3 Evening Habits That Help You Fall Asleep Faster (Even When You're Wired)

You're exhausted all day, but the moment your head hits the pillow, your mind starts racing. Or you fall asleep fine but wake up at 2am, staring at the ceiling for hours.

This is "tired but wired" syndrome, and it's caused by cortisol being elevated at the wrong time. Your stress hormones should drop at night to let melatonin rise—but chronic stress disrupts this pattern completely.

Here are three evening habits that actually reset your sleep hormones:

1. Dim the lights 2 hours before bed.

Bright lights (especially blue light from screens) tell your brain it's still daytime, which suppresses melatonin production. Use lamps instead of overhead lights. If you're on your phone or laptop, use blue light blocking glasses or night mode. This simple change can improve sleep quality by 30%.

2. Take magnesium glycinate before bed.

Most professional women are magnesium-deficient due to stress, poor diet, and lack of sleep (a vicious cycle). Magnesium calms your nervous system, relaxes muscles, and supports melatonin production. Take 300-400mg of magnesium glycinate 30 minutes before bed. You'll notice deeper sleep within days.

3. Do a "brain dump" before bed.

Keep a notebook by your bed. Spend 5 minutes writing down everything on your mind—tomorrow's to-do list, worries, ideas, anything bouncing around. This clears mental clutter so your brain can actually shut off. It's not journaling, it's just dumping thoughts out of your head.

These aren't sleep "hacks"—they're how your body is designed to wind down. When you support your natural rhythms, sleep becomes easier.