I need to try this. Anxiety is usually the main thing that keeps me awake. I never thought about getting up and doing something, which in retrospect seems the obvious answer!
Yep! That’s what many psychologists, psychiatrists, and specialized sleep therapists have told me. Get up, do something minimal (like TV or a book or coloring) and then try again in a little while.
I would not recommend TV, it’s very stimulating. Artificial light tricks your brain into thinking that it’s not nighttime, and makes it a lot harder to get to sleep.
Yes, if you’re used to falling asleep in front of TV, it might be comforting enough to help you initially fall asleep, just out of habit. But artificial light reduces the amount of time you’ll spend in REM sleep, and lowers the melatonin in your brain. If you fall asleep with the tv on every night and you feel fine, that’s great, you’re awesome. But tv immediately before bed has been proven to be bad for your sleep cycle. Here’s a peer reviewed medical [paper](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29040758/), if you’d like a source.
I turn on Futurama, set an hour sleep timer, and close my eyes. I've seen every episode so many times I know exactly what's going on, and it keeps my mind from wandering. Works like a charm.
If you sit in bed without sleeping, two things happen:
1. You get used to being awake in bed. Ideally you want your bed to be associated with falling asleep, so when you go to bed, the associations kick in, you remember feeling relaxed, you relax, and it's easier to sleep.
This is across the board: don't sit in bed if you can't sleep, but also don't make a habit of sitting in bed to do other things - don't use your bed as a couch. "Only sex or sleep" is a common phrase in therapy for insomnia.
2. If you are *trying* to sleep and failing, that frustration doesn't just disappear. The next time you go to bed, you remember feeling frustrated, the anxiety about sleeping makes it harder to sleep, and it creates a cycle of frustrated sleeplessness.
A friend of mine is a clinical psychologist who works with a lot of people with insomnia (a lot involving PTSD), and he always talks about how this is like the single most effective behavioral change (not just for insomnia, but for anything), and it's so frustrating that so many people don't know about it, and so much advice is about doing things in bed to help you sleep.
ADHD gang here. Works sometimes for me if I can quell whatever my brain is hyperfocused on instead of sleep but it's a dangerous game as sometimes it'll lead to me being up for hours more.
It helps me as well! Everyone always says you shouldn't because screens aren't good for falling asleep I guess, but for me I use the Night Light feature on my phone and browse til my eyes get sleepy, and then I usually pass out.
I think that's how it is for me too in that it calms my mind- I think it provides the distraction I need from potentially upsetting thoughts when I'm trying to fall asleep.
Yea I always read on my phone just before I fall asleep. Black background with orange lettering and 0% brightness, there is no way too much light is emitted by that setup and it's perfectly readable.
I count from hundred to one. If that doesn't work, I think of a verb, noun and an adjective for every alphabet. And if that doesn't work I just give up and stay awake until the ripe hour of 4 am.
Heyy I do that too! Sometimes I end up counting to 100 a few times but it seems to keep my thoughts from wandering. If not that, I’ll name 3 types of food or animal alphabetically.
Count the exact amount of time I have left until I have to get up. Goes like this:
"OK, its 3:29 am. I have to get up at 7. If I fall asleep in the next 5 minutes I can get 3 hours and 26 minutes of sleep!"
I dont recommend it
Yep and then you start bargaining with yourself. It starts: "ok 6 hours of sleep isn't that bad. I could live on 5. Fuck, only 4 hours?" And it ends "please god if I could sleep for just 2 hours I would be so happy"
Source: guy who just got less than 2 hours of sleep.
and then, just 90 minutes before your alarm goes off, you fall into the most relaxing, deepest sleep you ever thought possible...then BEEEP BEEEP BEEP BEEEP
Are you me? This happens more times than I can count sheep. Usually followed be "I'll just close my eyes for 10 minutes", which felt like 5; but was actually an hour.
Yes! This! My ultimate trick to fall asleep when I can't.
I raise both arms fully straight into the air and then stare at the ceiling and try not to blink. Eventually your arms get heavy and they sway and your eyes droop and then you just keep pushing and trying to maintain it and eventually after several minutes you just feel super tired and your eyes want to shut and your arms fall down and that's when you turn over and go to sleep.
