Doctor says he has a foolproof method for falling asleep quickly – but not everyone is convinced

A doctor has divided opinion on TikTok after sharing his method for falling asleep quickly, but users are unconvinced. 

@Motivationaldoc uploaded the video – which has been viewed over 2.7million times – to share his foolproof way of nodding off. 

In his video, the doctor tells users to hold their index finger, middle finger and ring finger at the crease of the wrist, ‘right between the two tendons’. 

He then demonstrates how you should continually press this point for ‘about one minute’, before ‘holding that point’. 

@Motivationaldoc uploaded the video – which has been viewed over 2.7million times – to share his foolproof way of nodding off

In his video, the doctor tells users to hold their index finger, middle finger and ring finger at the crease of the wrist, ‘right between the two tendons’

He then demonstrates how you should continually press this point for ‘about one minute’, before ‘holding that point’

The doctor then instructs people to ‘close [their] eyes’ and ‘watch how you drift off to sleep’. 

Despite the video having nearly three million views, reactions from TikTok users were mixed. 

One user jokingly said: ‘Why didn’t he fall asleep then?’. 

Another disapproved of the method, stating: ‘Tried it. Didn’t work’. 

A third TikTok user quipped: ‘can you include a video on how to wake up quickly on your next video? I’m currently asleep and need a video to guide me how to wake up’. 

Whilst this particular ‘sleep hack’ received mixed reactions, @motivationaldoc has over 2.9 million followers on TikTok, with his videos receiving nearly 23 million likes. 

Whilst not everyone was convinced by this particular method for falling asleep quickly, researchers at Harvard Medical School found participants in a new study who maintained a regular and healthy sleep schedule had a 40 percent lower risk of an early death than those who didn’t.

This means consistently getting about seven to nine hours of sleep, on par with national recommendations.

‘Results suggest [the] benefits of expanding the public conversation on getting ‘a good night’s sleep’ and broadening this goal to getting many good nights of sleep, in a row, on weekdays and weekends,’ Research led by Joon Chung, involved in the study, said in a press release.

The findings were presented at the Associated Professional Sleep Societies’ regular meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, which was held in June 2023. 

According to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the findings come when a third of Americans aren’t getting enough sleep – at least seven hours a night.

A lack of sleep has consistently been linked to chronic health problems such as heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, obesity, and depression.