7 Strange Bedtime Habits That May Seem Silly, But Actually Work...

Socks in bed. A to-do list at midnight. Getting out of bed to fall asleep. And the one at #7, which starts with the skeleton in that picture.

Look at the picture again.

A woman, wide awake. Something lying behind her, holding her in place. A clock reading 3:11.

The first time I saw it, I laughed.

Then I read a few hundred posts from women who wake up at that exact time, most nights. I stopped laughing.

Because that’s what they describe. Not “trouble sleeping.” Being held awake. Body exhausted, brain switched on, staring at the ceiling while the house sleeps.

Most sleep advice won’t touch that. It’s the same five tired lines: no screens, no caffeine, a dark room, a regular bedtime, chamomile.

If those had worked, you wouldn’t be reading this.

So here are seven stranger ones. A few will sound silly. Every one has research behind it, and the sources are at the bottom of the page.

And stay for #7. The skeleton in that picture isn’t just there for effect.

It sounds like the worst idea possible. Think about work right before sleep?

But researchers at Baylor University tested it. One group spent five minutes before bed writing a to-do list for the coming days. Another group wrote about what they’d already finished.

The to-do list group fell asleep faster. And the more specific their lists, the faster they fell asleep.

The theory is simple. Your brain keeps rehearsing unfinished tasks so you won’t forget them. Mom’s appointment Thursday. The tuition forms. The email you still haven’t answered.

Once it’s on paper, your brain doesn’t have to keep holding it.

Silly part: it’s homework. Why it works: it gets the list off the ceiling and onto the page.

Your body has to lose a little heat from its core to fall asleep. One way it does that is by opening up blood vessels in your hands and feet.

Cold feet slow that down. Warm feet speed it up.

In a small 2018 study, people who wore bed socks in a cool room fell asleep faster and woke up fewer times during the night.

Silly part: you’ll look like your grandmother. Why it works: warm feet help your core cool down.

The same idea, from the other side.

Most sleep experts suggest a bedroom somewhere around 60 to 67°F (15–19°C). That’s colder than most of us keep it.

A cooler room makes it easier for your core temperature to drop, which is one of the signals your body uses to start sleep, and to stay asleep.

If night sweats are part of your 3am wake-ups, this one matters even more. Layer up with a light blanket you can throw off, and keep the room itself cool.

Silly part: paying to heat the house and then turning it down at night. Why it works: your body sleeps in a falling temperature.

Timing is everything here.

A 2019 review of 17 studies found that a warm bath or shower about one to two hours before bed helped people fall asleep faster.

It works the same way as the socks. The water warms you, then your body dumps that heat, and the drop in core temperature is the signal to sleep.

Grandma’s version was an Epsom salt soak. People have trusted Epsom salts since 1618, when (so the story goes) cattle in Epsom, England refused to drink the bitter water from a new well, and the town became famous for it.

One honest note: how much magnesium your skin actually absorbs from a bath is debated. The research supports the heat. Hold onto the magnesium part, though. We’ll come back to it.

Silly part: a bath at 8:30 on a weeknight. Why it works: warm up, cool down, sleep.

This one feels completely backwards.

But lying there trying harder teaches your brain that bed is where you lie awake. Every night you do it, the lesson sticks a little more.

So sleep specialists recommend something called stimulus control. It’s a core part of CBT-I, the approach doctors recommend first for long-term sleep problems. If you’re not asleep after about 20 minutes, get up. Go somewhere dim. Do something boring: a paper book, folding laundry, no phone. Go back to bed only when you’re sleepy.

Silly part: leaving bed to fall asleep. Why it works: it retrains your brain so bed means sleep again.

The best thing you can do for tonight happens this morning.

Daylight in the first hour after you wake is one of the strongest signals your body clock gets. It helps set the timing for when you’ll feel sleepy that evening.

After a bad night, you want to hide inside with the blinds down. Do the opposite: ten minutes outside, even on a cloudy day. Bring the coffee.

Silly part: a sleep habit you do at 7am. Why it works: morning light sets your body clock for tonight.

Back to the picture.

Here’s the strange part: about half of all the magnesium in your body is stored in your bones. Most of the rest sits in your muscles and soft tissue.

Less than 1% is in your blood.

Hold onto that number. It explains a lot about why so many women who’ve tried every habit on this list still wake at 3:11.

Magnesium is involved in more than 300 processes in your body. At bedtime, a few of them matter most.

It helps your nervous system power down. It supports GABA, the calming messenger that tells your brain it’s safe to rest. It helps your stress response settle once the stress has passed. And it helps your muscles release after they’ve tightened.

