Having Trouble Sleeping? Can't Stay Asleep? These 10 MD-Approved Tips Are Actually Proven To Work

Let's try to solve this problem right here and now, in eight steps—because you're tired, and that's about all you can handle at the moment:

This is the single most effective change you can make. When we keep the phone on our bedside table, it's the last thing we look at before bed. The blue light from the screen jacks up your circadian rhythm,1 and the activities of the phone (dings, pings, stressful work email, addictive social media apps, the emotional roller coaster of online dating, riveting Netflix shows, and the existential angst of geopolitical news) does not cultivate a state of mind conducive to sleep. I know what you're gonna say: but it's my alarm clock! Cool, we've got a solution. Go on a little-known website called Amazon.com, pick out a lovely $10 analog alarm clock, and once it arrives, that's the day you set up your charger outside of the bedroom and step into your new phone-free bedroom (and new life as a better sleeper).

Prevent sleep hanger by: a) transitioning your diet away from sugar and refined carbohydrates toward a Whole30 or paleo-template diet based on real food (meat, fish, eggs, poultry, veggies, fruit, nuts, seeds, fermented foods, healthy fats, and relying on starchy vegetables as your source of carbohydrate); b) take a spoonful of almond butter or coconut oil (not actually "pure poison") right before bed, and take another in the middle of the night if you wake up.

I know you're inclined to skip this section because you're like: Duh, I know caffeine can keep you awake, but it's OK, I just have one or two innocent cups of coffee in the morning, and that coffee is part of my identity, so this is not gonna change. The thing is, those innocent cups of coffee in the morning may still be contributing to your insomnia. Caffeine is slowly metabolized in the body, so even though you drink it in the morning, some of it is still buzzing around your brain at bedtime. It can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep, and it can decrease the quality of your sleep.

I know I didn't make any friends asking everyone to quit coffee, and now I'm just going to dig this hole deeper. You will sleep better if you go to bed earlier. The body likes to be in sync with the rhythms of the sun and moon. This used to be nearly unavoidable because the sun would set and things would get pretty dark, dangerous, and boring. Because of electricity, the modern evening is a high-voltage festival of light, from Instagram feeds to television shows. Start to notice that your body experiences a wave of feeling tired approximately three hours after sunset. Shockingly, this is actually the appropriate bedtime, not midnight. Start to listen for your body's tired signs around 10/10:30 p.m., and take that as a cue to brush your teeth and crawl into your cozy bed. This will prevent your body from getting "overtired," when you release the stress hormone cortisol and hit a second wind of energy. When you try to push against cortisol to fall asleep, you toss and turn and your mind races. No fun. Prevent this by swooping yourself to bed at the sweet spot of tiredness, right around 10 p.m.

Experience darkness at night. Dim the lights in your home after sunset, finish the night with a candlelit bath or by reading a paper book in bed by dim lighting. Set your phone on night shift mode and download f.lux on your computer to make the screens dimmer and less blue at night. If you're going to work on the computer, watch TV, or look at the phone at night, consider wearing orange plastic glasses (Uvex Ultra-Spec 2000 Safety Glasses) to block the circadian-disrupting blue light. As thoroughly discussed above, don't bring the phone into the bedroom. In fact, try to get all electronics out of the bedroom. If your room isn't completely dark once you've turned out the lights, wear an eye mask to sleep or consider getting blackout shades (this ends up being less of an ordeal than it sounds). Finally, if you wake up in the middle of the night, try not to let your eyes "see" any light. You can install an orange night light in the bathroom and do the squinting shuffle, keeping your eyes mostly closed when you go to pee.

I would be remiss if I didn't point out that alcohol disrupts sleep architecture. Though it can make it easier to fall asleep, it decreases the quality of sleep and makes it harder to sleep through the night. We also wake up feeling less refreshed the morning after we've been drinking. Bring consciousness to your choices around alcohol. If sleep is a sore point for you, it's worth your while to limit alcohol to a drink or two a couple of nights of the week (or, hey, none at all?).

I like magnesium glycinate for sleep. Taking 400 to 600 milligrams at bedtime can be great for relaxing your mind and your muscles and helping you fall deep asleep. Another good supplement to keep on hand is melatonin. I don't have my patients take this regularly, but it's a great tool for managing jet lag. Take it on an overnight flight (be sure to wear compression socks and walk around frequently), and take it at bedtime once you arrive at your destination. A chamomile tea ritual can also go a long way toward supporting sleep.

Jujube is another supplement worth considering. It’s a plant-based supplement with antioxidant properties that can also help with sleep, stress, anxiety and even digestive issues (i.e., all that ails us modern human people). It promotes sleep by modulating GABA and serotonin activity in the brain. Just be sure to mention jujube to your doctor before starting it, since it can have interactions with other medications, and it can impact certain health conditions, such as diabetes.

Finally, GABA itself is a supplement worth considering. While there’s no question that the neurotransmitter GABA has profound impacts on sleep, there is some debate about whether supplemental forms of GABA effectively cross the blood-brain-barrier—that is, do they really get to your brain and have an impact. High-quality GABA supplements attempt to address this by designing the GABA to cross into the brain. There is some evidence that GABA supplements improve sleep, but it’s also possible that the supplements carry out their effect in other ways, such as impacting the gut microbiome to increase GABA. Regardless, GABA is worth considering at doses around 100-200mg for insomnia after a conversation with your doctor about potential interactions.

I hope these ten steps have opened your eyes to some ideas you haven't heard before, and I hope these steps are approachable and attainable. If you put these changes into practice, you should begin to find it easier to fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up feeling refreshed.