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Getting to bed and staying there
The LandoStander
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
In the last few months I've started a job for which I find myself getting up at about a quarter to six every morning so I have enough time to shower, dress, eat and pack my lunch for the day. I'm actually writing this just before I zip out of the door to be at work with maybe five or ten minutes to spare before 7am so I can get set up for work to begin.
Before this I had jobs that started at 8 or 9 and I got by with hitting the sack around 11pm. I've since tried to scale back to 10:30 and more recently even 10pm. My problem has a few aspects to it. Firstly my wife doesn't work until 10am at the earliest on the days she does work, so she's a bit amazed that I'm wanting to go to bed so early and when we do get to bed when I want, she wants to read or watch TV etc. This might not be a problem for some but I have a touch of the ADD so when it's time for me to sleep I can't really have anything else going on. I've talked with my wife but it produces limited results. Also it's not my only sleep related issue. The other is I find myself waking up a bit more than usual, especially later into my sleep cycle, as if I'm only able to sleep for maybe six hours at a time before I wake up and spend the remainder of the night or in this case the early morning just trying to catch a bit more sleep before the alarm clock sounds.
So, aside from various pills and alcohol, what have you folks found that works best for getting you to sleep and keeping you there?
Before this I had jobs that started at 8 or 9 and I got by with hitting the sack around 11pm. I've since tried to scale back to 10:30 and more recently even 10pm. My problem has a few aspects to it. Firstly my wife doesn't work until 10am at the earliest on the days she does work, so she's a bit amazed that I'm wanting to go to bed so early and when we do get to bed when I want, she wants to read or watch TV etc. This might not be a problem for some but I have a touch of the ADD so when it's time for me to sleep I can't really have anything else going on. I've talked with my wife but it produces limited results. Also it's not my only sleep related issue. The other is I find myself waking up a bit more than usual, especially later into my sleep cycle, as if I'm only able to sleep for maybe six hours at a time before I wake up and spend the remainder of the night or in this case the early morning just trying to catch a bit more sleep before the alarm clock sounds.
So, aside from various pills and alcohol, what have you folks found that works best for getting you to sleep and keeping you there?
Maybe someday, they'll see a hero's just a man. Who knows he's free.
The LandoStander on
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Jog / Walk / Dance / .... before you hit the sack.
I run a fan in my room practically all year, it works great.
Don't take naps
Don't eat right before bed.
Don't do anything in bed except have sex and sleep. No TV in bed, just sleep and sex.
Read for 30 minutes before you want to go to sleep or so.
Exercise during the day.
Make sure the room is dark when you're trying to go to sleep.
Once you set a sleep schedule, a consistent one, and have rituals to go to sleep like reading, you'll slowly adjust to it. I for a while was having problems getting to sleep before 4AM and waking up before noon, because I work afternoons and evenings. Then I started working really hard to lose weight and bone up on my audition pieces. I run twice a day for an hour, practice for at least an hour, I've got a gig coming up that in a rare twist I have to practice for, so that's another hour or so. Since I'm in an off-week right now that's only 4 hours a day still I need to be up. But holy shit I am now 11-7 sleeping like it's nothing. I collapse at 11 and pretty much nothing can wake me.
usually in the past i've done some light exercise, like running or crunches, and then listen to music while i sleep.
sometimes, though, that's not enough. i've been using these for a while now, and, taken sparingly, they work really well.
you can get those at any CVS or similar store.
On the other hand, every month or so I'll have a night when I have a lot on my mind and around 1130 or so I'll realize as I lie in bed, "Oh fuck I'm never going to fall asleep." In a situation like that having prescription meds on hand is a life-saver. You're basically past the point of no return as far as getting to a place where you can fall asleep, and the fact that you're now stressing that you need to be asleep like NOW just makes things worse.
Problem is you have to get them before you need them, and in some cases doctors can be a real bitch about prescribing them (even though modern prescription sleep aids are non-narcotic).
This whole quote is gold. If your wife is bugging you I'd get an eye pillow and earplugs.
When i've got a situation where i've got a lot of crap on my mind that's stopped me from falling asleep i generally put on an audio-book read by somebody with a deep voice, try and focus on the plot to help drown out whats racing around your head and then just shut your eyes and listen.
I also agree with this response. Although, I'll also mention that I had picked up insomnia after some traumatic events in the last few months but have dealt with it. I mean, I wasn't going crazy, but I had a lot of stress going on in my life. It may or may not apply to your situation, but I found meditating for 10-30 minutes sometime before going to bed would help me a lot. I've since kept up the habit when I can or when I find myself stressed out from work or just have a lot of things on my mind.
I've practiced some (casul?) meditation for the last few years, and I would use it whenever I found that I had a lot of stress; it would help a lot. I still use it that way these days, just calming down and clearing my thoughts and feelings before bed feels pretty good.
It's not addictive (probably because the first night you sleep without using it, you'll have crazy, vivid dreams and never want to use it again)... but it works quite well. Take it about an hour before you want to be asleep. I used it for about a week and found myself on the new schedule without any problems after that.
I started waking up about half past 5 so I can get stuff done and work out before work. Since I do it every day I regularly wake up before my alarm goes off, even on weekends or if I stay out late the night before.