… I just wanna sleep
- Daily Exercise
- Concept Album musics
Consistent daily exercise
Apps that generate soft sounds of rain or waves.
When I close my eyes and see my demons, I engage them in a staring contest and fall contentedly asleep.
Hammer or perhaps large frying pan
For me, what works is an ADHD medication along with not trying to fall asleep. Trying to fall asleep causes me something in the area of anxiety and guilt, so I end up frustrating myself awake. If I focus on a mindless task like scrolling through Lemmy or reading a book, I get engaged in that and end up accidentally falling asleep. The funny thing is that I have to keep doing my mindless task until I fall asleep, so many times, I wake up looking like I passed out in the middle of something with my glasses still on and my phone laying around. I’m actually curiously impressed that my glasses or phone haven’t broken yet.
I feel you bro/sis, except the glass part. I woke up over a phone or a laptop to discover what random things my body did. Once I was debugging a crashing function and waking up I saw the offending test passed. It took a while to discover that the ‘miracle’ was my asleep body deleting some other code somewhere in the callchain ;)
Look up Progressive muscle relaxation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_muscle_relaxation
There are plenty of videos on YouTube, try a few and pick one you like.
Concentrating on breathing also helps.
Write about the things that worry you the most.
My (probably not very healthy) hack is to watch YouTube. My brain focuses on one thing and all the thoughts keeping me up just stay quiet.
If you have persistent sleep problems even after applying all the advice, if you can afford it, consider taking a sleep test/study to learn what’s the core issue
Imagine a place where you are most cozy and visit it every night when you try to sleep. And then maybe sound machines. And finally, deep breathing. Slowing your heart down through this will physically make your body want to go to sleep (so basically meditiation).
I do all of these in tandem, I have the sound machine going and I settle into my cozy part of my brain and then imagine my lungs as a cup filling up with water to the top while inhaling and then draining out as I exhale. The trick with this is to not stress yourself thinking about if you’re doing your breathing right, just try and relax and focus.
Also melatonin. But that isn’t effective for every situation.
Good luck.
Drugs hard core prescription sleeping pills. I’m sorry but if you’re as desperate as I was and have tried everything then hard sleeping drugs typically with a benzodiazapine in it
Previously I used the 4-7-8 method (take a deep breath for a 4-count, hold it for a 7-count, exhale for an 8-count). I did that until I fell asleep.
Recently I started deep breathing/exhaling (no counting) and it works just as well.
Sleeping hygiene is a good point. No phone in bed.
But also try to make it cozy
Have a nice duvet cover, I like cotton. No synthetics. Change it more often.
Temperature in your bed room should be lower, open your window before going to bed.
Have good curtains. But not too dark. Whenever I have a window shutter and I close it completely, I just don’t wake up and sleep over 8-10 h.
Here are my things I do when I can’t sleep
If my feed are cold, wear socks, or cloth but don’t heat the room too much.
Try to sleep in a different room (if you can). When I am just too active I move to my sofa for a change. It really helps me.
Important question. Are you alone or is someone next to you. If your sleeping schedule or preferences don’t mix with your partners, try separate beds. Cuddling sounds cute until you cannot sleep because of a snoring person next to you. And don’t be angry when your partner prefers to be separate.
I follow all those ideas except the couch. When I can’t sleep I change the scene, I sit in my bed and start reading. Eventually I’m sleepy enough to lie down again.
If I can’t sleep again I go back to reading. This is just to not associate lying down in bed and not sleeping. Reading in another room is probably best though.
Sleeping is my super power - I fall asleep within two or three minutes every night. Here’s how I do it.
- No caffeine ever.
- Listen to the same white noise track every night while sleeping. Your brain will recognize that the track equals time to sleep.
- Go to bed at the same time every day, even on weekends.
- Don’t hang out in bed. The bed is only for sleeping or sex. No phone use in bed.
Not possible when you works different shifts
Howso? Like some nights you get off at 5pm and sometimes you’re working til 9?
Sometimes I work all night
That there is your problem. Circadian rhythm is a real thing.
Yup, ok, that’s like trying to sleep on extra super difficult mode. Follow all the advice you like on here, but definitely get yourself some sleep meds. A therapist can prescribe them for you, and they’re typically easier and cheaper to find/schedule than a regular doctor.
That’s unfortunate. Hopefully you can at least have a set schedule on most nights since you can’t do it every night.
difficult when you only have 1 room
Like a studio apartment? Maybe it would help to have a “daytime setup” for your bed where pillows and cushions make it more like a couch, and a “nighttime setup” where it’s made up to sleep.
more like, I live with my parents, but hey, thanks for the tip! I never thought about this, I’ll try it.
To add to this. If you can’t sleep after about 15-20 minutes get out of bed and do something to relax your brain. Reading or meditating works well. Definitely no phone or TV, don’t read anything captivating. Read something boring you aren’t into. After you feel ‘sleep pressure’ go back to bed.
Over time this helps your body associate the bed with just sleeping. But it takes time and dedication. Find a routine.
Also highly recommend always going to bed and getting up at the same time, even weekends.
Achieve alot during the day