How to fall asleep faster

You lie down, the room is dark, and your mind starts a second shift. Tomorrow's list, a message you forgot to send, the odd sound in the house. Twenty minutes later you are still watching the ceiling.

If this happens now and then, you are not alone, and a slow start to the night is often fixable with a few steady habits. Here is what is going on when you cannot drift off, what healthdirect suggests, and how the Thrive Health Band tracks your nights so the Thrive app can show your own bedtime pattern.

Falling asleep is a skill your day sets up

Getting to sleep is not only what you do in the last five minutes. healthdirect's sleep advice ties evening wind-down to caffeine, alcohol, screens, naps, late hard exercise and a bedtime that jumps around.

Sleep runs in cycles of about 90 minutes. The first stretch is when you leave wakefulness behind, and it is where a restless clock or restless room shows up first.

This piece is about the start of the night. If you fall asleep fine and then wake at 3am, see why do I wake up at 3am. If warm weather is the problem, see warm nights and summer sleep.

Why it can take so long to drift off

A few common stacks show up again and again:

A busy brain at lights-out. Work stress and money worries sit on healthdirect's list of everyday sleep disruptors. Our piece on work stress and sleep goes further on that loop.
Caffeine still in the system. The Sleep Health Foundation says caffeine's effects can last 3 to 7 hours, it can take up to 24 hours to leave your body, and it can make sleep lighter. Afternoon coffee is a frequent culprit when sleep onset stretches out.
Alcohol near bed. healthdirect notes alcohol may make you sleepy at first, then disrupt sleep cycles. It suggests avoiding alcohol for at least 4 hours before bed.
Screens in bed. Bright, engaging content keeps your mind switched on. healthdirect suggests keeping screens out of the bedroom and off for an hour before bed.
A bedtime that moves. Late nights followed by sleep-ins push your clock around. Regularity is one of the sleep scores Thrive tracks for exactly this reason.
A room that works against you. Heat, light, noise or a restless partner can stretch the time it takes to drop off.

When to talk to your GP

healthdirect describes insomnia as trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking too early and not getting back to sleep. It is more common in women and older people.

It suggests seeing your doctor if sleep trouble comes with mood problems, feeling restless in bed, or waking unrefreshed. It also says a sleep diary is a useful way to show your doctor what has been happening. Thrive keeps a record of your sleep timing in the app, so the pattern is ready when you see your GP.

If trouble getting to sleep keeps going for a few weeks, or it’s affecting your mood or days, talk with your GP. They can also refer you to sleep-focused support.

What to try tonight (and tomorrow)

healthdirect's sleep-habit list is practical:

Get up if you are not sleeping. If you cannot sleep, go to another room and do something relaxing, such as reading, until you feel tired, then go back to bed.
Stop clock-watching. Turn the clock away so you are not counting minutes.
Park the phone. Keep screens out of bed, and off for an hour before bed.
Keep a steady wake time. Get up at around the same time each day, even after a rough night, and go easy on daytime naps.
Shift caffeine earlier. If sleep onset is a problem, keep caffeine to the morning.
Move during the day, not late at night. Regular exercise helps, but hard sessions late in the evening can leave you wired.
Give the room a job. Dark, cooler and with less noise usually beats another scroll.

Two or three steady changes across a fortnight beat a dozen tips you try once.

How Thrive shows the start of your night

The Thrive Health Band has no screen and sits on a woven TPS strap, so you can wear it to bed and forget it. Your nights appear in the Thrive by Optihealth app on iPhone or Android.

How long you slept, and time awake. Thrive shows deep and light sleep and time spent awake. REM appears when Precise sleep is switched on in settings.
Quantity, quality, regularity and timing. Thrive scores each out of 100. Regularity shows how steady your bed and wake times have been. Timing shows whether your sleep midpoint sits near your usual rhythm. Quality reflects how continuous the night was.
Bedtime reminder. Thrive can remind you to wind down 15, 30 or 45 minutes or 1 hour before bed. Bedtime can follow your own sleep pattern or a time you set.
Sound & Breathing. Thrive also includes binaural beats audio in Sound & Breathing that you can play as part of a wind-down routine, which some people find helps them relax before sleep. Headphones work best.
Check-ins. You can log mood, stress and energy, so a wired evening sits next to the night that followed.
Today's Vitality. A score from 0 to 100 that brings sleep and recovery, your heart, Today's Load and your mood together. The Band measures your HRV itself.

Thrive learns what is usual for you right across your health, including meals and Food Fit, blood tests, medications and supplements and your medical history. A run of late or irregular bedtimes shows up against your own history.

You can ask Ask Thrive questions such as "How regular were my bed and wake times this fortnight?" or "How did sleep quantity and quality look on nights after I logged high stress?"

When you are ready to see your GP, Ask Thrive can help you pull the pattern together beforehand. Our article on using Ask Thrive before a GP appointment shows how. If you would like someone else to see selected information, Thrive Loops lets you share selected information with a participating trainer, health professional or someone you trust. You decide what to share and with whom, and you can change or revoke access at any time.

Thrive isn't a diagnosis, and it doesn't replace your GP. It gives you a clear picture of your own nights to talk through together.

Before you buy

You'll need a compatible iPhone or Android phone, because the Thrive app is on the Apple App Store and Google Play, in Australia and eight other countries. The app stores are only for downloading the app, though; they aren't where you buy the Band or a Plan. You can buy at thrivehealthband.com, or at a participating World Gym Australia location or health and wellness clinic.

The Thrive Health Band is A$660 for the first year under the launch offer. That includes the Band, which is yours to keep, and 12 months of the Thrive by Optihealth app, My Health on the web, Health Fingerprint, Ask Thrive, Thrive Loops and your data, paid once upfront. Prices are in AUD and include GST. Free Australia-wide shipping during the launch offer (usually A$14.99).

Nothing renews automatically. After your first year, you can get a new band plus 12 more months for A$660, or keep your band and renew the Thrive Connected Plan for A$240 a year, or A$29 a month with no lock-in.

You're also covered by a 12-month Thrive Care Warranty, and consumer guarantees under Australian Consumer Law always apply. See Returns if something is wrong with your purchase.

Common questions

How long should it take to fall asleep?

There is no single perfect number. It is worth a closer look when you regularly lie awake for a long stretch and it is affecting your days, especially with mood changes or unrefreshing sleep.

Does Thrive show how long I took to fall asleep?

Thrive shows your sleep timing, regularity, quantity, quality and time awake across the night. Use Ask Thrive to review bed and wake patterns over a fortnight when you want that picture for your GP.

Will a bedtime reminder help?

It can. Thrive can nudge you 15 minutes to an hour before the bedtime you set or the one drawn from your sleep pattern, so wind-down starts before you are already overdue.

For more answers, see Questions.