How I trick my brain into falling asleep

It's Pavlov's dog for your nighttime routine, and it's highly effective

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I’m a really good sleeper. I fall asleep easily, sleep through the night, and wake at the same time every day without an alarm. My sleep has been solid since my first Whole30 in 2009, and outside of life events (having a baby, going on book tour, getting a divorce, sustaining a concussion) it’s been reliable.

One thing I credit is reading with my eyeballs every night before I go to bed. Reading helps me quiet my brain, and keeps it from running amok in the quiet of bedtime. (You forgot to send that email, did you leave your clothes in the dryer, what is your kid taking for lunch tomorrow?)

But there is one action I’ve been doing since I was in my 20’s that has programmed my brain that it’s time to sleep. It’s automatic: This thing happens, and I’m immediately getting sleepy.

It’s white noise.

Okay, now you’re probably like, “What the hell, Melissa, this is nothing groundbreaking.” White noise at bedtime is not a novel idea, I get it. But hear me out—I do “white noise” differently, and I believe my approach is money.

Can you bring me a fan?

My love affair with white noise at bedtime started in 2001, when my sister and I took a cross-country road trip. She was used to sleeping with a fan, so we’d ask every hotel front desk clerk for a fan for our room. I realized that the fan helped to drown out other noises—from the road, the people next door, my sister getting up to use the bathroom.

Using a physical fan morphed into a variety of other white noise options: A fan noise burned onto a CD, a white noise box for a baby, and eventually a fan noise app on my iPhone. (I paid for it.) All of those worked pretty well. But a few years ago, I discovered a new strategy that worked even better to program my brain to sleep. It wasn’t just one white noise, it was creating a white noise routine and applying it to the three steps of bedtime.

Here’s what my routine looks like today; then I’ll break it down step by step:

Rain noise (for reading) → 10 minutes of violin (for “go to sleep”) → White noise (for sleeping)

Rain noise (for reading)

I read for anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on how good the book is and how tired I am. (Sometimes it’s 2 minutes, truly.) If I start my white noise here, I’m not teaching my brain that “white noise = sleep,” I’m reinforcing “white noise = background for reading.” This defeats the purpose of creating a Pavlovian cue for sleep. However, I do like having some background noise here, so I’ll play rain forest noises. It’s soothing, more active than my white noise, and gives me pleasant but not distracting backdrop for reading.

There are a ton of nature noises you could use here: rivers, oceans, thunderstorms, crickets, waterfalls, snowfall, even campfire. Choose something that feels comforting and relaxing, not something that’s going to keep yanking your attention. (I find thunderstorm tracks stressful.)

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Violin (for “go to sleep”)

This step is the money. This step is what makes my white noise routine elite. Three years ago, I inserted 10 minutes of orchestra music into my routine, right in the middle. I’ll read with rain forest, and when I’m ready to close my eyes, skip to the next track in my playlist: a violin concerto.

I’ve found two violin-heavy songs that I really like, and play them right after the other. They’re slow, with low, long notes that facilitate sleep. They total around 10 minutes, which I’ve figured out is the perfect amount of time—not so long it stirs me out of my initial sleep, not so short that I notice when it ends.

In the beginning, I did struggle to relax to this violin music. It was new, and as a result, a little distracting. Over time, however, my brain adapted. I stuck to the routine for a few weeks (even while traveling), and my brain started to make the association. Soon, at the first strike of the first violin chord, my brain knew, “These notes mean it’s time to sleep.”

Now, could you do this with white noise and not some type of music? You could, and I tried. For a long time, I used white noise alone when it was time for sleep. But it wasn’t as memorable as my violin song. White noise pops up more than you might expect, in the hum of your dishwasher, the thrumming of your dryer, or whir of your laptop.

Adding a unique sound at this part in my routine is what made the whole thing click. And as you’ll see, I still use white noise to help me stay asleep.

Find a song you won’t listen to any time other than bed. It should feel soothing, calming, and relaxing. Classical music is wonderful here, especially piano and violin. Instrumental movie soundtracks are another great place to search! Stick this in the middle of your bedtime routine, and be consistent with implementing it. We’re training your brain here!

White noise (for sleeping)

When my 10 minutes of violin are over, my playlist transitions into a 24-hour white noise track. It will run until I wake up and turn it off. Also, I don’t use white noise anymore. I know! Misleading! But we’ve come a long way since my “fan noise” CD. Now, we have options.

• White noise: A consistent “static”-like sound that includes all frequencies at equal intensity, often used to mask background noise.

• Pink noise: Like white noise, but with more emphasis on lower frequencies, creating a softer, more natural sound.

• Brown noise (also called red noise): Deeper and bass-heavy, it amplifies low frequencies even more than pink noise.

• Green noise: Typically centered around mid-range frequencies—often described as the most “natural” or “earthy” sounding of the noise colors.

I like pink noise, but you can choose whatever feels right for you. You can even find tracks that are a mix of noises, like pink + brown! Just don’t use blue noise, as that is a frequency that promotes focus and wakefulness—the opposite of what we’re looking for.

Programming your sleep routine

I use a Hatch Restore device to put all of these tracks together, but I have the original model. (I’ve tried the one they’re selling today, and I didn’t like it anywhere near as much. They took away a lot of the functionality I liked, and for the money, I don’t think it’s worth it.)

However, you can do all of this for free on Spotify! Search for the nature noise you want, and add it to a playlist. Then find your “time to sleep” classical, acoustic, or other soothing music, and add those track(s) following. Finally, search for “24 hour ___ noise” track (white, pink, etc.). Add that to your playlist too, as the last track—then manually fast-forward it by about 5 minutes to skip any intro vocals or ads. Now, the only thing you’ll have to do is hit “forward” on the playlist when you transition from reading to going to sleep—the rest is automatic. (Make sure your settings aren’t on “shuffle” or “repeat 1” here!)

If you don’t read before bed… why not? Okay, maybe reading isn’t your thing. You could either use that rain forest music as background while you chat with your spouse or finish your bedtime routine (skincare, teeth, etc.). Or you could start your routine at the “go to sleep” stage, then let your soundtrack automatically transition into white noise after those songs are done.

They key here is putting your head on the pillow as the music starts. If you start the music, then stay up reading, scrolling, or making a list, you’re breaking that connection between music ←→ sleep.

Whether you’ve been looking for more sleep hacks, or already sleep well but want to up it to Gold Star Sleeper, try my sleep routine and report back!

XO, MU

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