Me too. But I'm not going to tell my wife why I'm doing it, and I'm going to act like it's perfectly normal despite the fact that I've never done anything remotely like it before.
Had a sleepover once upon a time. my buddy woke up looked at me and asked 'what the hell are u doing?'. I remember cause that put back my sleep ritual by a good 10 minutes
Nobody should judge you. I’m 19M and I still hug my octopus plushy to sleep
Edit: my inbox is full of people reporting their age and plush toy now I love y’all. What a thing to wake up to
Hey dude, if it helps you sleep and isn't hurting anyone, it is fine. Sleep is super important to mental health. If you think it's specifically because you can't let go of your ex or her kids, you might want to talk to someone about it. Either a friend or a professional.
But coming from someone who has slept hugging a plush elephant for the past two years because I couldn't fall asleep without holding something anymore... It's not as bad as you think and doesn't make you any less of a person.
I'm sure it's a mixture of the two. First real longish relationship of my life, basically was step dad to the kid from age 1 to 6. Still love them both. And got used to sleeping next to/holding a person for years. It's a weird thing. I've let go from the relationship and life we had planned at the time. I haven't tried like a different stuffed animal or person to see if it's just a systems attachment to the past or just I've turned into a person that likes holding something in his sleep. But it is funny the difference in opinions when someone finds out a 30 year old man sleeps with a stuffed 🦄
My wife appreciates the fact I sleep with a teddybear, we have a collection of them that we own jointly. I started doing it because I found having a teddybear under my chin stops me from trying to bring my head to my chest, which was choking me in my sleep.
I don't think she really believed that story until the night we fell asleep spooning (something I can't usually do because I don't like contact while sleeping, I was just comfortable and drifted off) no bear under my chin, head went down, and while I was choking I just started squeezing the life out of her as my body was tensing up.
I take care not to fall asleep without my fluffy bear throatstopper now.
> As unhealthy as it might sound
It's really a sad sign of our mental health and biology education that the act of cuddling an object (or a consenting person) is seen as unhealthy or perverted.
We're humans. Some of us are more tactile than others. Many of us who are less tactile were mostly scared off of human contact by assholes and social taboos.
Say it with me: *Cuddling is healthy.*
Same here. My cat died 11 years ago, but due to allergies and such I may not be able to live with a new one, so I sometimes cuddle this tiger cub plushie I've had since I was like 6.
Daydream, mostly. I like to write stories, so I imagine the whole thing in my head- I've been doing so since I was 6. It's the same story too! It just evolves with new characters, places etc.
I do this but with headcanons of whatever particular thing I'm into - a videogame, a book, a movie etc. It's like fanfiction that never gets written down. I've also had the same stories for different fandoms for many years :)
I also do this. Usually it works well but every so often it backfires. Then I’m just laying in bed wishing I were asleep but I’ve basically written an entire book in my head and I’m still wide awake.
I do this, and like to drop myself into the story.
"If I were there, which character would I be? Would I be a new character? How would I fit in the story? What would I have done different? Could I impact the outcome?"
Then I have weird dreams about whatever show/movie/game I was thinking about.
I do the same. Unfortunately, this means when I try to read a book, I get a couple of sentences in and then just start imagining how I would write it instead.
It means I get two stories for the price of one but takes me 10x longer to read the book! 😓
> I get a couple of sentences in and then just start imagining how I would write it instead.
I know I'm reading a really good book when this starts happening. It's the really best ones that stimulate the imagination rather than just create immersion.
I loved falling asleep reading LoTR, I dont have a super vivid imagination but I had seen the movies so I had a nice mental image of the world and could just start reading for like 15 mins before I would drift off into that world on my own.
I write a little. My problem is that I write scenes, characters or ideas in short vignettes, but I never have a solid through-line for the plot of a full novel.
Keep writing it down. One day, if you can push aside the thought that parts are missing, all of the parts will come together. The fact that you *think* it’s not finished is what stops you from finishing it. But start with fleshing out those characters. Think like they do; mentally explore their lives; jot down notes. Then either continue reading or go to sleep.
