Limit That Screen Time 

You already know it, but we might as well get it out of the way, first. All that time you spend staring at your smartphone screen is interfering with your ability to sleep. That glowing screen is like an artificial sun that throws your circadian rhythms completely off. It can be a pain, not to mention extremely difficult, but once you begin limiting your daily screen time, you can start to see sleep benefits within a day or two. 

Don’t Fight Your Bed 

One of the biggest mistakes insomniacs can make is try to force themselves to sleep by sheer force of will. As you probably already know, it doesn’t work. So if you find yourself lying in bed unable to sleep, it’s sometimes a good idea to get out of bed and do something else for a few minutes. It might seem counterintuitive, but that time spent reading or listening to music can be a reset button for your brain, and may help put you in a better sleeping mindset. 

Hemp-Based Products 

The health and wellness benefits of hemp-based products are well known. They can ease various maladies and fight stress, and there are hundreds of products out there that countless satisfied customers swear by. The properties that allow these products to relieve stress can also let them function as a sleep aid. So if you’ve been experiencing sleepless nights, there are hemp-based tinctures and drops out there that can probably help.

Designate Your Bed As A Sleep-Only Zone

Sex jokes aside, if you’re doing a lot of other extracurricular activities like eating, watching TV, or playing video games in bed, it might be having an adverse effect on your sleeping habits. But if you keep your bed reserved for (mostly) sleeping, you may find it makes a psychological difference in your ability to get to sleep in a timely fashion. 

Lay Off The Naps

If you’re suffering from insomnia, it can be very tempting to try to make up some of your lost sleep by catching some during the day. It’s not unusual for insomniacs to have an easier time getting to sleep during the day than at night, but the sad truth is that an hour or two here or there is no substitute for a good night’s sleep. And sometimes those naps can actually contribute to your inability to get to sleep later at night. But by abstaining from catching any Z’s during the day, you can make sure you’re actually tired and sleepy enough to get to sleep when it really counts. 

Keep Your Bedroom As Dark And Quiet As Possible 

Here’s a sleep tip that might seem obvious: the darker and quieter your bedroom is, the easier it will be to get to sleep. If you’re tossing and turning in the glow of a million little indicator lights, or blaring noise from the next room, it’s natural that you won’t be sleeping as well as you would like. A lot of that stuff can fall outside of our control, which means that things like ear plugs or sleep masks become a way to turn a bad sleep atmosphere into a dark, silent paradise. 

Don’t Eat Too Close To Bedtime 

If you’re loading up on food and then hopping into bed, it’s really no wonder you’re not sleeping as well as you should be. When you consume food, your body goes into metabolization mode, and post-heavy-meal naps notwithstanding, it’s often not a good way to get a full and restful night’s sleep. That’s not to mention the disturbing, strange dreams that can result from eating certain foods right before bed. So it’s best to cut yourself off from food at least two or three hours before you go to bed. 

Keep Cool 

The temperature of your bedroom can make a difference in your sleep quality, too. If you’ve ever tried to go to sleep in a hot room, you’ve already learned this the hard way. And even if you do manage to fall asleep under such conditions, you may find yourself waking up sweaty and feeling off for the rest of the day. So if you’re sleeping in an air conditioned room, try turning the thermostat down a few degrees, turning up your ceiling fan, or hit the sheets right after a shower to try and stay cool and comfortable while you drift off to dreamland.

Meditation 

You don’t have to be a yoga nut or spiritualist to reap tangible benefits from meditation. A lot of insomnia cases can be traced back to stress, and by way of meditation, it’s possible to help melt a lot of excess stress away. That’s why people who deal with their stress via meditation tend to sleep a lot better. 

Ask Your Body 

One of the sleep-oriented mistakes a person can make is not going to bed when they feel sleepy. It’s easy to assume that if you feel sleepy now, you’ll still feel sleepy in a couple hours, so you can keep playing on your phone, watching TV, working, or whatever it is you’re doing instead of sleeping. But in some cases, if you try to power through, you can lose that sensation of sleepiness and suffer the consequences all night long. On the other hand, forcing yourself to stick to a given bedtime, even when you’re not sleepy, can also lead to sleepless nights. The short version? When you’re sleepy, go to sleep. 

Aside from the ideas listed above, there are many other ways to help get your sleep under control. After all, no two sleepers are alike. But before turning to more invasive solutions like prescription drugs or other forms of sleep therapy, these tips might help you catch some shut eye. So give them a try, and good luck counting those sheep.