TL/DR: From a theoretical standpoint, or a “mindset standpoint”, I am going to tell you how to get into bed willingly each night at the same time. Additionally, once you’re in bed, some ideas on how to fall asleep faster.

How to stop fighting yourself:

If you have a problem with getting into bed, you start off by first “killing the idea” of staying up late. In your mind, you must “give in” to the idea of going to sleep early. This is where mindfulness comes in. I remember a painful feeling would come over me when I got into bed at 8pm. I didn’t want to go to bed, there were so many better things to do. This made falling asleep and fighting these habits very difficult. However, over time, I gave in to this feeling, and let it happen to myself. This may take much time for some, but this process needs to occur so that you’re not fighting yourself tooth and nail to get into bed at the same time each night. You cannot have this feeling of anxiety, or fear of missing out on something, constantly haunting you. Here is my message to you, there is nothing to do, big guy, trust me, just go to sleep. Give in, and let it happen.

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART: get rid of what is keeping you up, stimulus. Screens, drugs, alcohol, stress, coffee, pre-workout, get rid of it. You will be okay. I haven’t had coffee in 1 year, I never thought I would be able to quit. The first 2 weeks I quit, I wanted to die. My head hurt so badly, I had a headache for 2 weeks straight, and slept around 11 hours a night. I drank coffee since 18 and quit at 30. I probably drank around 5 cups a day, or 2 larges a day. Once I quit, fixing my sleep schedule was easy. And, the pain faded after a couple of weeks.

You can further give in to yourself by realizing the following logic:

  1. Your hormones are positively affected by going to bed and waking up at the same time for the entirety of your life. Additionally, the same hormones are affected by sleeping a set number of hours. These hormones affect your weight, emotions, attitude, and energy.

  2. “Nothing good happens after 9:00PM.” This is so fucking true. You are so burnt by this point, nothing you do after these hours is really going to help you in any way. The speed at which you do things is so much more efficient when you first wake up. All the people partying and drinking are really just fucking themselves up, you don’t have to do that to yourself to enjoy life.

  3. There is no need to get up SUPER early, and any guy that tells you otherwise is trying to toot his own horn. Who gives a fuck if you get up at 4AM, I don’t, knock yourself out tough guy. Get up at 3:45AM for all I give a fuck. For people who are trying to get out of a bad way, you need to get up early, but pick a good time that works well for you until you’re on track. 7:00AM could be good, 6:00AM can be good, who gives a fuck. Just get yourself on track first, then worry about the earlier time. You don’t need to start getting up at 5:00AM all of a sudden if you have been sleeping until 10:00AM most days, that won’t help you. The only thing that matters is that you have a decent amount of time (at least 90 minutes) before you really have to start to get ready for your day, whatever that may be.

  4. Realize that when you do get up early, there is nothing to bother you. It’s just you, and this alone time is great. You can think, write things down, and you have time before you leave to do so. I love getting up early and it’s still dark out, it’s a great feeling. It’s just me and my thoughts... and they are almost all positive thoughts in the morning. I can plan, journal, and execute things that are very important to me.

Okay, now for some tricks:

  1. No caffeine (or if you really want to go down this road, no caffeine after noon).

  2. No screens 90 minutes before bed (read a book, or lay there, you’ll be fine)

  3. No mentally stimulating activities at all 90 minutes before bed, except maybe sex.

  4. 1mg of melatonin if you feel you need it. Benadryl or similar if you really feel the need. Benadryl actually really helped to get my sleep in order, I quit taking it about 3 weeks in.

  5. Give yourself an 8.5 to 9 hour window to sleep.

  6. High glycemic carbs about 1.5 hours before bed. Why? It keeps your blood sugar high, and keeps you asleep. I usually have 1.5 tablespoons of chocolate almond butter and a banana. Even on my cut diet, and I account for the calories. I sleep all the way through the night when I do this.

  7. Cold room, big blankets.

  8. Ear plugs if you live with people. And put them things in right. You gotta twist the ends, shove it all the way in, and let it expand in the canal.

  9. Calm your head. Here is the trick. Lie down, then slightly sit up. Push your shoulder blades together, then lie back down. Scoot your tail bone down. Now your chest is poking out, and the bed is helping you keep it this way. Put your two hands, palm side down (don’t put your hands on top of each other, instead put one closer to the head side, and one closer to the feet side), on your stomach. As you inhale, say “one inhale”, then take a deep breathe (say it in your head, not aloud). As you exhale, say “one exhale”. Now count to 100. Go slower and slower, it’s okay if your breathe is shaky for the first ones, it’ll get smoother. As thoughts start to rush in, stay on track with the counting. If you get really lost, just pick up from the number you most recently remember.

I hope this helps you all get deep sleep. Do realize, sleep changes everything and makes you stronger. Without it, you will burn out. If you really want to be great, the first hurdle you must conquer is that of creating a sustainable, healthy life.