You know what’s better than an actual restful night of sleep? A successful session of pretend sleep!
Mastering how to pretend sleep in a convincing way can be a useful tool in lots of social situations. Whether it’s tricking your parents into believing you’re sticking to your bedtime, or eavesdropping on an important conversation, we’re not going to judge your reasons for pretend sleep.
In fact, we want to help you!
And so, without further ado, here are our seven tips and tricks for a convincing pretend sleep session, so you can finally do it with confidence!
7 Ways to Look Asleep
1) Be Normal!
Ok, even though making the decision to pretend sleep isn’t exactly normal, to be convincing at it, it’s important that you appear normal! What does that mean? Pick a sleeping position that is natural to you i.e. side, stomach, or back.
Also, be sure to do things you normally might do while you sleep like keep your mouth open, drool, or even sleep talk!
Because after all, probably the biggest red flag someone will spot when trying to call out a pretend sleeper is odd sleeping habits.
2) Relax!
While you might try pretend sleep as a way to avoid a stressful situation, it’s still important to appear relaxed during your fake slumber, just like you would during actual sleep.
What’s the best way to do this? Un-tense your jaw, shoulders, and extremities. Go one body part at a time, exhaling into each one to ensure it’s as relaxed as possible. Because a tensed up body is definitely a quick way to get spotted for pretend sleep!
3) Breathe Evenly and Deeply
Real sleepers inhale for the same amount of time as they exhale, and each inhale and exhale lasts longer than it would when you’re awake. So be sure to slow down your breathing rate and keep it steady during pretend sleep too.
Because let’s be honest – you don’t have to be a sleep detective to know that an unsteady breathing rate is a surefire sign of pretend sleep!
Additionally, breathe more using your chest; the rising and falling of your chest is definitely something a suspicious sleep spy might keep an eye out for!
4) Face Away from Onlookers
If possible, pretend sleep with your face towards a wall or blocked by a pillow. This way, if your face does give away any signs of pretend sleep, it will at least be covered and up your chances of not being spotted.
5) Avoid Facial Reactions
Whether a loud noise happens in your place of pretend sleep, or something funny, a true sleeper wouldn’t react with a twitch of the face or smile of the lips. Instead, those who are truly sleeping usually react by stirring or repositioning their whole body, like turning over or readjusting their pillow.
Therefore, if there is some kind of disturbance in the room of your pretend sleep charade, don’t react how you normally would… aka: fight your natural reactions! Instead of yelping, or blinking, or covering your ears, simply shift your body position or roll over.
6) React as Normal
Probably the biggest mistake every pretend sleeper makes is pretending not to react at all. Like if someone attempts to tickle or shake them awake and they mysteriously lie as still as a log.
What’s important to remember is that not reacting to these stimuli at all is quite unnatural and won’t be believed. Instead, react how a real sleeping person would i.e. mumbling or turning over.
7) Be Groggy
If someone does successfully “wake you up” from your pretend sleep charade, just know that it will be suspicious if you spring right awake, ready to have a full on conversation.
Remember that typically after someone wakes up their eyes are still droopy, their body is still tired, and their responses are still delayed and maybe even a bit incoherent. Keep this in mind even after your pretend sleep so you won’t be called out!
In Conclusion…
We hope this article takes your pretend sleep routine from novice to advanced over night!
What’s one situation where you had to pretend sleep? Is pretend sleep something you do often?