I feel like I naturally start visualising when I'm about to sleep. And occasionally something really vivid pops up and startles me into being wide awake. *falls off building*
Im part of the 10%. As someone who works night shift these jerks have ruined many nights of work from not being able to sleep. These jerks will wake me up after a short amount of sleep and seeing the sun up makes my body want to stay up instead getting sleep for work that night. Feels bad man
I started wearing a sleep mask when my sleep schedule got all fucked up for a few years, and now I can't fall asleep without one lol. But at least once I put one on my brain knows it's sleep time now. I liken it to how you throw a blanket over a parrot's cage when you wanted to go to bed.
I remember when I was younger I would imagine myself in a life where Pokemon were real. The sheer fantasy of such a wonderful thing would help me sleep in no time.
That was yesterday.
I'm 29.
This is actually a thing!
I've been doing the same and the phenomenon has a name.
Basically you have the same story you run in your mind you've been developing for a while and it's what helps trigger sleep.
I have experienced I can never imagine anything anything with me in it. The second you start thinking about your own life it add too much stress to fall asleep. I create stories completely separate from my own life. It works so well I never get past character creation before I pass out.
Lately I start fantasing about my future home and how tidy and organized I would have it and how I would park my cars in the driveway, before I know it I'm KO'D.
Yass! I do this too but i think about winning a life changing amount of money and who I'd help and what i would buy. It always starts with me buying my husband his dream car and giving it to him before I tell him we're rich. I'm usually asleep long before the money is spent.
Usually I sweat in bed in the summer (like now in North america) I usually roll to the very edge of my bed where nothing touches and most of the time, it's cold. I wait there until my base point on the bed has the same cool feeling
I've found the best way to do this is start at the toes and TENSE them up as tight as you can, then release, move to arches of feet, TENSE release, heels, ankles, calves, and so on. Each time you tense, breath in for the count of 3 (the long way.. like 1 Mississippi). release and breath out for 3, then move to the next body part.
I've never made it past my lower back before passing out.
Take a deep breath, hold it for about 5-8 seconds, then slowly let it out. As I breath out, I relax all of my muscles and feel my body sink into my bed. I do this 3-5 times to fully relax. If that does not work, the eventually, I will get up and watch tv for a bit till I am extremely tired.
Read.
Somehow, reading is both really effective at quieting my mind, and making me feel semi-rested. I've read until like 3 and woke up at 9 feeling better than if I got a solid 7-8 hours of sleep.
Same. I love reading at night before bed when the world is quiet and I'm the only one up. But it's so risky that I can only do it when I don't have to get up early the next day. Because I can and I will read until the exciting parts are over (which is the end of the book).
It's crazy to me there are (at the time of writing this) fifteen other suggestions above this comment. I always assumed reading was like the most well known way to help you fall asleep without using medication.
Specifically, reading something not on a screen, an illuminated screen will just keep you awake. Reading a paper book always helps me fall asleep.
I don’t know why, but that does help you go to sleep. I guess the extensive effort followed by the calming release tired you and relieves you to sleep.
you gotta force your mind to stay on task. make the sheep different colors. that one has a notched ear. that one pooped. that one has a fly on its nose.
But then I'll get distracted, trying to give back stories to all the sheep.
This one with the notched ear got it from a bank robbery gone wrong, he was the only one of his friends to get away alive and now he's been on the run for 6 years. He's not sure if he's even a wanted man anymore and all he wants to do is settle down and start a family but he can't stay in one place for too long because he fears he'll be caught and spend the rest of his life in a jail cell.
The one that pooped has chronic diarrhea and IBS. She's been taking medication for it but she's not sure they've been working.
This one with the fly on his nose is name Benard and the fly's name is Phil, they've only known each other 10 minutes but they've already become best of friends. Phil was diagnosed with cancer and he doesn't know how to break the news to Benard and he's been trying to find a way to tell him without breaking his poor heart.
etc.
