How To Sleep Fast in 5 Minutes? Complete Guide

In everyone’s routine, sleep plays an important role. Good sleep exerts a positive influence on your upcoming days. If you don’t get proper sleep, you will feel low or less energetic the next day. You must be wondering how to sleep fast in 5 minutes.

Lack of sleep will affect your work for the entire next day. For a healthy lifestyle, it is essential to take good sleep. But most people suffer from sleeping disorders like insomnia.

Different habits of different people affect their sleeping patterns or sleep cycle. Some individuals sleep on time, whereas some make it to bed on time but never sleep on time. It is crucial to look for some solution to this issue. Hence, this article includes all the necessary details about how to sleep fast in 5 minutes.

1. What is Sleep Hygiene?

Before knowing the answer to ‘how to sleep fast in 5 minutes, let’s learn about sleep hygiene. You would have related the word ‘hygiene’ with many aspects like hygiene of the surroundings, hygiene of the body, and many more. But the term ‘sleep hygiene is going to be quite an uncommon term for you.

Sleep hygiene is a way of maintaining a clean bedroom environment and a healthy sleep routine. For better sleep, one should have good sleep hygiene. Good sleep hygiene is nothing but the sleep habits that you add to your day-to-day activities so that you can fall asleep on time.

Sleep quality determines your next day’s activities and proper sleep at night leads to improved physical and mental health conditions¹. And in this, a healthy nighttime or bedtime routine will help you fall asleep faster.

2. How to Maintain Better Sleep Hygiene?

• The first and most important thing is to keep the bedroom fresh and tidy because no one likes to sleep in a cluttered room.
• A proper sleep environment includes a clean bed with a relaxing matrix, dim light, and some candles with soothing fragrances to relax your mind.
• Always follow a sleep routine of making to bed and getting up on time. This will create a healthy sleep cycle.

3. How to Sleep Fast in 5 Minutes?

Do you sleep late or don’t fall asleep fast once you make it to your bed? This is a common issue, especially among youngsters and the elderly.

There is no precise answer to how to sleep fast in 5 minutes but there are some techniques that you can inculcate in your day-to-day activities so that you can fall asleep on time.

3.1. Practice Different Breathing Techniques

Most people prefer to do one or the other breathing exercise to get rid of their stress. Nevertheless, it exerts a positive impact on your mind and helps you to calm the storm of thoughts. Numerous breathing techniques vary in their benefits and practices.

Once your mind is relaxed, you will take no time to sleep. Hence, it is one of the best techniques to sleep fast in 5 minutes. The most common and effective breathing methods for you to fall asleep fast are as follows –

(a) Bhramari Pranayama

Bhramari pranayama², also known as bee breathing practice is the best breathing exercise to do on a daily basis before going for sleep. This breathing exercise will improve your sleep quality and eventually, you will be able to sleep fast.

While doing this exercise, the humming sound that is produced while exhaling causes a natural calming effect on the body. Given below are steps to perform this breathing exercise.

• Sit straight and close your eyes.
• Feel the body’s sensations and then cover your ears by pressing the cartilage with the index finger.
• Breathe in slowly and breathe out by making a humming sound while pressing the cartilage.
• Repeat the steps 4 to 5 times.

(b) Nadi Shodhana Pranayama

Nadi Shodhana Pranayam is also known as a nasal breathing exercise. It is a type of controlled breathing exercise that is used for relaxation and peace. It mainly focuses on creating a clean passage of air.

In this breathing technique, you need to cover one side of the nostril (either right or left) with the thumb and try to breathe in through the other side of the nostril. Breathe out through the other covered side of the nostril. Repeat this cycle for few times as per your need.

(c) Kapalbhati

Kapalbhati³ is the most common breathing exercise as most people perform this on a daily basis. It is an easy and beneficial technique. In this breathing exercise, you have to sit straight, breathe in slowly and breathe out forcefully.

You can perform this exercise, either by sitting in a cross-legged position or Virasana posture. Each time you will breathe out, your stomach muscles will contract. If you are at the beginning stage, then do this exercise in short intervals.

(d) Box Breathing or Square Breathing Method

This breathing technique is performed to relax the nervous system and mind. Mostly, military people perform this exercise to calm their nervous system and have a good sleep at night.

During this exercise, you breathe in slowly through the nose, hold the air for a few seconds and on the count of four, you breathe out through the mouth.

