Can't Fall Asleep? The Evening Habits to Change First

If you have trouble falling asleep, look first at the coffee you had after lunch and the phone you take to bed. Those two evening habits have some of the clearest evidence against them. Evening workouts matter far less than you've been told, and dinner timing mostly matters if you get reflux.

You're tired by 9. By 11 you're in bed, wide awake, scrolling until your eyes finally give up. You've cut the late espresso and stopped going to the gym after work, and it hasn't helped.

If you drop off fine but wake at 3am, why you can't sleep through the night anymore covers night waking and how to treat it.

Which Evening Habits Affect Sleep the Most?

Caffeine and screens in bed come out worst, alcohol is a trap, and exercise is mostly fine. Here's who was actually studied.

Habit	What the research found	Who was studied
Caffeine during the day	45 minutes less sleep on average, and 9 minutes longer to fall asleep	24 studies of healthy adults, many using men only
A big caffeine dose 6 hours before bed	More than an hour less sleep, which people seemed not to notice	12 healthy adults who normally slept well
Screens in bed	Each extra hour linked to 59% higher odds of insomnia symptoms	45,202 Norwegian students aged 18 to 28, about two thirds women
Reading on a tablet	Longer to fall asleep and less melatonin than a paper book	12 people reading for 4 hours a night in a hospital study
A nightcap	Faster to fall asleep, more broken sleep later in the night	Healthy volunteers across many studies
Evening exercise	No harm found; hard exercise ending within an hour of bed might delay sleep	23 studies of healthy adults
A late dinner	Guidance, not a tested cut-off: a couple of hours (Mayo Clinic), 3 hours with nighttime reflux (NIDDK)	Advice is based on comfort and reflux

How Long Before Bed Should You Stop Caffeine?

For a regular cup of coffee, the best current estimate is close to 9 hours. That's earlier than the 5pm cut-off researchers suggested in 2013.

A 2023 review pooled 24 studies of caffeine and sleep in healthy adults. Caffeine cut total sleep by 45 minutes on average and lowered sleep efficiency by 7%. From a model of dose and timing, a cup of coffee (107 mg) needs at least 8.8 hours before bed.

For a 10pm bedtime, that's before about 1pm. A pre-workout drink (217.5 mg) needs 13.2 hours. For a cup of black tea, the model found no cut-off, so tea at any time before a 10pm bedtime didn't significantly cut sleep.

The model is an estimate, and many of the studies included men only. The same review notes that caffeine's half-life varies from two to 10 hours between healthy adults. That spread may help explain why one friend sleeps after an espresso and you don't.

Why You Don't Notice Caffeine Keeping You Up

You may feel fine and still lose sleep. In a 2013 study, 12 healthy normal sleepers took 400 mg of caffeine. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) puts that at about 2 to 3 cups of coffee. By the 2023 review's 107 mg cup, it's closer to four.

They took it at bedtime, 3 hours before or 6 hours before. Even at 6 hours, their measured sleep fell by more than an hour. Their own reports suggested they were unaware of it. The researchers concluded that caffeine generally should be avoided after 5pm.

That's a large dose and a small group, so treat it as a warning rather than a rule. If you take the combined pill, caffeine also stays in your body longer, which caffeine and hormones in women explains.

Does Alcohol Help You Sleep?

It helps you fall asleep, which is exactly why it's easy to rely on. A 2013 review of studies in healthy volunteers found that at all dosages, alcohol causes a reduction in sleep onset latency. That's the time it takes to drift off.

The cost comes later. The same review found the first half of the night more settled and the second half more disrupted. Your first stretch of REM sleep, the dreaming stage, arrives later at every dose.

Mayo Clinic says alcohol might make you feel sleepy at first but can disrupt sleep later in the night. So a glass of wine that fixes falling asleep can feed the 3am waking instead.

Do Screens in Bed Keep You Awake?

The link is consistent, and it seems to be about time in bed on the screen, not the app. A survey of 45,202 Norwegian university students ran in 2022 and was published in 2025. Each extra hour on a screen after going to bed came with 59% higher odds of insomnia symptoms. It also came with 24 minutes less sleep.

Social media was no worse for sleep than other screen activities. Women were more likely to use screens in bed, at 88.9% against 83.8% of men. They also reported more insomnia symptoms, at 37.9% against 25.6%. It was a one-time survey, so it can't show the screens caused the poor sleep.

