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How do 'you' go to sleep?

Kokuten

Kokuten

The Pixel Knight
Inactive Member
You know, I've come to notice that there are a 'lot' of insomniacs on this site. We've got people who either have a hard time or can't sleep when it comes to actually wanting to go to sleep. They'll say the medicine doesn't work, or just shutting their eyes doesn't get them to sleep, and they're left with out the napping hours. Some of us are like this as well, some nights we just can't close our eyes, so what do you do when you can't sleep to get yourself to sleep, for lack of medical aid?
____

I tend to just get in bed, and get completely still. From there I try to make my whole body still, starting with the toes. I go with the big toe, then the next, and the next, paying a mental note as I try to still the entirety of my body on the way up. I usually don't get to the thigh, having fallen asleep before I get to far.

The one rule is that if you 'move', you have to start over, all the way back to the big toe.
 
I think turning out the lights and taking my glasses off is a big part of my routine. I sleep on my side usually with one or two pillows, and I like to hold my wife and think about how grateful I am for her.
 
Music is a big thing for me. I have a Bedtime playlist on my iPod of slow songs, things to calm the mind (A good amount of T-Swift), and a stuffed animal to latch onto (the substitute for not having a wife).
 
My internal clock is pretty strict; my body forces me into sleep unless I push myself past it.

However, exercise helps. Not before bed, but during the day. Your body will want to send you into sleep to recover from the full day's exhaustion, and you'll have to resist.

Also, avoid looking at screens — tablets, phones, computers, TVs. Anything with blue light. It keeps my wife awake like no one's business.

Sometimes I have to force myself to progressively wake up earlier in order to shift my clock where it needs to be. That can be helpful, as it will get you to that exhaustion point sooner in the evening.

Above all, though — don't let things keep you awake. People, browsing, whatever. Excuse yourself and get your rest. The people around you will notice how much fresher you are, and they'll be happy about it.

(Final point: Don't rely on fapping. Your body adjusts.)
 
My problem is that for three years I've been working a graveyard shift. for a while I was also doing a morning job, but with school as well, it was getting to the point where I didn't have time for sleep.

Lately, however, I may not get to sleep till 3 or 4 AM, but I have plenty of time to sleep.

In order to get to sleep, I lie in bed for a while trying not to think, but usually end up thinking anyway, which is actually where I come up with a lot of ideas for plots and posts. sometimes this has the unfortunate side effect of me needing to get up and write down notes, but I can deal with it.
 
I do not sleep very much, 6-7 hours is typical.

As for going to sleep most nights, its not a problem. I go through a simple routine. I go through the house, turning off anything that doesn't need to be, which means by the time I get to the bedroom the house is dark.

Then its into the bathroom, brush my teeth, take off my glasses, drink half a glass of water. Go into the bedroom, adjust my pillows, move the cat, climb in turn on the fan in the corner for background noise and circulation, turn off the light, pull the covers over and roll onto my side. Say a brief thank you to the Creator, close my eyes and go to sleep.

Routine, it helps.
 
I usually only sleep 2-4 hours a night. Mostly due to living with two other people and late at night is my time to myself.
 
Thanks to my evening class schedule for uni, I turn off my computer at 1:00 AM, then I have a midnight snack, and read some more Pynchon, and the lights go out at about 1:30-1:45 or so.

I usually wake up at 9:45 or 10:00, so I get 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night. On particularly stressful Fridays or weekends, I can sleep in until 11:00.

On evenings where I've got something important to do in the morning, I turn off my computer at 12:00, no ifs or buts, and have a snack before bed. I can usually sneak in 6-7 hours if pressed and pick up what I missed with a nap during the day and a cup of strong, sugary tea in the morning.

My midnight snacks are usually simple things that don't take long, like toasted bread and butter or plain bread and butter downed with fridge-cooled water. If there are leftovers that taste good cold I'll eat those too. The general idea is carb-heavy food that's filling - it'll keep the blood away from your brain and to your stomach.

The main thing that prevents me from sleeping is light from outside, noise and heat. I hate the warm.
 
I have a hard time sleeping in general. It takes me a while but I pretty much have to mentally exhaust myself or find an outlet for my energy. There is nothing like just working out in the middle of the night. ^^;
 
My work schedule has me waking up at 6:00 A.M. during the week, so I dose my self with Z-quil. I then turn on the bed room fan, and meditate. Some times it works, some times it does not.
 
If I'm really tired but for some reason cant sleep, I'll hold a bit of tissue paper in my hand. I dont even have to use it, the mere thought of working myself up tips me over into slumberland.
 
Normally I just go in lay down read a few pages of what ever book I'm on, fall asleep wake up a 10-30 minuets later, take off my glasses and put my nook on the table then roll over and pass out.

But if i'm in a depressive, insomnia phase, I sit at my computer and work on crap like starships, writing, catching up on rp's, and watch entire TV series. By the time the sun rises I'm ready to pass out and sleep. Not that this is a good plan to solve these stretches of time.
 
Probably a shot or two of Jack Daniels or a nice tall, hot glass of sake helps the best if it's been an easy day. But working two jobs from about 10am to 1130pm helps, too.

And I'm calling BS on that last tidbit, Doshii. Ain't nothing you can do to beat that refractory cycle.
 
I think a certain shampoo bottle would disagree with you, Doshii, but anyway.

I honestly haven't found any one thing that makes it easier to go to sleep, since it seems to change for me consistently. Music is always playing for me though, so that never does it.
 
Why thats not funny at all.

Another way to get to sleep easily is if you go through some extreme pain or discomfort. Like you've been through something so painful and traumatizing that lying in a bed is the most comfy thing in the world.

I like to have: 3 pillows arranged so that it slopes, two pillows under each arm, one under my back and a smaller one supporting my legs.

I can confidently say I'm the only one on here that has paid nearly 60 bucks for pillows
 
I always have this struggle with my mind. My perfect scenario to fall asleep usually involves creating a dreamlike image and focusing on removing the barrier between me and the dream, or sometimes transposing myself into the conjured dream.

However this can go very wrong, depending on the level of sleepyness I've managed at that point I often find strange tangents of other thoughts getting muddled into the focus of the dream I'm trying to create. On one hand those stray elements can change my intended dream and turn for a very ingesting night. Or they can become new focuses, and most times those thoughts are more along awake ideas, which pull me further away from the making of sleep.

If all fails I resort to simple meditation. In my head while breathing in through the nose I say 'sleep,' and imagine breathing on the sleep. Then I say 'awake' and breathe out the awake. Once I get a steady feel for those senses, I stop speaking in my head then work on quieting all my thoughts until I attain a sense of emptiness and silence. From there it isn't long before I've stopped paying all attention and am gone.

Also having a cute warm little body to cuddle up to is also very helpful, if my girl however is away I substitute with a body pillow.
 
I read. The fact of the matter is, if I can't sleep, I make myself useful; I have an activity.

My body over the last four years has been trained into a system where I can only sleep in five hours stretches. To sleep any more than this, I have to wake up and then lay around for the next ten or fifteen minutes - but I always, always wake up after a maximum of five hours, irregardless of the time I sleep or the condition I'm in.

When I'm physically drained I will repeat this cycle one or two times and can often do so nearly indefinitely.
 
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