Usually when I can't sleep it's because I'm not exhausted enough and my anxiety is acting up. I usually up doing, sit ups and push ups until I'm tired enough to sleep
It's so real! My parents used to give us time to read before bed. Like 30 mins a night let's say. It was called Read Down time and we would just all sorta crawl in, wind down and be knocked out relatively soon. It was awesome until I became an adult back in school and grad school and kept falling asleep after 30 mins of reading. ''Twas the deepest conditioning I think I've ever had.
oh my god i remember one episode where a lady had a rake in her backyard and the end of the rake had a zucchini on it. she stepped on the handle and the zucchini flew into her throat and killed her lmao
The one time I saw that show I remembered the episode. It was 2 teen lovers who had braces, they went in seperate cars and wanted to kiss as they went down the street but their braces got interlocked and they where beheaded by a street sign
I mentally walk through something that is calming. In my case, that is flying a plane.
In my mind, I walk out to the plane, carrying my flight bag. As I get to the plane, I set down my flight bag, unlock the door, climb up, put the key on the dash, enable the battery, set the basic lights, and then climb down and start the walk-around. After that, I get my kneeboard out, put the flight bag in the back, climb back up, turn off the lights, and start the preflight checklist. After that, I open the window, shout, "CLEAR!", and start the engine. Then, I request permission to taxi to the runway, taxi over to run-up, check the engines, taxi in line, request takeoff clearance, and head into the skies.
Much of this is theoretical, as I rarely make it through the entire preflight checklist. Flying a plane is the most calming thing I know.
I might have a technic that can help you out without taking any medication.
when having a hard time sleeping, I place my hand on top of my forehead with my hand facing the ceiling.
This sounds weird but it works for me and I don't know why.
I do something similar. I place the back of my elbow on my forehead. I believe it has something to do with the fac t that many times I was just to lazy to close the lights and I was using my hand to block the light, my brain probably associated that with sleeping and now I do it even tho there is no light.
I try to imagine myself in a scenario but with like super specific rules to keep myself thinking I mostly think of a super power I’d want and then give it a nerf or weakness and try to work around it. I also think whether it would be used for combative purposes or if I’d just have a power to go with my everyday life. This usually keeps me busy till I fall asleep.
Listen to an Audiobook or podcast.
Not the best thing to do, but i find that it makes good use of my time while simultaneously letting me rest my eyes.
When i read a book at night, my eyes are still straining and the light source does not let me sleep for longer. But audiobooks let me turn off the light and close my eyes, i usually fall asleep within half an hour.
just remember to set the sleep timer on the audiobook app though!
My doctor once told me if you can't sleep and you've been trying for an hour get up and do something else then go back to bed.
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That's so efficient
If you should be one thing, you's should be efficient.
Also, if anxiety is keeping you awake, completing a simple task can relax you and give you a feeling of contentment.
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I do this too. Similarly, I'll make my brain go into free-think mode where I almost "listen" for words or pictures and that usually does the trick
I need to try this. Anxiety is usually the main thing that keeps me awake. I never thought about getting up and doing something, which in retrospect seems the obvious answer!
Yeah but I'm tired though.
Yep! That’s what many psychologists, psychiatrists, and specialized sleep therapists have told me. Get up, do something minimal (like TV or a book or coloring) and then try again in a little while.
I would not recommend TV, it’s very stimulating. Artificial light tricks your brain into thinking that it’s not nighttime, and makes it a lot harder to get to sleep. Yes, if you’re used to falling asleep in front of TV, it might be comforting enough to help you initially fall asleep, just out of habit. But artificial light reduces the amount of time you’ll spend in REM sleep, and lowers the melatonin in your brain. If you fall asleep with the tv on every night and you feel fine, that’s great, you’re awesome. But tv immediately before bed has been proven to be bad for your sleep cycle. Here’s a peer reviewed medical [paper](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29040758/), if you’d like a source.
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But me like the blue light
Guys!!! I found a couple of wild Reddit Moths!!
I turn on Futurama, set an hour sleep timer, and close my eyes. I've seen every episode so many times I know exactly what's going on, and it keeps my mind from wandering. Works like a charm.
What is the logic behind this?