Light is part of it too. In a Harvard sleep study, 12 participants read on an iPad for four hours before bed for five nights, and printed books on five other nights. With the iPad, they took longer to fall asleep, released less melatonin and were less alert the next morning.

Four hours is more than most people read, but the direction is clear. Charge your phone where you can't reach it from the pillow. If the scrolling is bad news on a loop, how to stop doom scrolling has a plan for that.

Does Working Out at Night Affect Sleep?

For most people, no. A 2019 review of 23 studies in healthy adults found no support for the idea that evening exercise harms sleep. If anything, people got slightly more deep sleep.

The exception was vigorous exercise ending an hour or less before bed, which might delay sleep and shorten it. A late run or class is fine if you finish at least an hour before lights out. How sleep and exercise affect each other goes into the detail.

How Long Before Bed Should You Stop Eating?

A couple of hours for most people, and about three if you get heartburn at night. These are practical guidelines rather than a cut-off tested in trials.

Mayo Clinic advises you to avoid heavy or large meals within a couple of hours of bedtime. It also says not to go to bed hungry or stuffed.

Reflux changes the timing. The NIDDK is the US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. For nighttime reflux, the NIDDK says eating meals at least 3 hours before you lie down may improve symptoms. Its list of common triggers includes alcohol, chocolate, coffee, high-fat foods, mint and spicy foods.

Can Melatonin Help You Fall Asleep?

The clearest evidence is for one group: people whose body clock runs late. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) describes delayed sleep-wake phase disorder, where people generally can't fall asleep until between 2 and 6am.

A 2018 trial included 307 people with the disorder. Melatonin an hour before the target bedtime, plus a set bedtime, helped them fall asleep 34 minutes earlier on average. NCCIH says it's uncertain whether the benefits outweigh the possible harms. Sleep medicine guidelines say there isn't enough strong evidence to recommend it for chronic insomnia.

Short-term use appears safe for most people, with mild side effects such as headache, dizziness, nausea and sleepiness. Long-term safety is unknown. In the US it's sold as a dietary supplement, and a 2023 study found 22 of 25 melatonin gummies were inaccurately labeled.

Check with a doctor first if you're pregnant or breastfeeding, take blood thinners or other medicines, or have epilepsy.

A Bedtime Routine for Better Sleep, in Order

Start at the top, where the evidence is strongest.

• Have your last coffee by early afternoon, or switch to black tea later in the day.
• Charge your phone out of reach of the bed.
• Skip the nightcap.
• Finish hard workouts at least an hour before bed.
• Eat your main meal a couple of hours before bed, or three if you get reflux.
• End with something calm. Mayo Clinic suggests a bath or relaxation techniques.

If your mind starts racing once the lights go off, how to stop anxious thoughts at night covers what helps.

When Trouble Falling Asleep Needs a Doctor

See a doctor if you've fixed the obvious habits and still lie awake most nights, or if tiredness is affecting your days. NCCIH notes that the American College of Physicians strongly recommends cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia as an initial treatment.

Mention any urge to move your legs that comes on in the evening. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke says restless legs syndrome is more common in women. Symptoms often start in the late afternoon or evening, at rest, and make it hard to fall asleep.

It's linked to pregnancy, especially the last trimester, and may be linked to low iron. Blood tests can rule out low iron levels. Tell your doctor too if you can't fall asleep until the early hours, however early you go to bed. The same goes if a partner notices loud snoring or pauses in your breathing.

Sleepless nights can come with low mood that won't lift, or thoughts of harming yourself. If so, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US.

In Canada, call or text 9-8-8, the Suicide Crisis Helpline at 988.ca. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans answer free on 116 123. In an emergency, call 911, 999 in the UK or your local emergency number.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is It OK to Drink Tea Before Bed?

Probably, if it's black tea. In the 2023 caffeine review's model, a cup of black tea at any time before a 10pm bedtime didn't significantly cut sleep. Coffee needed about 8.8 hours.

Why Can't I Fall Asleep After Working Out?

Hard exercise that ends within about an hour of bed might delay sleep, according to the 2019 review. Finish intense sessions earlier and keep the last hour for something gentle.

Why Can't I Fall Asleep Even When I'm Tired?

Afternoon caffeine and screens in bed are two of the best-studied culprits, and a racing mind is another. If your body clock runs late, or your legs won't keep still in the evening, see a doctor.