10 Tricks To Falling Asleep Quickly And Soundly
In an ideal world, a driver would be able to pull over at night, have a stretch, a snack, and turn in to the sleeper berth for a restful sleep. But this isn’t an ideal world. Chances are that it’s noisy outside, you have a phone call home to make, and you’ve got something other than sleep on your mind. By the time you’ve tossed and turned for a few hours, you’re anxious about how tired you’re going to be the next day, and the next thing you know – it’s go time. Here are a few useful tips for getting yourself relaxed and ready to drift into a restful slumber for a much needed recharge.
1. Eliminate Afternoon Caffeine
We know, it’s much easier said than done. It’s often recommended to cut the caffeine up to six hour before you’re hoping to fall asleep. At that point, your body will have had enough time to process the caffeine, and it won’t be stimulating your brain at a level that’s going to keep you awake.
2. Get Yourself A Good Pillow
A good medium-firm pillow that properly supports the head has been found to improve the quality of sleep significantly. Keeping a clean pillow is also important, a pillow that’s not clean could contribute to allergy-related impairment when it comes to breathing properly (down pillows and dust mites being the main offender). Tossing your pillow into the dryer once every couple of months will kill dust mites.
3. Try To Relax
It’s hard to do. But if you can do a couple of shoulder rolls, take some deep breaths, go to your happy place, and put the stresses of the day out of your mind – it’s going to do wonders when it comes to getting some quality shuteye.
4. There’s An App For That!
Back in November we wrote about a Truck Driver App: Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock that can be purchased on iTunes for only $.99! What this app does is analyze your sleep patterns and wakes you up during your lightest phase of sleep. All you have to do is set a time window for yourself to wake up, and your iPhone will monitor your movement using a sensitive accelerometer. Once you’ve reached your lightest sleep phase in that time window, the alarm will sound – and you’ll feel well-rested when you wake up!
5. Light Therapy
Exposure to full-spectrum lights like these (10,000 lux fluorescent bulbs) for 30 minutes in the early morning can trigger a better release of melatonin in your body at night. This helps you to stay asleep longer and get there earlier. These lights range in price from $60 – $200.
6. Ditch The Blue Lights (Or any lights, for that matter.)
The blue light that’s emitted from your alarm clock, phone, television, or computer could very well be disrupting the release process of melatonin in your brain. This disrupts circadian rhythms, and ultimately keeps you awake. Be sure to cover the blue lights that your devices may be emitting, and cover up your windows. This will prevent outside light from coming in, and you should be able to achieve a more restful and immediate sleep.
7. Try Taking Melatonin
Melatonin is a hormone that regulates the sleep cycle. Its levels rise before you fall asleep, and decline throughout the night. It can be used to re-set the body clock and regulate your own schedule if taken as a supplement. Simply take one to three milligrams, two hours before your desired sleep time and you’ll find you can fall asleep easier. Although it can be used to effectively normalize sleep patterns, it is not a sleeping pill. However, you may want to keep in mind that some side effects of taking melatonin include vivid dreams (nightmares for me, personally) and sometimes morning grogginess.
8. Start A Nightly Ritual
By doing the same thing every night, you can get your body into a routine – one easy thing to do out on the road is drinking a cup of hot chamomile tea. This will raise your core body temperature, and you’ll start to feel drowsy as it cools down. If you don’t like chamomile tea, there are a multitude of other caffeine free tea options, and many blends that are specifically created to help you get to sleep!
9. Get A Little Exercise
Having a nice little workout that elevates your heart rate ultimately causes the slowest waves of sleep at night. The best times to do a little cardio are in the morning and evening – but not too close to bedtime.
Try A Shot Of Dream Water®
Dream Water® contains natural ingredients that help you get to sleep including GABA which reduces anxiety, melatonin which induces sleep, and 5-HTP which will improve the quality of your sleep. Dream Water® can be found at Walmart, ships free in the United States, and they’re even offering a free shot on their website! There’s also a similar product that can be found at both truck stops and gas stations called neuro sleep® – this beverage contains many of the same ingredients as Dream Water®. The neuro® drink line is sold in 14.5 oz. portions, whereas Dream Water® is sold in 2.5 oz. shots.
