If you recently changed something major in your daily life (like starting to work night shifts, waking up later in the morning), temporary insomnia might not even surprise you.

But if you can’t sleep regularly and find yourself staring at your ceiling a few or even all nights of the week… It might be time to do something about it.

There are tons of possible reasons to not be able to sleep.

The most common ones are stress, anxiety, irregular sleep schedules (you can’t expect to fall asleep easily if you woke up at 12 P.M), depression, and sometimes – even simple biological things like pain, or hunger.

If you are flying to different parts of the world often, you can also develop a disorder called “jet lag”, when it becomes hard for your body to adapt to a different timezone, which results in disturbed sleeping patterns.

Not getting enough sleep is hard on your health and makes your daily functioning harder… So here are a few things to do if you can’t sleep + there’s a bunch of helpful insomnia remedies at the bottom.

 

3 Things To Do If You Can’t Sleep

 

1) Work On Creating a Regular Sleep Schedule

 

This is not immediate, but one of the most important things to do if you can’t sleep is to restore a proper sleep schedule.

If you wake up and sleep at the same time every day, your body will adapt to it and it will become easier both to feel energized in the morning and sleepy at night.

It may take a while until you get comfortable with a strict sleeping schedule, but it is an especially important thing to do in order to prevent insomnia.

A daily sleep tracker like this can help you to create a preferred sleeping routine + track your progress.

 

2) Make Peace With Your Thoughts

 

If you can’t sleep because you’re just lying down and overthinking your life, make it a habit to journal before sleep.

Journaling helps you to release all those thoughts that are caught up in your head so you can go to bed feeling calmer and less overwhelmed.

If you find it hard to relax and stop thinking about stressful things even after journaling, remind yourself that there’s not much you can do about your problems at night… And the best thing you CAN do is to rest properly to have more energy tomorrow.

Allow yourself to disconnect – you can’t solve everything in a few hours anyway…

Then proceed to the 3d option.

 

3) If you Can’t Sleep, Listen To a Guided Sleep Meditation – As Long As It’s Needed!

 

Guided meditations have been a real lifesaver when I had trouble falling or staying asleep in the past.

It’s such a calming and relaxing activity that I think everyone can benefit from them every single night.

If you never tried meditation, it might feel a little “new-age-y” at first, but once you relax and allow yourself to not be judgemental, everything changes immediately.

All you need to do is to find a guided meditation for sleep on Youtube, listen to it (headphones help a lot!), and follow the narrator’s voice.

He or she will tell you exactly what to think, what to imagine, how to breathe, and which parts of your body to relax.

Eventually, you will drift off to sleep.

My favorite meditation guy on Youtube is Jason Stephenson.

His voice is so soothing, and the meditations he records create such a wonderful, peaceful feeling whenever you listen to them… Once I found him, I never searched for any other meditation channel.

I really recommend you to check him out and try the guided meditation thing tonight!

Here are a few of my favorites from his list:

1) Guided Meditation For Sleep – Floating Amongst The Stars

2) Guided Sleep Meditation for Better Dreams – No More Nightmares

2) Guided Sleep Meditation To Let Go Of Stress and Anxiety

Any of these guided meditations will help you have a positive, calming and tranquil meditative experience, which is an absolutely safe and very pleasant thing to do.

Try it once and you will see yourself!

I personally got hooked on it after my first time and am meditating daily ever since.

Another thing I love about these meditations is that they’re usually extended with peaceful music, so even if you fall asleep while listening to it, this music will continue to gently lullaby you into a deeper sleep.

 

Best Insomnia Remedies To Try

 

There are also a few helpful things to have if you can’t sleep on a regular basis.

I highly recommend these to anyone who struggles to fall or stay asleep.

Also – for people who sleep, but just can’t feel properly rested in the morning:

 

1. MELATONIN

OLLY Sleep Melatonin Gummies

Melatonin helps to boost your natural sleep hormone, encourage a calm feeling, and support a healthy sleep cycle, making it easier for you to fall asleep.

It is a natural supplement that is generally safe and it’s effective for most people who try it.

 

2. SILK SLEEP MASK

Jersey Slumber 100% Silk Sleep Mask For A Full Night’s Sleep

A silk mask can help you fall asleep easier by naturally blocking all the light around you.

This is especially useful for people who often have to sleep at day time (for example, people working night shifts) or those who have to sleep on plane flights.

 

3. WEIGHTED BLANKET

LUNA Weighted Blanket

I already raved about life-changing benefits of weighted blankets in this article, but in short – it’s one of the best things to get when you’re dealing with insomnia A weighted blanket calms you down, makes you relax and feel safer, comfier, and sleepier.

A weighted blanket saved me from many pre-sleep anxiety attacks and I’m extremely relieved that I have found this amazing life hack!

 

4. LAVENDER PILLOW MIST

ASUTRA Lavender & Chamomile Organic Essential Oil Blend, Aromatherapy Mist

Lavender works wonders for sleep problems so it just makes sense to mist your room with the scent of this calming flower before you go to bed.

A natural lavender mist is a safe, natural way to make you sleepier and generally calmer so it’s definitely worth trying.

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And that’s it!

Try these tips for a few weeks to restore your natural sleeping rhythm.  You can also find more sleeping tips on these articles:

12 Things That Help You Fall Asleep Faster

How To Sleep Well, Even With Anxiety

Stay well.