When you’re running low, many women describe the same cluster:

✔️ waking between 2 and 4am, wired
✔️ tired all day, switched on at night
✔️ a racing mind the second your head hits the pillow
✔️ an eyelid or a calf that won’t stop twitching
✔️ legs that won’t settle, cramps that wake you
✔️ a short fuse you don’t recognize as you

Most people treat those as five separate problems. A pill for the nights. Coffee for the fog. A stretch for the cramps.

What if they share one thread?

This is the one I hear most.

Remember the number: less than 1% of your magnesium is in your blood. A standard blood test measures that 1%.

Your body works hard to keep that blood level steady, and it will borrow from its stores to do it. So the number on your lab report can look fine while the reserves behind it are running down.

On one magnesium forum, a woman listed every symptom she had, then added:

“I have all of these but my magnesium levels show as normal 😀 crazy world.”

A normal result doesn’t tell the whole story. It doesn’t mean your doctor was wrong to run it. It means that one test can only see the tip.

Think of it like a bucket with a few small holes in the bottom.

Food carries less than it used to. Nearly half of US adults get less magnesium from their food than the estimated requirement.

Stress burns through it. Your body uses more magnesium when it’s stuck in “on,” and running low can make stress hit harder. It’s a loop, not a character flaw.

Coffee and the evening glass of wine both pull a little out.

Some everyday medications can lower it over time, like long-term acid reducers and some diuretics. If that’s you, talk to your doctor. Never stop or change a medication on your own.

Hormones change. As estrogen falls in perimenopause, magnesium levels tend to fall with it.

None of that is your fault. All of it adds up.

Then you’re in good company. On the forums, this is the most common story there is.

“I’ve tried literally every form of magnesium over a two year period.”

Here’s what almost nobody is told: magnesium isn’t one thing. It’s always bound to something else, and that partner changes everything.

Magnesium oxide is the most common form on pharmacy shelves, and one of the most poorly absorbed. Magnesium citrate is so good at pulling water into the gut that it’s sold as a laxative. One woman on a forum called it “liquid dynamite.”

So if your magnesium did nothing, or sent you running to the bathroom, it may not have been the magnesium that failed.

It was probably the form.

Turn the bottle over tonight. If the label says oxide or citrate, you never really tried the version made for this.

There’s one form that’s different. It’s bound to an amino acid your nervous system already uses to quiet itself down. It’s gentle enough that many people who couldn’t tolerate the others find they can.

And it’s the reason habit #7 is the only one on this list that comes in a pouch.

Magnesium bisglycinate is magnesium bound to two molecules of glycine, a small amino acid. Chemists call that a chelate. Plain English: the magnesium comes wrapped.

Three things change when it’s wrapped this way.

1. It’s well absorbed. The glycine helps carry the magnesium through the gut wall by a different route from the loose forms. That’s why bisglycinate is widely known as one of the better-absorbed forms, and oxide as one of the worst.

2. It’s gentle. It doesn’t pull water into your gut the way citrate and oxide do. One reviewer of a bisglycinate supplement summed it up as “notably gentle on the stomach.” For the woman whose last magnesium sent her running to the bathroom, that matters.

3. Its partner is a fitting one for night-time. Glycine isn’t just packaging. It’s an amino acid your nervous system already uses as one of its own calming messengers.

And it’s being studied. A 2025 randomized, placebo-controlled trial tested magnesium bisglycinate in adults who reported poor sleep. That was this form, not any one brand’s gummy, and I’d never claim otherwise. But it’s the form researchers reached for.

One honest note. A small number of people find magnesium glycinate makes them feel more alert at bedtime. If that’s you, it’s usually a timing fix: take it with dinner instead of at lights-out.

Here’s the part nobody puts in the studies.

Every habit on this list only works if you do it. Night after night.

And magnesium has a quitting problem. The horse-sized tablets you dread swallowing. The chalky powder you mix twice and forget. The bottle ends up in the drawer, and the best-absorbed form in the world does nothing from there.

“I prefer the gummies.”

That’s a reviewer on a public health forum. A lot of people do.

Every other habit on this list asks you to do something: write the list, get out of bed, stand in the cold at 7am.

Habit #7 asks you to eat two raspberry gummies.

