The Small Evening Habit That Helped Me Sleep Faster

You know exactly how it feels. You lie down, pull up the blankets, and close your eyes. Your body is extremely, extremely exhausted. But the second the room goes dark, your brain wakes up. You begin to mentally map out how many hours of sleep you could fit in if you fell asleep right that moment. You even begin to think about that awkward conversation you had three years ago. Or how you will word that email you need to send at the start of the day.

That same thing happened to me for such a long time. I would spend the first hour in bed tossing and turning and just staring at the ceiling. I even attempted to drink the relaxing tea available in stores, and I purchased the softest pillows that assist with alignment, but nothing was effective.

This issue matters because you can’t function without the right amount of sleep. When it takes you an hour just to put yourself to sleep, when you wake up, it feels like you lost the day before you even started it. No one can remain calm, focused, and functioning when they have to drink coffee just to survive the day continuously. After months of this frustrating cycle, I finally found a new, small habit that made a huge impact on how fast I fell asleep. I didn’t have to simplify my life and go spend hundreds on sleep technology or even create a new elaborate two-hour-long routine. I just made a very small change to my evenings.

Why My Mind Didn’t Slow Down at Night

There were a few different reasons why. First, I thought my brain was a light switch. I would spend my entire evening consuming information, pausing between events to answer work emails from my phone while watching television, thumb through social media, brush, and then switch to sleep and switch off my brain.

It was a huge leap to basically go from being fully stimulated to being perfectly calm. Of course, there was no transition time. My brain continued to work and process all my social media posts, news, and videos, and it didn’t stop until I turned off my bedside lamp.

There were also other reasons. I used my bed as a workspace. This didn’t help either because I still needed to mentally prepare my day and plan for what needed to be done tomorrow, and my brain decided to do that at the most stressful time possible, 11:30 PM. It was also why my nervous system remained on high alert throughout the day, and certainly didn’t help calm down for sleep time.

Creating a Calmer Evening Routine

The biggest reason my brain was so stressed was that there was no transition time for my bedtime, so I stopped being my own obstacle with a sleep on and rather created a mental off-ramp for sleep.

The habit that I added to my nightly routine only takes about fifteen minutes. I like to call it the ‘Evening Brain Dump and Disconnect.’ I aim to be in bed around the same time every night, so I start this habit about twenty minutes beforehand. To achieve this, I sit at my kitchen table with a small piece of paper and a pen. I then list the top three things I need to do the following day. Then, I try to scan my brain to ensure I’m not missing anything. I prefer to consider this as a task that requires completion, and I also document it.

Once I have completed that task, my phone remains on a charger in the kitchen while I relax in my room with a work of fiction for ten minutes. Fiction books are the only kind I allow myself to read before bed because self-help and business books are too close to work and add a distraction to my otherwise relaxed state. I also don’t read the news.

The Game-Changers in My Nightly Routine

Establishing a physical boundary for my phone made the biggest difference. My phone used to live on my nightstand. I always gave in to the temptation of one last look. Instant resets of my brain to a state of high alert would happen after I read just one email or one news story. Keeping my phone in another room eliminates the temptation.

Attaching each task to a piece of paper was the second most effective method for my progress. It served as a physical pent-up pressure release for my anxiety. Recording my upcoming day’s agenda on paper liberated my brain from the task of constantly reviewing my upcoming day’s events. My mind was finally relieved of pending pressure and able to rest.

Replacing a screen with a physical book also provided an excellent point of focus. Pages of a book lead to yawns enough to make the eyes tired. Concentrating on a fictional book helps in avoiding the mental scouring of the real world.

Where Evening Routines Can Go Wrong

It is basic to overdo things when trying to develop a more beneficial evening routine. It is important to avoid making your upcoming day a colossal task. If your routine takes a whole hour, you will inevitably miss it when you’re feeling exhausted. Keep it to 20 minutes.

A huge mistake is reading non-fiction as your choice of book to end the day with. I attempted to read books on productivity, but it was a complete disaster. The very essence of learning new concepts brings new ideas, which instantly stimulate your brain. Always read light stories that help you escape from work.

Finally, keep your screen away from your brain dump. Pulling out your phone to record your to-do list will lead to distractions like notifications. Use a cheap pen and a piece of paper.

Noticing Real Changes Night After Night

Change was gradual. The first few nights without my phone, I woke up tense with restlessness. After a week, my body reacted to the new cues.

My posture relaxed from the moment I sat at the kitchen table with a pen. My fiction book made my eyelids heavy. I went to bed after spending one hour staring at the ceiling.

Mornings were easier, too. I got more sleep after I went to bed faster. Rest helped me feel organised and calm instead of chaotic. I was set to do my to-do list, which sat on the kitchen table, at the start of my new day. It took a new and small 15-minute investment at night. The return on the investment was noticeable throughout the day.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do if I continue to feel restless after a brain dump?

If you’ve spent more than twenty minutes in bed trying to sleep but remain alert, get out of bed. Move to a different, dimly lit room, and read in a comfortable chair for ten minutes. Only return to bed when your eyes are getting physically heavy.

Is reading on a tablet or phone acceptable for this practice?

This method is acceptable if you choose the right settings. With a standard tablet, blue light will inhibit natural melatonin production and make it harder to sleep. If you feel the need to use a screen to read, you should use a dedicated e-reader with an e-ink display and minimise the backlight. Disable the internet to ensure notifications do not distract you.

How long before bed should I start this habit?

You should start brain dumps and reading roughly twenty to thirty minutes before you actually want to close your eyes. Resting your body and mind in an active state takes time, but this process won’t take long.

What should I do if I need my phone and can’t live without using it for an alarm?

To avoid the distractions of having a phone so close while you sleep, buy a cheap alarm for less than ten dollars. It will promote the same ease of use and not require a disruptive phone.

Conclusion

This can be your last sleepless night. A simple structured break for your brain before bed is enough to significantly cut the time it takes for you to drift off. To further clear your mind, scribble your thoughts down, leave your phone somewhere far away, and let a physical book gradually take you to sleep. This simple routine should only take about 15 minutes, so give it a try tonight and feel the difference the simple act of resting your brain can have on your sleep schedule.