – If you still cannot fall asleep and find yourself tossing and turning, get out of bed, leave your room, and stay up as late as you can.  Much like step 1, you should only sleep when you are tired.  Your body must be trained to recognize your bed as a place sleep and if you aren’t sleeping than you have no business being in bed.

Bonus tip:  If you are still having problems sleeping try a cooled pillow to expedite the process.  I have used both the Chillow (clever!) and the Iso Cool Side Sleeping Pillow with great success.  If you are comfortable with the pillows you currently have and want the same effect as the Chillow or Iso, simply placing a damp towel over your head and eyes should do the trick as well.

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