Before you buy any magnesium for sleep, turn the pouch over and check five things:

✅ The form says bisglycinate (or glycinate), not oxide or citrate
✅ No melatonin, so there’s no morning fog and nothing to depend on
✅ No sugar, because a nightly “gummy” shouldn’t be candy
✅ Third-party tested
✅ A real guarantee, because you’ve wasted enough on things that didn’t work

Plenty of products pass two or three of these. I’ve found one that passes all five, and it’s the one I point readers to:

✅ Magnesium bisglycinate chelate. No oxide, no citrate.
✅ Two raspberry gummies, 30–45 minutes before bed. No water, no mixing.
✅ No melatonin. Nothing that leaves you groggy, nothing to get hooked on.
✅ 0g sugar. Vegan, made with pectin instead of gelatin. Non-GMO.
✅ No artificial colors or flavors. No proprietary blends.
✅ Third-party tested. Made in the USA.
✅ 127 clinicians have shared NATURIA on FrontrowMD, without being paid to.

I’ll be straight with you, because this category often isn’t: this isn’t a sleeping pill. It doesn’t knock you out.

Magnesium works by building your levels back up night after night. Many people notice they feel calmer and settle more easily within the first few nights. For most, the biggest difference shows up after two to four weeks of taking it every night.

Everyone’s different. The key is taking it consistently, not expecting a switch to flip.

In NATURIA’s own customer feedback, after two weeks of nightly use:†

82% said they fell asleep faster
73% felt calmer and more relaxed at bedtime
88% woke up feeling more rested

Individual results vary.

It’s about the person you are the next day.

The one who doesn’t snap at the kids over a lost shoe. Who can follow a conversation at dinner without losing the word. Who laughs at the thing that would’ve made her cry last month.

Seven habits. Six of them are free. Start tonight with whichever one sounds least silly.

And if you’ve already tried the hot bath, the cold room and the chamomile, and you’re still lying there at 3:11, #7 may be the one that’s missing.

Take two gummies every night. If you’re not happy for any reason, email NATURIA within 90 days of delivery for a full refund.

Even if the pouch is open. You don’t have to send it back.

Magnesium builds over weeks, so a single pouch is a short trial.

That’s why I’d start with three pouches. It’s a full 90 days, the same length as the guarantee, which means the whole run is covered.

3 pouches: $44 each, under $1.50 a night, with free shipping, a free silk sleep mask and the free Manage Your Stress guide
2 pouches: $46.75 each, with free shipping
1 pouch: $49.50, a 30-night start

You can also choose auto-ship to save 15% and skip, pause or cancel anytime. Or buy once. It’s your call.

Go back to the picture one last time.

That woman doesn’t need a new mattress, a stricter bedtime or another app. She’s tried them.

Tonight she could put on socks. Write tomorrow’s list. Run the bath at 8:30. Take two raspberry gummies.

And find out what the 3:11 woman looks like at 10:52, before the night has a chance to start without her.

P.S. If you skimmed to the bottom, here are all seven:

1. Write tomorrow’s to-do list in bed.
2. Wear socks.
3. Keep the bedroom cold, around 60–67°F.
4. Take a hot bath 90 minutes before bed.
5. Get out of bed after 20 minutes awake.
6. Get outside within an hour of waking.
7. Look after the magnesium your bones are holding onto. A normal blood test sees under 1% of it. If magnesium “did nothing” before, check the form. NATURIA is gentle bisglycinate in two raspberry gummies, with no melatonin and 0g sugar, and a 90-day money-back guarantee, even if opened.

ADVERTORIAL. This article is paid content from NATURIA. “Christina Walsh” is a pen name used by NATURIA’s editorial team; the writer reports research and customer feedback and does not describe personal use of the product. Forum quotes are from public magnesium discussion boards and describe magnesium in general, not NATURIA. †Customer statistics are based on self-reported feedback from NATURIA customers. Testimonials are from verified NATURIA customers; individual results vary. The sleep habits described are general wellness information, not medical advice; if sleep problems persist, talk to your doctor. *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Guarantee: one refund per customer or household, within 90 days of delivery; see our refund policy. If you are pregnant or nursing, have kidney disease, or take prescription medication, talk to your doctor before use. Never stop or change a medication without speaking to your doctor.

Sources: Scullin et al., J Exp Psychol Gen 2018 · Ko & Lee, J Physiol Anthropol 2018 · Sleep Foundation bedroom-temperature guidance · Haghayegh et al., Sleep Med Rev 2019 · American Academy of Sleep Medicine insomnia guideline (CBT-I / stimulus control) · NIH NIGMS circadian rhythms fact sheet · NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Magnesium Fact Sheet for Health Professionals · Int. J. Vitam. Nutr. Res. deficiency review (2024–25) · US FDA Drug Safety Communication on PPIs and low magnesium (2011) · Firoz & Graber, Magnes Res 2001 · 2025 randomized placebo-controlled trial of magnesium bisglycinate in adults with poor sleep.