{"id":19,"date":"2011-03-21T18:59:41","date_gmt":"2011-03-21T18:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bulletproofexec.com\/?p=19"},"modified":"2025-08-29T09:56:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T16:56:17","slug":"sleep-hacking-part-3-falling-asleep-fast-with-biochemistry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bulletproof.com\/sleep-articles\/sleep-hacking-part-3-falling-asleep-fast-with-biochemistry\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleep Hacking Part 3: Fall Asleep Fast with Biochemistry"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the third article in a series about how to hack your sleep<\/a> so that you can fall sleep more easily, and recuperate more in less time while staying healthy based on my years of self-experimenting and research.<\/p>\n

Sleep hacking – getting more efficient sleep in less time – can be complex, but you don’t need to do everything possible to get a significant improvement in your sleep productivity. \u00a0For type A entrepreneurs with too much on their plates (people like me), getting sleepy is a challenge. \u00a0If you lie down and you’re not tired, you could waste a half hour or more just falling to sleep. That’s time when you aren’t working, recovering, or spending time with your friends and family. It’s a waste of time.<\/p>\n

It used to be one for me. I had less than 5 hours of sleep per night on average for the last 18 months while maintaining my productivity and (mostly) my health. \u00a0Many times I cut my sleep to 2-3 hours\/night for 4-5 nights in a row. \u00a0Part of doing that is simply not wasting time falling asleep.<\/p>\n

In this post, we’re going to cover one of the aspects of hacking insomnia – the falling asleep part, leaving the staying asleep tricks for another post. Today’s focus is on foods and supplements<\/a> to aid in falling asleep.<\/p>\n

Sleep supplements that work<\/h2>\n

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Here’s a list of things that will knock out most people, alone or in combination with each other. \u00a0I’m specifically avoiding most herbs because the common ones recommended for sleep (like valerian root) have always left me groggy in the morning. \u00a0Who wants to go to sleep fast, only to waste your morning in a fog? \u00a0All of these are bedtime supplements, do not take them in the morning.<\/p>\n

The Best Sleep Supplements and Foods<\/h3>\n