(e) 4-7-8 Breathing Method

This breathing method is similar to pranayama. It was given by Dr. Andrew Weil. He refers to this technique as a natural tranquilizer for the nervous system. Here are the steps to perform this exercise.

• Choose any comfortable place and sit in a straight position.
• First, breathe out through your mouth while your tongue touches the back of your teeth.
• Now, breathe in for a count of four through the nostril, with closed lips.
• Hold your breath for a count of seven.
• Then, breathe out through the mouth for a count of eight.

In this way, one cycle is completed. Do it again 3-4 times. Doing this controlled breathing practice daily before going to bed will improve your sleep quality and you fall asleep instantly.

3.2. Some Muscle Relaxation Techniques

This is another method in the list of answers to how to sleep fast in 5 minutes. When you feel relaxed both physically and mentally, you tend to sleep immediately.

These relaxing techniques work for the improvement of each part of the body. The focus is on creating tension in the muscles and then relaxing them. Follow the given below steps to do deep muscle relaxation.

• Raise your eyebrows to create tension in the forehead muscles and then let them relax.
• Create tension in cheek muscles through wide smiling for 5 seconds and relax muscles around the jaw, mouth, and neck.
• Move shoulders in a circular motion to relax hand and shoulder muscles.
• Similarly, relax muscles of the legs, foot, and toe.

After such progressive muscle relaxation techniques, you will fall asleep within five minutes because it causes a tranquil effect on your body.

3.3. Try to Avoid the Use of Electronic Devices while Preparing to Sleep

Though electronic devices have made everyone’s lives better and easier, it affects the mental health of an individual. For instance, mobile phones emit blue light.

The blue light affects the production level of melatonin hormone in the body. Melatonin hormone is responsible for a healthy sleep cycle. Hence, using mobile phones before going to sleep is another reason for not falling asleep on time.

3.4. Follow a Proper Bedtime Routine

Everyone needs to have a proper bedtime routine to enhance their sleep quality and more important to fall asleep without any problem. Around 15% of people in most countries have chronic insomnia

There are some activities that will affect your sleep quality. Make sure that you remain consistent in following all the simple and pleasant activities on time so that you can sleep on time.

It is not like one day you carried out the exercise at 9:00 pm and on another day you did it at 11:00 pm. This will disrupt your routine and create confusion in your body’s natural sleep cycle. Hence, it is important to make it a habit to go to bed on time every day.

Once you will start following a bedtime routine, your body will get adapted to it and ultimately you will be falling asleep on time. Sleeping on time and waking up on time, automatically resolves all the sleeping-related issues.

3.5. Avoid Heavy Dinner

Eating habits are responsible for various kinds of changes in the body as well as the sleep cycle. To have a healthy sleep, you must take in a healthy diet. Although eating nutritious food is always good for people, eating at the wrong time will be troublesome.

However, it is recommended to avoid heavy dinners or late-night eating. Unhealthy eating habits lead to health issues and affect the sleep cycle. Late-night eating habits have the following consequences.

• Problems in the digestive system
• Obesity
• High blood sugar level
• Heart diseases
• Unhealthy brain

If you take a heavy dinner and go to bed immediately, you will suffer from indigestion problems. As a result, you don’t get proper sleep. Another reason to avoid heavy dinners is to avoid the disease called acid reflux.

Not eating food on time or irregularly will affect your brain, memory, learning ability, and concentration. Hence, it is essential to eat the right food, at the right time, and in the right proportion.

4. Rituals You Need to Follow for Night Routine

Carrying out the night routine every day is not time-consuming. It only takes 30 to 40 minutes. Different people will follow a different set of exercises, depending upon their interests and body clock. Given below are some of them –

• Clean and gently scrub your face for one minute before going to bed.
• One or two hours before going to bed, take a warm bath (during winter) or a normal water shower (during summer).
• Lit candles (with soothing fragrances) to create a relaxing atmosphere around yourself.
• Prefer dim light for reading, listening to music, doing muscle relaxation, or praying before sleep.
• Take a cup of chamomile tea, which is good for sleep. It contains antioxidants that are responsible to improve sleep quality. (Note: having a cup of chamomile tea every day is safe)

Do all the above-mentioned activities on time according to your schedule. Abide by your routine and perform the techniques. Eventually, you will get see an improvement in your sleep quality.

