In our daily schedule, we need to make room for a decent night’s sleep. However, there are plenty of things that could keep you up when you put yourself down for bedtime. Losing sleep can be quite problematic at a certain age, especially when you have work/school the next day and can’t afford to stay sleepy. But did you know it was possible to fall asleep even if you’re not tired?
Method #1: Breathing techniques.
One of the most common tricks for falling asleep when you’re not tired is applying the 4-7-8 breathing technique. This is, in fact, a breathing pattern that’s based on an old yoga technique, which was then picked up and explained for everyone to understand. It is considered to be a natural sleep aid.
The 4-7-8 technique can be tried out when you’re lying down or when you’re sitting. Here is what you have to do:
- Have the tip of your tongue resting on the roof of your mouth.
- Exhale through your mouth with your lips parted. If you’re doing this correctly, you should be making a “whoosh” sound.
- With your mouth closed, use your nose to inhale and mentally count to four.
- Count to seven, while holding your breath.
- Part your lips once again and exhale while mentally counting to eight.
- Repeat this entire cycle four times.
NOTE: It generally takes practice to master this technique, but it has proven to be efficient for many people. After practicing it, you will increase the odds of feeling tired and falling asleep in a matter of minutes.
Method #2: Preparing the body.
There are certain activities you can perform or things you can eat in order to feel more tired and sleepy and therefore get ready for bed. Here are some things you can try:
Drinking tea. If you drink herbal tea, preferably a mixture of plants that’s know to induce a state of calm, you are more likely to fall asleep faster. Just one or two cups of tea before bed can do the trick, especially if you opt for infusions of peppermint or chamomile, which are known to relax the mind and the body. Make sure that you don’t drink too much through, you wouldn’t want to wake up in the middle of the night having to use the bathroom.
If you’re at the end of your workday and have 30 minutes to spare, exercise a little bit. Exercising isn’t just a healthy way of living, but it can also make your body more tired. You have to make sure that you don’t exercise right before you go to bed, as this gets your blood and muscles all riled up and you will actually find it more difficult to fall asleep if you have an accelerated heart rate and elevated body heat.
There are also natural sleeping ways that can do wonders for you. For instance, supplements that contain melatonin or valerian root are known to induce a state of drowsiness that can put you to sleep in 30 minutes to one hour, plus they are natural and sold as over-the-counter sleeping aids. Just make sure that if you take such a pill, you can get a full eight hours of sleep. Otherwise, you could wake up feeling groggy the next day.
Did you know that the temperature of the human body drops as it gets ready for sleep? If only there were a way to “trick” the body to do that. Oh wait, all you have to do is take a warm bath or a shower before bed and then make sure the bedroom temperature is lower, so your body temperature can drop.- As efficient as they may seem, daytime naps can actually cause you to feel less tired in the evening. Sure, a good power nap is an efficient short-term solution that could get those brain waves pumped up and the creative juices flowing, but since the human body actually needs a limited amount of sleep to function each day, taking constant naps throughout the day can push your bedtime further, which makes it less likely for you to feel sleepy when you should actually be sleeping.
Drinking tea. If you 
If you’re at the end of your workday and have 30 minutes to spare, exercise a little bit. Exercising isn’t just a healthy way of living, but it can also make your body more tired. You have to make sure that you don’t exercise right before you go to bed, as this gets your blood and muscles all riled up and you will actually find it more difficult to fall asleep if you have an accelerated heart rate and elevated body heat.
There are also natural sleeping ways that can do wonders for you. For instance, 
Did you know that the temperature of the human body drops as it gets ready for sleep? If only there were a way to “trick” the body to do that. Oh wait, all you have to do is take a warm bath or a shower before bed and then make sure the bedroom temperature is lower, so your body temperature can drop.
As efficient as they may seem, daytime naps can actually cause you to feel less tired in the evening. Sure, a good power nap is an efficient short-term solution that could get those brain waves pumped up and the creative juices flowing, but since the human body actually needs a limited amount of sleep to function each day, taking constant naps throughout the day can push your bedtime further, which makes it less likely for you to feel sleepy when you should actually be sleeping.Method #3: Avoiding stuff that keeps you up.
The third section of our “how-to” is focused on all the nasty habits that some people have, and which can prevent them from falling asleep when they should. Chances are if you’re doing any of these yourself, they are the ones that might prevent your body from feeling tired enough to actually fall asleep:
- As every sleep study out there will tell you, using electronics before bedtime will keep you up. If you don’t feel tired and decide to check your Instagram feed for “just five more minutes”, you are sending your brain all the wrong signals saying it’s not bedtime yet. Instead of electronics, read a book. Who knows, perhaps getting your hands on the most boring book you can find might cause those eyelids to shut a whole lot faster.
- Stop trying the same thing over and over again if it doesn’t work. If you’ve been lying in bed for 15 minutes and can’t manage to fall asleep, don’t just lie there for hours. Instead, get up. Read a book. Drink some orange juice, Have a cup of tea. Meditate. Listen to some relaxing music. Try any other method that you think might help you feel tired (except for exercising or using gadgets).
- Don’t engage in activities that require you to think. If you’re the kind of person that likes to do a crossword before going to bed, skip that. Avoid any activity that might trigger your brain and instead try to do something that you perceive as being boring. For instance, you can sort the books on shelves and put them in alphabetical order. Or you can listen to the world’s most boring podcast.
As every sleep study out there will tell you, using electronics before bedtime will keep you up. If you don’t feel tired and decide to check your Instagram feed for “just five more minutes”, you are sending your brain all the wrong signals saying it’s not bedtime yet. Instead of electronics, read a book. Who knows, perhaps getting your hands on the most boring book you can find might cause those eyelids to shut a whole lot faster.
Stop trying the same thing over and over again if it doesn’t work. If you’ve been lying in bed for 15 minutes and can’t manage to fall asleep, don’t just lie there for hours. Instead, get up. Read a book. Drink some orange juice, Have a cup of tea. Meditate. Listen to some relaxing music. Try any other method that you think might help you feel tired (except for exercising or using gadgets).
Don’t engage in activities that require you to think. If you’re the kind of person that likes to do a crossword before going to bed, skip that. Avoid any activity that might trigger your brain and instead try to do something that you perceive as being boring. For instance, you can sort the books on shelves and put them in alphabetical order. Or you can listen to the world’s most boring podcast.
You may want to read: Best Sleep Aid Pills
Conclusion
If you often find yourself in a situation where you don’t feel tired at night, there are a few tricks that you can turn to in order to get into that sleepy mood. The easiest thing would be to engage in an activity you find really boring. But alongside these methods that you can try out, there’s also the matter of doing things during the day that will ensure you’re ready for bed when the time comes. Like skipping that extra cup of coffee you were planning on drinking after 2 p.m.