girl sleeping in her bed

September 9, 2020 3 min to read

How to fall asleep earlier and faster: the ultimate guide

Category : Health, Lifestyle

Are you having trouble with falling asleep at the time that you want to go to bed? Are you looking for an answer to the question of how do I fall asleep fast? Does it frustrate you that you can’t seem to stick to a regular sleep schedule?

Not being able to sleep early can be frustrating. In this guide, we’ll teach you some methods on how to fall asleep earlier and faster. Take note that this can mean changing your lifestyle to adopt a new sleeping schedule.

Keep reading to learn what you need to do so you can sleep better, earlier, and faster.

1. Importance of a Regular Sleep Schedule

Sleep and rest is a rather important part of our day-to-day routine. Think of it as gas to your car or battery to a device. You survive longer without food than without sleep.

Your body’s internal clock needs a regular sleep schedule to help you fall asleep and wake up with more ease. Having a routine time of sleeping and waking also has a lot of health benefits. It’ll keep you feeling energized throughout the day, increase metabolism, and more.

Sticking to a regular sleep schedule also keeps illnesses at bay. You have lower risks of developing hypertension, diabetes, stroke, and obesity. Below, we’ll take a closer look at the health effects of having an inconsistent sleep schedule.

Effects of Sleep Deprivation

Did you know that not having enough sleep can affect your mental health? A night of sleep loss can bump up your anxiety levels by 30%, a study says. It explains why you feel more anxious about an important event if you can’t sleep well the night before.

Lack of sleep also causes your blood pressure to rise and create more levels of chemicals in the heart. The fact that sleep deprivation can cause high blood pressure is already alarming. You’re also at a higher risk of heart disease.

People who sleep less have higher chances of gaining weight. Your brain doesn’t recognize that you’re full because the chemicals that tell you are off-balance. The result is that you tend to eat more because you don’t feel that you’re full at the right time.

A certain type of insomnia can even kill you because it causes extreme sleep deprivation. The good news is that it’s a rare genetic disease. Scientists know that fewer than 100 people in the world have the disease.

2. Learning the Right Amount of Sleep You Need

Our sleeping hours change as we age. A good rule of thumb is to get at least 7 hours of sleep each day. However, some age groups may need more sleep than others.

Babies 0-3 months sleep 14-17 hours a day. When they’re 4-11 months old, they sleep less at 12-15 hours a day. Kids 1-2 years old need 11-14 hours while those aged 3-5 need 10-13 hours of sleep.

At ages 6-13, the hours of rest a kid needs become 9-11 hours. Adolescents aged 14-17 will need 8-10 hours per day. From 18 to 64, a person’s standard sleeping hours become 7-9 per day. When you grow older, it goes down to 7-8 hours.

Depending on your health condition and the amount of labor or exercise you do, you may need more. You can use this how much sleep do I need calculator to check your sleep needs.

3. Why You’re Having a Hard Time Falling Asleep Early

There are a lot of intentional and unintentional reasons you may have for not being able to sleep. It may be difficult for you to try to fall asleep because you haven’t conditioned your body to sleep at that time.

If you can’t make it a habit to sleep early, it’ll feel that way no matter how hard you try…
 
Continue reading the article and learn more about sleep on Life Is An Episode website.
 
 

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