5. Ways to Solve Heavy or Late-Night Eating

1. Say ‘No’ to junk food or food having a high amount of fat.
2. Irregular or late sleeping habit leads to unusual cravings for food. So, try to fall asleep early to avoid night cravings.
3. Make your mood positive and stress-free before going to bed. The stressed person feels hungrier and wants to eat snacks at night.
4. Spices are the main part of Indian cuisine, but spicy food at dinner is not good for health.
5. Avoiding a heavy diet at night doesn’t mean reducing your calories. Never limit your calories, instead consume the required calories that too around 8:00 pm.
6. Eating early sometimes makes you feel empty stomach. In such a case, you can eat healthy snacks like dry fruits or nuts, fruits, etc.

6. Yoga for Sleep

Stress and anxiety are the main reasons for reduced sleep and sleeping disorder. Once you work towards relieving your tension or stress, ultimately your sleeping issues will be solved. Have you ever noticed when you feel good you fall asleep without any problem?

Sleeping issues and insomnia have been observed in many people, that too due to stress. Yoga helps you to stay calm and relaxed. There are some yoga poses that work on your brain and nervous system.

Do any of the following yoga poses to destress yourself. That is why it is always suggested to practice yoga whenever you look for an answer to how to sleep fast in 5 minutes.

Performing the yoga given yoga poses is not time-consuming, hence it can easily be done before going to bed.  After this small yoga session, your entire body and nervous system come into a calming state. This results in quick sleep and also improves your sleep duration.

6.1. Child Pose (Balasana)

It is one of the best yoga poses to relieve stress. This pose is a kind of resting pose, which exerts a calming effect on your body. To do this pose follow these steps:

• Sit on your knees on a yoga mat or bed.
• Raise both hands towards the ceiling while inhaling.
• Now, move your upper body part forward till your stomach touches your thighs.
• Touch your head and hand to the ground. In this position, stretch your hands and take 6-8 deep breaths.

6.2. Leg Ups the Wall (Viparita Karani)

This yoga pose is good to recirculate blood into the legs and feet. It is done against a wall.

• Lie down against a wall or on the head side of the bed with legs in the vertical position.
• Once your legs are in a vertical position and touch the wall, make a 90-degree angle with the upper body.
• Touch your hands on the ground in this pose.
• Take slow breaths in this pose as long as you can.
• Once you have done this, bend the knees and slowly come out in a normal seated position.

6.3. Corpse Pose (Savasana)

It is also a resting pose in which you lie down and release the tension from head to toe. Here are the steps to carry out this yoga pose.

• Simply lie down on the ground or bed on your back with hands and legs slightly apart from your body.
• Close your eyes and take long breaths for 2-3 minutes.
• After this, slowly roll to one side and sit up in a sitting position.

7. Practice Journaling

Studies have shown that journaling helps in clearing thoughts, getting rid of worries, and reducing overthinking. When multiple thoughts are going on in your mind, it is difficult to fall asleep on time.

Hence, journaling is the best way to keep your mind calm. Writing all your thoughts, worries, and feelings in a diary will help you to clear your mind. This is also the best technique for how to sleep fast in 5 minutes.

Daily practice of journaling before bedtime is the best method to relax your mind and remove all the tension of the whole day. Every day different kinds of events and things happen to you that are consciously and unconsciously affecting your mind.

When you write down all the things, you feel relaxed and also get clarity in your thought process. That is why you should make it your habit to write at least one page daily before going to sleep.

8. Conducive Bedroom Environment

How to sleep fast in 5 minutes? The solution to this question lies in your bedroom. The bedroom environment is also important for better quality sleep. But many people don’t even pay attention to their bedroom environment or mattress and want a quick solution for how to sleep fast in 5 minutes.

A clean and tidy bedroom gives positive and pleasing vibes, that relieve all your tension and anxiety. As a result, you sleep quickly.

From many studies, it is clear that people who have a relaxing and clean environment get better sleep than people having a cluttered bedroom. Some other factors like your room’s temperature, lightening of the room, quality of the mattress, or pillow, can also affect your sleep cycle.

9. How to Create a Perfect Sleep Environment?

1. Always prefer a soft or firm mattress. Sleeping on an uncomfortable bed leads to body pain and ultimately you don’t get good quality sleep. The mattress industry is growing day by day.

