Personally, I don't use any bright or overhead lighting at home unless I'm washing dishes after dark. For nearly a decade now, I've been sticking with warm, ambient lighting at home — like candlelight, lamplight, and rope or fairy lights — and it's made all the difference. But you don't have to take my word for it: "Bright lights and screens suppress melatonin. They trick your body into thinking it's daytime still," Alex Dimitriu, MD, a double board-certified physician in psychiatry and sleep medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine, told POPSUGAR. "Besides making it harder to fall asleep, bright lights and screens can also lessen the quality of sleep all night long. Sleep is just not as deep."
Because a dark environment encourages the brain to produce melatonin, avoiding bright lights at home — especially before bed — is one simple habit that should help you fall asleep faster.