[A collaboration post – all thoughts are my own.]

Who reads this looking for better bedtime routines to get rid of insomnia? Count me in.

Some people fall asleep just fine but wake up in the middle of the night and others sleep through the night but wake too early in the morning. And still, not being able to sleep can be extremely frustrating. I used to be jealous of people who could fall fast asleep.

While it’s normal to experience a bad night of sleep, if your bedtime routines becomes a problem, you need to do something about it. Getting rid of insomnia will probably involve making some long-term changes to your bedtime routines.

What is insomnia?

Insomnia is an inability to sleep for periods of time. It can look different for everyone. For me, it began when I was in senior high school—around 2010. For 10+ years, I have difficulty falling asleep at night, sometimes I wake up during the night, feel tired and sleepy during daytime, and not feeling well-rested after a night’s sleep. This is the result of my irregular bedtime schedule and using computers or smartphones or other screens just before bed.

Even when I already on bed, a silence can be a trigger for my mind to begin to flood in. Any negative thoughts and some bad memories in the past years slowly come and I start to feel anxiety. Even if I got to sleep, I’d wake up fully two or three times throughout the night. And it turns out that one in three people suffer from at least mild insomnia, according to the Sleep Health Foundation.

Eventually, all these sleepless nights started taking a toll when I start working remotely in early 2020. I began my side hustle as a content writer and start offering my translation services seriously. These jobs require time management, discipline, creativity, and focus. After several nights of tossing and turning and making careless mistakes at work, and struggling to think clearly, I began the long and frustrating process of reclaiming my sleep—and my sanity.

My bedtime routines to get rid of insomnia

I am a light sleeper and certainty, not a good sleeper. I fall asleep at inappropriate times of the day. I stay up way too late getting things done. Because of the different time zone, I need to stay awake up until 12 A.M.; engaging with bloggers, contacting clients, or simply trying to work on a novel translation.

It’s not that I don’t love to sleep – I love it so much that. These last few years, I attempt to go to sleep at a reasonable hour, I’ll lay awake for hours, either mentally forming a to-do list or working myself into a frenzy over some random hypothetical stressor.

I spent the next few months trying many things I read about online that would supposedly help me sleep. I committed to trying out a solid bedtime routine each night for a full week. Some of them actually worked for me, while the rest failed miserably. Now most nights, I can fall asleep within 2-3 hours of lying down in bed, and I typically get about five or six hours of sleep.

Create a Consistent Sleep Routine

I tend to go to bed late (say, 1 or 2 A.M.). Even when I’m too tired, the earlier I can sleep is around 1 A.M.. I find it really difficult to create a daily routine, let alone a consistent sleep routine. However, when these sleep habits cause a problem in my daily life, I will get myself into an unhealthy pattern that worsens the situation.

There was a time I couldn’t sleep at all and I felt dizzy, stressed, and tired during work hours. That is the reason I make sure to get in bed somewhere between 11 P.M. and 11:30 P.M. I try to finish my daily input for subtitling projects before going to bed, otherwise, I’ll keep thinking about the unfinished task.

Listen to Music

I’m not sure if you find it weird, but I have to listen to the sound before and during bedtime. I mean, I can’t fall asleep in total silence; that’s why I like to turn on the fan so I can hear the sound of the fan turning and it helps me sleep well (is it weird?). And before bedtime, I need to calm my mind by listening to music.

Everyone has a different genre of music when it comes to a bedtime routine. I like to listen to some calming nature sounds or piano melodies to help me get rid of insomnia. Even some white noise can help you drift off to peaceful sleep.

Manage Your Environment

Your comfort also controls how you are sleeping. As I mentioned before, I’m a light sleeper and very sensitive to my environment. If someone turns off the light, makes a slight noise like opening my bedroom or someone cooking in the kitchen, I’ll immediately wake up.

Other than that, I don’t like dark places since I was a kid and I always keep the light turned on when I sleep until I was in the university. However, I read that light affects our bedtime routine, so I try to dim the light, make sure I am comfortable with my mattress, that I have enough pillows, and that I keep my room cool enough. These things will aid in lessening my anxiety about sleep when I feel it is a safe, comfortable space.

The above are my major bedtime routines to help me with insomnia. There are a few more, such as:

• Make a to-do list for tomorrow to calm my mind
• Limit the amount of blue light from digital devices
• Set my alarm to the same time every day, even on the weekends
• Do my skincare routine to help me feel more relaxed
• Drink enough water to stay hydrated

At the end of the day, the real problem wasn’t so much about sleep – it was about all the other things swirling beneath the surface. Understanding that it isn’t your fault but that there are things you can do to get rid of insomnia is the first step.

Let yourself find and create bedtime routines, such as the ones listed above, and let your mental health professional know what you are going through so they can offer suggestions and help you, too. I won’t become a perfect sleeper overnight. Still, now that I know what my mind needs, I have a place to start.

More importantly, don’t put extra pressure on yourself to get fast sleep which can worsen sleep anxiety. Be kind to yourself, take as many steps as you can toward healthy bedtime routines, and slowly get rid of insomnia.

So, do you have insomnia too? What are the bedtime routines that help you get rid of insomnia? I’d like to know more suggestions so I can try it at home 🙂