A variety of mattresses are available in the market as per health conditions. So, invest in good quality mattresses and also in soft or thin pillows. Again, the type of pillow also depends on your comfort.

2. Use bedsheets of good quality and fabric. Bedsheets of multiple colors and designs are available in the market. So, choose as per your choice or taste. But give importance to the quality of the fabric. Another thing to keep in mind while choosing bed sheets is the weather conditions.

For example, cotton or linen bed sheets are good to use during humid conditions and flannelette sheets are best for the winter season. Change bedsheets daily to keep the bed hygienic and clean.

3. Turn off the lights to create a dark environment. It has been observed that a dark room gives stimulation the brain to produce the sleep hormone, melatonin.

This hormone is produced by the pineal gland only in darkness. You can use an eye mask to produce melatonin, this is the best way to fall asleep fast.

4. The use of candles with good fragrances or essential oils is an additional thing to make a conducive and sleeping-friendly bedroom environment. They stimulate olfactory nerves to send neurochemical signals to the brain. Then, the brain regulates the secretion of sleep or wake hormones.

Essential oils like lavender oil give a pleasant feeling and reduce all the stress and anxiety, as a result, you fall asleep faster. The best essential oils for sleep are ylang-ylang, valerian, and clary sage that you can use for aromatherapy.

10. Avoid Napping After 3 PM

Another solution to how to sleep fast in 5 minutes is to avoid napping after 3 pm. Do you ever notice that once you sleep in the daytime you tend to sleep late that night? This happens with most people.

Taking a short nap while at work energize and refreshes you. Hence, naps are good. But taking a long nap or napping at any random time makes it difficult for you to fall asleep at night.

It is always recommended to avoid longer naps or napping after 3:00 pm. This is because, after a long nap, you will feel groggy instead of refreshed. Whereas, after 3:00 pm, if you take a nap, it will affect your night sleep cycle due to which you don’t fall asleep.

11. Do Reading

Last but the important tip for how to sleep fast in 5 minutes is reading a novel or magazine or any other written material. Reading is always considered good therapy for stress and sleep. The bedtime routine is completed by reading books or any story.

Adults narrate bedtime stories to children at night so that they can sleep easily on time. Hence, it is quite clear that listening to stories or reading any book before sleeping is beneficial to fall asleep quickly and peacefully.

No matter what kind of book you read, whether fiction or non-fiction, just read some pages of the books and you will ultimately see the benefits of reading. But the most important thing is to avoid reading through e-books.

12. Conclusion

Out of ten ways of how to sleep fast in 5 minutes, which one do you already practice in your lifestyle? Hope this article on ‘how to sleep fast in 5 minutes’ has been helpful to you.

Try any of the above-mentioned techniques to fall asleep fast. Adding these techniques and tips to your daily lifestyle will help you to sleep fast and resolve all sleep-related issues. In case you don’t get benefit from these ways then consult a sleep medicine specialist.

13. FAQs

13.1 Can I Really Fall Asleep in Just Five Minutes?

Certain people may find it difficult to fall asleep within five minutes, although it is possible for some people to do so. However, it often needs a mix of relaxation methods, a sleep-friendly setting, and a reliable nighttime schedule.

13.2 How Much Time Does It Typically Take for Someone to Fall Asleep?

Once a person is in bed, it typically takes them 10 to 20 minutes to fall asleep. The duration, nevertheless, can differ greatly from individual to individual.

13.3 Should I See a Doctor If I’m Having Difficulties Falling Asleep Quickly Regularly?

It’s advisable to speak with a healthcare provider if you frequently have trouble falling asleep fast or experience other persistent sleep problems. They can assess your sleeping habits, rule out any underlying sleep disorders, and provide you with individualized suggestions or treatments to help you sleep better.

1. Prince, Martin, et al. “No health without mental health.” The lancet 370.9590 (2007): 859-877. ↩︎
2. Kuppusamy, Maheshkumar, et al. “Effects of Bhramari Pranayama on health–a systematic review.” Journal of traditional and complementary medicine 8.1 (2018): 11-16. ↩︎
3. Kekan, Dinkar, and Shriniwas Kashalikar. “Effect of Kapalbhati pranayama on waist and hip circumference.” Journal of Evolution of medical and Dental Sciences 2.11 (2013): 1695-1700. ↩︎

Last Updated on March 16, 2024 by ayeshayusuf