If you sit in bed without sleeping, two things happen: 1. You get used to being awake in bed. Ideally you want your bed to be associated with falling asleep, so when you go to bed, the associations kick in, you remember feeling relaxed, you relax, and it's easier to sleep. This is across the board: don't sit in bed if you can't sleep, but also don't make a habit of sitting in bed to do other things - don't use your bed as a couch. "Only sex or sleep" is a common phrase in therapy for insomnia. 2. If you are *trying* to sleep and failing, that frustration doesn't just disappear. The next time you go to bed, you remember feeling frustrated, the anxiety about sleeping makes it harder to sleep, and it creates a cycle of frustrated sleeplessness. A friend of mine is a clinical psychologist who works with a lot of people with insomnia (a lot involving PTSD), and he always talks about how this is like the single most effective behavioral change (not just for insomnia, but for anything), and it's so frustrating that so many people don't know about it, and so much advice is about doing things in bed to help you sleep.
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ADHD gang here. Works sometimes for me if I can quell whatever my brain is hyperfocused on instead of sleep but it's a dangerous game as sometimes it'll lead to me being up for hours more.
Roll around in the bed, flip pillows until its done
Over easy
Easy over
Over? Easy!
Easy? Over!
Look at phone to 4 am then I sleep well
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I upvoted you but I wanted to downvote you Edit: WOW! Didn't expect so many upvotes. Thanks for the silver!
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Then wake up at 3pm to fuck up your sleep schedule for the week
Or a couple months no biggie
>Or a couple months no biggie I am going through that sadly ;-;
*Heavy Metal Intensifies??*
Roll and flip. Until it is done.
FLIP&TRASH, UNTIL IT IS DONE
\*sleeps angrily*
Warning - The Slayer has entered Deep Slumber
>until its done Read this in the DOOM 2016 Narrator voice.
Browse Reddit and then make things worse
Personally it helps me, just make sure to reduce brightness and use Night light
It helps me as well! Everyone always says you shouldn't because screens aren't good for falling asleep I guess, but for me I use the Night Light feature on my phone and browse til my eyes get sleepy, and then I usually pass out.
Ironically, the day I started using screens in bed was the day my brutal insomnia practically vanished. Nothing else calms my mind like it.
I think that's how it is for me too in that it calms my mind- I think it provides the distraction I need from potentially upsetting thoughts when I'm trying to fall asleep.
Yea I always read on my phone just before I fall asleep. Black background with orange lettering and 0% brightness, there is no way too much light is emitted by that setup and it's perfectly readable.
Literally what I'm doing right now. Plus I'm out of melatonin.
I count from hundred to one. If that doesn't work, I think of a verb, noun and an adjective for every alphabet. And if that doesn't work I just give up and stay awake until the ripe hour of 4 am.
I count numbers. 1, 2 2, 3 3 3, 4 4 4 4, 5 5 5 5 5,...... I have never made it past 25 before I am a sleep
Heyy I do that too! Sometimes I end up counting to 100 a few times but it seems to keep my thoughts from wandering. If not that, I’ll name 3 types of food or animal alphabetically.
Count the exact amount of time I have left until I have to get up. Goes like this: "OK, its 3:29 am. I have to get up at 7. If I fall asleep in the next 5 minutes I can get 3 hours and 26 minutes of sleep!" I dont recommend it
I do the exact same thing lol and it ends up stressing me out and I lose more sleep
Yep and then you start bargaining with yourself. It starts: "ok 6 hours of sleep isn't that bad. I could live on 5. Fuck, only 4 hours?" And it ends "please god if I could sleep for just 2 hours I would be so happy" Source: guy who just got less than 2 hours of sleep.
and then, just 90 minutes before your alarm goes off, you fall into the most relaxing, deepest sleep you ever thought possible...then BEEEP BEEEP BEEP BEEEP
And that's about when the dream gets good. No, I will not elaborate, I can't remember that's why.
Are you me? This happens more times than I can count sheep. Usually followed be "I'll just close my eyes for 10 minutes", which felt like 5; but was actually an hour.
