Ask Lemmy

Understand it's a skill you can practice. Close your eyes, get comfy, relax your body, find a happy thought.

I'm able to sleep almost immediately basically wherever I lay my head, so I've never really had any problems sleeping. However the most important change I've ever made for sleep quality was how I consume caffeine. Yes, I believe you can fall asleep while totally wired, I can too. The problem is that the sleep quality will be terrible and definitely can contribute to insomnia.

So first, the FDA nailed the appropriate amount of caffeine in a day. Don't consume more than 400mg in a day, and keep track. Too much caffeine with overstimulate you and will contribute to any feelings of anxiety while awake or trying to sleep.

Second, stop consuming caffeine several hours before bed. The biological half life of caffeine is between 6-8 hours, so if you have 400mg at 2pm, you'll still have roughly 200mg in your system at 10pm. That's where your sleep quality will get impacted. My personal rule is that I should space out my consumption over the morning, and stop having any caffeine at all in the afternoon.

Do relaxing activities before bed.

Don’t drink coffee or tea past 4:00PM

I haven't seen exercise mentioned nearly enough in this thread. Doing an hour of yoga before bed makes sleep soo much easier.

Have a 2 year old that falls asleep at 9, wakes up at 2:30ish Falls asleep at 4:30 after 2hrs of struggle and the wakes up at 0630.

Step 1: Acquire idiopathic hypersomnia

Step 2: Sleep and never stop

I like a podcast called Fall of Civilizations. It's very calming, quiet accounts of dark periods in history. Despite the juxtaposition, it's very chill and relaxing.

Progressive relaxation. Seriously.

I heard the US military swears by a bodyscan meditation exercise. That works for me, or at the very least calms me way down. Sometimes I'll try and take a short walk through the night, because I love it, but thinking about leaving the bed an getting ready for outside makes me very sleepy :) . Good luck falling asleep, unwanted awakeness is super boring and gets old really quick.

Take 1 g of niacin and 1 mg of melatonin right before bed.

Working out helps a bunch.

Medication:

Diphenhydramine 50mg.

Then diphenhydramine + Melatonin (20mg) (if I want to be dead asleep but will be groggy in the morning. Only used as last resort).

Exercise. If you aren’t physically tired you’ll have a hard time falling asleep. Most people with physical jobs have no problem sleeping.

In addition to all the above, I found a weighed blanket really helped me. Make sure your room is very dark, pitch black. If it is not, upgrade your blinds or a sleep mask. I got one that's simple and cotton and it works wonders.

Now its winter I also have a heated blanket.

How To Trick Your Brain Into Falling Asleep | Jim Donovan | TEDxYoungstown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5dE25ANU0k

Meditation works really well for me.

dont move at all. get comfy, then stop moving. dont even scratch a slight itch

This is what I tell my children, get comfy, relax your body, close your eyes, and think of something happy.

Controlled breathing

Jack off first

Anesthesia

/c/futuramasleepers

routines routines routines. same bedtime, same wake up time. if you establish a routine, it should take 14 days to kick in

Close your eyes and lie very still