One of those dumb “fact lists” circulating over the 'Net claims that it takes the average person seven minutes to fall asleep. I just can’t believe this. It regularly takes me at least 45 minutes to an hour to fall asleep; often, I’m not asleep until at least one and a half to two and a half hours after I get into bed.
I just can’t grok a mere seven minutes as being anywhere near normal, unless you’re really tired. So I ask everyone out there: how do you fall, as far as this so-called ‘average’ time goes?
I always set up a playlist of songs on my computer when I’m going to bed because I can’t fall asleep without music. I use the last song I remember hearing the night before as a judge as to how long it took me to fall asleep.
My average appears to be about 5 minutes. I’ve also been told that I fall asleep very quickly - I will lie down, close my eyes, and my husband will say something to me moments later, only to get no response at all. Out like a light. It might help that I don’t lie down until I’m actually tired, and ready for sleep.
It probably takes me about two minutes to fall asleep. If I’m really worried about something then I’ll be lucky to fall asleep at all but on a regular night maybe 2 minutes at the most.
Less than an hour, usually less than 10 minutes. Frequently I’ll be semi-asleep/dozing/waking-dreaming/spaced-out-daydreaming within 10 minutes, then really asleep soon after.
As a teenager, it would take me literally HOURS to fall asleep. I’ve recently learned that that’s normal for teens, but it was pretty much hell for me as my parents weren’t exactly “discreet” late at night. Ew, ick!! As an adult, though, it probably takes me 5-10 minutes. I’ve noticed that alot of men can fall asleep right away, like as soon as their head hits the pillow. Not that I’ve observed ALOT of men sleeping… well, okay, I have, but anyhoo.
If it’s taking you that long to fall asleep, you’re doing something wrong. I would suggest that you discontinue caffiene usage after 2 p.m, not use your bed for other activities, such as watching TV or reading, take a warm bath beforehand, drink some warm milk, exercise in the morning, etc. I’ve noticed that when I DO have a night of insomnia, for a few nights after that I’ll have insomnia from worrying about having insomnia. Also, everything has to exactly the same every night- the same amount of quiet, light, covers, etc. I have to be laying on my left side with my hands scrunched up under my chin in just a certain way. If I’ve been sleeping alone for a while, it takes quite a few nights to get used to sleeping with someone else.
I would really investigate the fact that it takes you so long to fall asleep. That seems like such a waste of time, if you add up all the hours, every night, every week, every month, etc. Good luck with that.
I can usually fall asleep in about two minutes or so. Getting to sleep is one thing I really don’t have a problem doing. Not that this fact is something to be especially proud of.
It takes me about an hour. What I really hate is that sometimes when I’m sleepy i feel like I’m going to fall asleep right away but then I think, “yay I’m falling asleep really fast tonight!” and it wakes me up and then I have a whole hour to think about how close I was.
My dad always fell asleep in about 30 seconds. What a showoff. He told me he’d just think “hmm I’ll sleep now,” and the next thing he knew it was morning. What a robot.
I think I could probably be clinically diagnosed as an insomniac. It takes me 3-5 hours to fall to sleep depending on how long its been since I last slept.
It doesn’t help that I hate waking up, so sometimes, if I have an early commitment, I just don’t even bother going to sleep…
I’m 26, and it takes me anywhere from one to two HOURS to fall asleep. I used to be an insomniac, where it would regularly take two hours at least, but I hardly have that problem any more. One hour is about normal. Last night it was about that.
When I’m really tired I can generally sleep in about half an hour, but that’s usually after a string of days where I sleep only four hours a night. It’s not a teenage thing. I hope you do grow out of it, if one can.
It used to take me anywhere forty-five minutes on a good night, and up to two hours or more hours on a bad night. I recently went to a sleep disorder clinic and they think the basic problem is that my natural circadian rhythm makes me a night person, since no matter when I went to bed, I typically wouldn’t get to sleep until 1 or 2 am, even if I got up early that day. Now I’m on a strict 1am to 8am schedule, which we’ll gradually shift earlier. Now it typically takes about 1/2 hour or less to get to sleep. Occasionally it will still take an hour. One time I actually fell asleep before the SO, which had never happened before - that was a record-setting (for me) 10 minutes. Ultimately I’d like to be able to get to sleep regularly within 20 minutes, with no significant waking through the night (I typically still wake up 3 times during the night).
I used to think that the reason I couldn’t get to sleep earlier was whenever I went to bed, I had real problems clearing my mind and starting obsessing over stupid little things, but when I first went to the clinic, they said something that made me realize I was looking at this wrong. My doctor said that since I was going to bed before I was really ready to sleep, I would lie in bed and obsess over things because I had nothing else to do. I was skeptical about this at first, but I found that since I started the new schedule, I almost never obsess the way I used to.
Lately I’ve been doing pretty good with my sleep and I’ve been able to fall asleep within a half hour. I frequently have a hard time getting to sleep, though, at least an hour or more of tossing and turning. Staying away from caffeine late in the day and in the evening helps me to fall asleep faster.
It used to take me an hour or two to fall asleep. Last June, I quit all caffeine. I don’t even drink it in the AM. Now I can fall asleep in 5-10 minutes. It’s really nice to fall asleep with no problems anymore. This might not work for everyone, but it’s made a world of difference for me.
Seven minutes?! I friggin’ wish! It takes me 30-60 minutes on any given night. Sometimes even longer. I’ve always been this way. I don’t drink caffeine on any regular basis, I try not to eat after 6pm, I don’t exercise late at night, I very rarely read in bed. All the things “they” say to do (or not do) but no success. It doesn’t even seem to matter how tired I am.
It takes me about ten to fifteen minutes most nights. If I’ve not been getting enough sleep then I have a tendency to doze off on the couch while reading.
My main problem is anxiety. Can’t let go of what I need to do tomorrow to fall asleep now. I also read in bed most nights, which aggravates the problem. My schedule right now also demands early rising, and like porcupine, my system doesn’t flow that way.
After all those justifications, I feel lucky it’s only an hour!