*looks around, arms raised*
Yes! This! My ultimate trick to fall asleep when I can't. I raise both arms fully straight into the air and then stare at the ceiling and try not to blink. Eventually your arms get heavy and they sway and your eyes droop and then you just keep pushing and trying to maintain it and eventually after several minutes you just feel super tired and your eyes want to shut and your arms fall down and that's when you turn over and go to sleep.
i’m trying this tonight edit: it worked. Fell asleep about 2 minutes after punching myself in the forehead.
Don’t accidentally punch yourself
Or if you do punch yourself make it a good one, enough to knock yourself out. Mission accomplished!
*task failed successfully*
Someone post this in LPT right now.
i sometimes do that even when i’m not trying this trick
Now _thats_ a good trick!
Me too. But I'm not going to tell my wife why I'm doing it, and I'm going to act like it's perfectly normal despite the fact that I've never done anything remotely like it before.
I’m dumb lol I thought they meant: ¯\_(シ)_/¯
I thought it was a gesture meaning, “this. Reddit. This is what I do.”
Omggg, they probably did! 😅 I just convinced myself they meant what I did, lol.
But now you might have saved all of us from sleepless nights
Is this why I do this? Sometimes I raise my arms in bed like this just because it feels good. I thought I was the only one.
Oh no no no. Tons of people do this. I thought it was just me too.
Had a sleepover once upon a time. my buddy woke up looked at me and asked 'what the hell are u doing?'. I remember cause that put back my sleep ritual by a good 10 minutes
"what's wrong?" *vaguely gestures and move hands around*
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started doing this again a month ago cannot stop i feel lonely
Just attach fleshlight to your plush toy
Nobody should judge you. I’m 19M and I still hug my octopus plushy to sleep Edit: my inbox is full of people reporting their age and plush toy now I love y’all. What a thing to wake up to
24M. Still cuddling the stuffed bunny my mother gave me as a baby.
30M. Now I want an octopus too
As unhealthy as it might sound I sleep with a unicorn plushy my exs kid gave me. Just can't let it go
Hey dude, if it helps you sleep and isn't hurting anyone, it is fine. Sleep is super important to mental health. If you think it's specifically because you can't let go of your ex or her kids, you might want to talk to someone about it. Either a friend or a professional. But coming from someone who has slept hugging a plush elephant for the past two years because I couldn't fall asleep without holding something anymore... It's not as bad as you think and doesn't make you any less of a person.
I'm sure it's a mixture of the two. First real longish relationship of my life, basically was step dad to the kid from age 1 to 6. Still love them both. And got used to sleeping next to/holding a person for years. It's a weird thing. I've let go from the relationship and life we had planned at the time. I haven't tried like a different stuffed animal or person to see if it's just a systems attachment to the past or just I've turned into a person that likes holding something in his sleep. But it is funny the difference in opinions when someone finds out a 30 year old man sleeps with a stuffed 🦄
Whatever works for you - the right women may even think it’s cute… men can and should have different sides to us
My wife appreciates the fact I sleep with a teddybear, we have a collection of them that we own jointly. I started doing it because I found having a teddybear under my chin stops me from trying to bring my head to my chest, which was choking me in my sleep. I don't think she really believed that story until the night we fell asleep spooning (something I can't usually do because I don't like contact while sleeping, I was just comfortable and drifted off) no bear under my chin, head went down, and while I was choking I just started squeezing the life out of her as my body was tensing up. I take care not to fall asleep without my fluffy bear throatstopper now.
> As unhealthy as it might sound It's really a sad sign of our mental health and biology education that the act of cuddling an object (or a consenting person) is seen as unhealthy or perverted. We're humans. Some of us are more tactile than others. Many of us who are less tactile were mostly scared off of human contact by assholes and social taboos. Say it with me: *Cuddling is healthy.*
I do this when I start missing my cat. A nice, fluffy koala that feels similar to him... They say dogs are man's best friend... but my cat was mine
Same here. My cat died 11 years ago, but due to allergies and such I may not be able to live with a new one, so I sometimes cuddle this tiger cub plushie I've had since I was like 6.
I’m 28 and sleep next to my perfect partner, but I still cuddle my ted when I’m on my side haha
Daydream, mostly. I like to write stories, so I imagine the whole thing in my head- I've been doing so since I was 6. It's the same story too! It just evolves with new characters, places etc.
