Sleep — it's as much a beloved activity as it is an elusive one. Whether because of school, work, your social life or a combination of the three, getting a good night's rest is rarely in the cards.
Despite this common difficulty, there are certain tricks that can help you sleep, like keeping your sleeping environment comfortable, staying away from certain foods and turning off electronic devices.
Before you shut off your laptop, though, check out these 10 YouTube videos that were created specifically to help you drift off into dreamland. You'll find ambient music, nature sounds and other soporific solutions to your insomnia.
10 Videos That'll Put You to Sleep -- Literally
1. Forest and Nature Sounds
The sounds of nature have long been used to help people sleep. There's something about the natural world that's so soothing -- perhaps it's the rarity of getting away from civilization.
This video plays for 10 hours, ensuring that nothing will interrupt your deep sleep.
2. Relaxing Ambient Music and Calming Nature Sounds
Why settle for the forest? This video has three hours of several nature sounds, featuring the ever-relaxing ocean, with ambient music to help you sleep.
3. Soft Whispering and Soothing Music
In all honesty, this video will probably creep you out at first. The narrator's soft whispers are a little unsettling, but once you get used to it, you'll find yourself weirdly relaxed. It has 50,000 views, and most of the commenters agree that it helped them drift off.
Positive comments on YouTube? It must be true.
4. Night Crickets
Remember those summer nights of your childhood, falling asleep to the sound of crickets outside your window? In this video, crickets chirp as you fall asleep to your own nostalgia.
5. Guided Meditation
YouTube user Jody Whiteley has several videos in which she guides you toward meditation, relaxation or a deep sleep. It's reminiscent of instructional yoga videos.
6. Thunderstorms
Ever notice how tired you get on cloudy days? Recreate that experience with the sound of falling raindrops and soft thunder.
7. Music to Induce Delta Waves
Delta waves are deep, slow brain waves emitted during deep sleep. This video claims to increase these waves to help you relax. Whether or not that's true, the ambient music is soothing.
8. Tips for Falling Asleep Quickly
This video won't make you fall asleep by itself, but the various tips -- keeping your room clean and dark, turning off electronic devices, etc. -- can help revamp your sleeping ritual.
9. Samuel L. Jackson Reading 'Go the Fuck to Sleep' [NSFW]
What happens when you combine a cheeky children's book and Samuel L. Jackson's baritone voice? Extreme relaxation, that's what.
There's NSFW language in this video, but if you're playing a video out loud at work, you have other problems.
10. Celestial White Noise
White noise is a very neutral sound to maintain focus and block out distractions, but it can be very annoying. This video features "celestial white noise" -- it's a little bit deeper, lower and less staticky.
