How Long Should It Take to Fall Asleep (For Better Vacation)
The time it takes for you to fall asleep during travel or on your vacation is an essential aspect as sleep is crucial for the welfare of the body. Most people are however anxious about how long it takes after they get to bed for them to sleep. While some only take a couple of minutes, others are worried about taking too long, sometimes up to a few hours.
So, how long should it take to fall asleep? Well, sleep latency is the amount of time it takes you to fall asleep. Several factors determine sleep latency either shortening or increasing the length of time.
Appropriate Time for Falling Asleep
Even though sleeping immediately after you get into the bed seems satisfactory, people who take a short time before falling asleep exhibit a healthy sleep cycle. Typically, it takes such a person an average of 7 minutes to fall asleep(the fast).
If it takes you more than 7 minutes but less than 20 minutes, then there is no cause for alarm; you are still within the range of the normal sleep cycle. However, anything more than this shows that something could be wrong within your body and it’s a way of the body expressing the possible issue.
On the other hand, instantly sleeping after you bury your head into the pillow also reveals a probable condition. Identifying the issues can be a good start towards finding a solution to your distorted sleeping habits.
How to Fall Asleep Faster
It should now worry you if you take up to an hour or even more to fall asleep. These moments of sleeplessness are accompanied by tossing in the bed and a series of thoughts. Sometimes you get to the bed, fall asleep as recommended and then after an hour or so you start dreaming. Such issues indicate conditions some of which can be remedied.
What should you do to reduce sleep latency? Here are some of the causative conditions and their possible remedies.
Avoid oversleeping
The most probable reason you are taking too long to sleep is that you continue sleeping even after you have already slept enough. While different people have different sleep requirements, an average adult requires around 7 hours of sleep time. Sleeping more than this means that your brain will not be ready to shut off next moment you try to sleep immediately. This problem could be amplified by consistent oversleeping more so if you are not involved in tiresome tasks during the day.
You need to schedule your sleeping time and ensure that anytime you wake up feeling relaxed and fresh you do not go back to sleep. Otherwise sleeping more than you require, it may not be enjoyable as you are only trying to push yourself to sleep.
Manage stress
Stress besides other factors such as medications is the most significant contributor to the insomnia condition. This condition eventually leads to fatal disorders such as heart-related diseases, depression, and diabetes. Most people lack sleep due to numerous thoughts and worries running through their mind whenever they try to sleep.
The only solution to this issue is finding ways to help you manage your stress levels. You might consider visiting a counselor if your stressors are related to your social life. A therapist might also assist you in prescribing medications that can help relieve the insomniac condition.
Take a shower before sleeping
Poor hygiene can also contribute to lack of sleep leading to insomnia. When your body is dirty or sweaty, you might experience discomfort thereby having troubles sleeping. This sweatiness might not be as a result of the day’s activities, otherwise eating heavily at night or drinking caffeinated drinks before going to sleep might result in an increased amount of energy in your body.
Therefore, you should ensure that after a long day, you take a shower to help your mind relax ready for sleep. Besides, you might consider minimizing the rate of caffeine intake more so sometimes before going to bed.
Avoiding sleeping too fast
While sleeping fast is a sign of a normal sleeping cycle, sleeping too fast should also be a concern. If it takes you less than seven minutes to sleep, then there could be something erroneous in you.
Mostly, lack of enough sleep could be contributing to your short sleep latency. If you are sleeping for a few hours, your body remains inactive during the day, and at night you sleep right away when you get to bed. Lack of enough sleep can be fatal to body healthy; it results in exposure to sickness, as well as disrupting your focus ability.
Resolving this issue requires you to get enough sleep. You can achieve this by scheduling your daily activities and manage them to fit your day’s program. You can also schedule your sleeping time, assigning more time on your day offs like the weekends, and ensure you adhere to the plan.
Conclusion
While considering unraveling these sleep cycle distorters, you should also consider external factors. Technological devices such as mobile phones and laptops keep your brain active depriving you of sleep. If you consider all these aspects, you will ultimately attain average sleep latency.
Enjoy your trip or your vacation!
Reference:
How long does it take you to fall asleep, after you get into bed (Reddit)