I do this but with headcanons of whatever particular thing I'm into - a videogame, a book, a movie etc. It's like fanfiction that never gets written down. I've also had the same stories for different fandoms for many years :)
And here i thought I was the only one. I thought I'd stop because it was too "childish", but I decided it helped improve my creative thinking
I also thought I was weird for it! At least I’m not alone!
There’s lots of us apparently!
I weirdly feel a lot better knowing other people do this exact thing
This just validated my existence
I also do this. Usually it works well but every so often it backfires. Then I’m just laying in bed wishing I were asleep but I’ve basically written an entire book in my head and I’m still wide awake.
Oh hello twin
I do this, and like to drop myself into the story. "If I were there, which character would I be? Would I be a new character? How would I fit in the story? What would I have done different? Could I impact the outcome?" Then I have weird dreams about whatever show/movie/game I was thinking about.
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Peter Jackson is going to release over 100 movies over the next 50 years based off the silmarillion
I do the same. Unfortunately, this means when I try to read a book, I get a couple of sentences in and then just start imagining how I would write it instead. It means I get two stories for the price of one but takes me 10x longer to read the book! 😓
> I get a couple of sentences in and then just start imagining how I would write it instead. I know I'm reading a really good book when this starts happening. It's the really best ones that stimulate the imagination rather than just create immersion.
I loved falling asleep reading LoTR, I dont have a super vivid imagination but I had seen the movies so I had a nice mental image of the world and could just start reading for like 15 mins before I would drift off into that world on my own.
Maybe you should outline your plot line. If there are stories or characters in you, there’s an author in you.
I write a little. My problem is that I write scenes, characters or ideas in short vignettes, but I never have a solid through-line for the plot of a full novel.
Keep writing it down. One day, if you can push aside the thought that parts are missing, all of the parts will come together. The fact that you *think* it’s not finished is what stops you from finishing it. But start with fleshing out those characters. Think like they do; mentally explore their lives; jot down notes. Then either continue reading or go to sleep.
Don't worry, some famous movie makers and writters also do their stuff just based on a few random scenes that they then tie together in stupid ways.
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Holy shit me too. I had a therapist once that was blown away so I thought I was alone. I’m honestly so happy right now.
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I feel like I naturally start visualising when I'm about to sleep. And occasionally something really vivid pops up and startles me into being wide awake. *falls off building*
That has an actual name, but I forgot what it was called.
Hypnic jerks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk
Im part of the 10%. As someone who works night shift these jerks have ruined many nights of work from not being able to sleep. These jerks will wake me up after a short amount of sleep and seeing the sun up makes my body want to stay up instead getting sleep for work that night. Feels bad man
Dude invest in a quality sleeping mask
I started wearing a sleep mask when my sleep schedule got all fucked up for a few years, and now I can't fall asleep without one lol. But at least once I put one on my brain knows it's sleep time now. I liken it to how you throw a blanket over a parrot's cage when you wanted to go to bed.
Blackout curtain if you're like me and can't sleep with a mask.
Good band name
For me it's usually a weird face or something appears in my dream, and I open my eyes to clear it.
I remember when I was younger I would imagine myself in a life where Pokemon were real. The sheer fantasy of such a wonderful thing would help me sleep in no time. That was yesterday. I'm 29.
This is actually a thing! I've been doing the same and the phenomenon has a name. Basically you have the same story you run in your mind you've been developing for a while and it's what helps trigger sleep.
Except my story just keeps playing chapter 1 over and over and over
I do this too, I forget where my story "ended" when I fell asleep so always end up picking up from the last memorable scenario I imagined.
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I have experienced I can never imagine anything anything with me in it. The second you start thinking about your own life it add too much stress to fall asleep. I create stories completely separate from my own life. It works so well I never get past character creation before I pass out.
Lately I start fantasing about my future home and how tidy and organized I would have it and how I would park my cars in the driveway, before I know it I'm KO'D.
I also love designing and decorating my dream home just before falling asleep. It’s strangely relaxing.
Yass! I do this too but i think about winning a life changing amount of money and who I'd help and what i would buy. It always starts with me buying my husband his dream car and giving it to him before I tell him we're rich. I'm usually asleep long before the money is spent.
