As I am writing this I cannot sleep. I find it so hard to shut my mind off sometimes. While I love sleeping, sleeping definitely doesn't love me. When I find myself having trouble falling asleep or calming my mind, here are the five things I try to do.
1. Read instead of using your phone.
You have probably heard this before, have one hour without your phone before you go to bed to let your brain know that it should be getting ready for bed. What I recommend instead is to read a book an hour before bed. What would indeed help is having a schedule, for example, tell yourself that you will take a shower at 9 p.m. and then read on your bed a book with just one lamp on and go to sleep. Now, you can't sleep, but I am sure that if you pull up a history book or a math theory textbook, you will get sleepy. So try reading and please do not get too addicted to the plot! You're trying to sleep not finish a book!
2. Make sure everything is dark.
I have noticed that usually the light post outside my bedroom window will keep me awake and I would go through the process of closing the blinds in a way that bans outside light into my room. Other times, it is my mouse lighting from across the room because I did not turn off my computer (in that case I merely throw something on top of my mouse to muffled the light rather than turning on my laptop). So, if light is keeping you awake, turn off the light or hide it from your eyes. You can always wear sleep masks, although some are uncomfortable.
3. Take a warm shower.
Warm shower and warm baths relax the muscles, and steam makes people sleepy, unlike cold water. Get out of bed and take a hot shower, letting your worries and stress run out of your body as water runs on your body. It is a moment to relax, to stop thinking about how many hours you will get before having to get up again, your focus is to relax and walk back to bed and slump in a state of bliss from a warm shower.
4. Meditate.
Meditating clears your mind and makes you enter into a trance that can make you replenish your energy. The good thing about meditating is that if you are not an expert or do not know how to meditate correctly, you end up falling asleep and that's the goal. So either lay entirely straight on your bed with your clothes focusing on your breathing or sit up (still on your bed) and concentrate on your breathing. I learned this technique from my aunt when I started struggling with sleep. If it helps you having soft tunes on the background, then put some but make sure your phone brightness is on the lowest setting.
5. If all fails...fall asleep listening to music or YouTube
Believe it or not, I go to sleep listening to jacksepticeye, a Youtuber, screaming to the top of his lungs. I put my phone on my window sill, listen to a playlist of his gameplay, one I've already seen, and quickly fall asleep. I do not know why it works for me. I also go to sleep listening to instrumental music or League of Legends games. The goal is to find something that makes you fall asleep (as if you were in a boring class) without looking at your phone screen much.
