11 Old-Fashioned Tricks For Falling Asleep That Actually Work

We’ve all heard the story that drinking a glass of warm milk before bed can help you drift off to sleep. And as it turns out, it’s true. “The calcium found in milk can help your body make use of the tryptophan found in dairy, which can trigger melatonin production to promote sleep,” says Brantner. As mentioned above, these brain chemicals come together to make you drowsy, so you can fall asleep easily.

Have you ever claimed to b a “night owl” or an “early bird”? If you’ve always been one to stay awake late into the night, or wake up super early, it may be time to embrace it as your body’s way of telling you when you need rest.

“Sleep experts point out​ that there are long sleepers and short sleepers, and people do tend to have individual preferences for when they wake up and feel most productive,” Kelsey Allan, a wellness expert from Sleep Train, tells Bustle. “Granted, many of us need somewhere in between seven and nine hours of sleep every night, but each person’s natural rhythm will be slightly different from others.” By listening to that natural rhythm, you may have a better, overall quality of sleep.

While bedtime stories are almost always reserved for kids, there’s no reason us grown ups can’t read something calming before bed — especially since there are so many sleep-inducing benefits to be had.

“It’s essentially the calm, relaxing atmosphere that the story creates that is helping with sleep,” Dr. Sujay Kansagra, Mattress Firm’s sleep health expert, tells Bustle. “The most important part is that the story is part of a set nighttime routine that is performed the same way each night leading up to bed.” It’s the routine, plus the chill story, that’ll have you drift off.

“Early to bed and early to rise is actually true,” Dr. Elizabeth Trattner tells Bustle. “It works with our body’s circadian rhythm. We are in optimal states going to bed early and waking early, just like we did for thousands of years.” So if this schedule works for you, definitely hit the hay early and enjoy your peak energy in the morning. This way, you’re getting the most out of your sleep.

Even though you want to check emails or continue writing your thesis paper in bed, don’t. The saying that your bed should be for sleep and sex only is definitely true. (Although sex, of course, doesn’t only have to happen in your bed).

“It’s hard to resist working from the comfort of your own bed, but if you make it a habit, it could be harder for your brain to enter sleep mode when it’s subconsciously thinking you’re about to get some work done,” Dr. Marra Francis, a medical director at EverlyWell, tells Bustle. “Sometimes work can be stressful, and you don’t want to bring those kind of vibes into your bed.”

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