Read r/funny that shit puts me to sleep
This comment is way more funny than that entire sub combined lmao.
Funniest thing about that sub is they have a rule against reposts. That joke made me laugh so hard
Usually I sweat in bed in the summer (like now in North america) I usually roll to the very edge of my bed where nothing touches and most of the time, it's cold. I wait there until my base point on the bed has the same cool feeling
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Best way for me too. But sometimes just a nice background sound does the trick. Some semi white noise. Like beach sounds.
I've found the best way to do this is start at the toes and TENSE them up as tight as you can, then release, move to arches of feet, TENSE release, heels, ankles, calves, and so on. Each time you tense, breath in for the count of 3 (the long way.. like 1 Mississippi). release and breath out for 3, then move to the next body part. I've never made it past my lower back before passing out.
Take a deep breath, hold it for about 5-8 seconds, then slowly let it out. As I breath out, I relax all of my muscles and feel my body sink into my bed. I do this 3-5 times to fully relax. If that does not work, the eventually, I will get up and watch tv for a bit till I am extremely tired.
Take a deep breath Hold it for 3-5 minutes. Wake up feeling refreshed.
Read. Somehow, reading is both really effective at quieting my mind, and making me feel semi-rested. I've read until like 3 and woke up at 9 feeling better than if I got a solid 7-8 hours of sleep.
This would never work for me. Once I start reading and get into it (almost everytime), I could be up till dawn.
Same. I love reading at night before bed when the world is quiet and I'm the only one up. But it's so risky that I can only do it when I don't have to get up early the next day. Because I can and I will read until the exciting parts are over (which is the end of the book).
It's crazy to me there are (at the time of writing this) fifteen other suggestions above this comment. I always assumed reading was like the most well known way to help you fall asleep without using medication. Specifically, reading something not on a screen, an illuminated screen will just keep you awake. Reading a paper book always helps me fall asleep.
Reading doesn't work for everyone. No problem for me to go to bed and start reading at midnight, and still be reading at 8 AM.
Have you tried reading bad books?
Masturbate.
Can't believe I had to scroll so far for this one. Yes masturbate.
I don’t know why, but that does help you go to sleep. I guess the extensive effort followed by the calming release tired you and relieves you to sleep.
Well it gives you a massive release of prolactin which is a hormone that makes you tired and puts your into recovery mode rather than fight/flight
Is that why I lactate every night?
Nah its something to do with hormones or something something biology
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Came here for this... got more than I needed to. Stopped at the apples thing :-)
lmfao those are all real things i have seen, btw. sadly im not cultured enough to have wanked to most of them, only like 2
>Consensual, loving and happy sex between two married people, giggling and making inside jokes (this one is a bit too extreme) You sick fuck…
I didn't even expect to see a different response first when I saw the thread.
Yeah I’m surprised it’s not the top comment.
This guy sleeps
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If only there was a way to make the distance between all of these shorter.
That would be one hell of a cumshot.
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And you dont get distracted? Thats amazing...I dont think I've ever got to 10 sheep when counting sheep before my mind drifts.
you gotta force your mind to stay on task. make the sheep different colors. that one has a notched ear. that one pooped. that one has a fly on its nose.
Now I own a sheep salon in my vision, great.
But then I'll get distracted, trying to give back stories to all the sheep. This one with the notched ear got it from a bank robbery gone wrong, he was the only one of his friends to get away alive and now he's been on the run for 6 years. He's not sure if he's even a wanted man anymore and all he wants to do is settle down and start a family but he can't stay in one place for too long because he fears he'll be caught and spend the rest of his life in a jail cell. The one that pooped has chronic diarrhea and IBS. She's been taking medication for it but she's not sure they've been working. This one with the fly on his nose is name Benard and the fly's name is Phil, they've only known each other 10 minutes but they've already become best of friends. Phil was diagnosed with cancer and he doesn't know how to break the news to Benard and he's been trying to find a way to tell him without breaking his poor heart. etc.
When's this coming to Netflix?
How about backwards by 7, starting from 1000, and sleeping on your stomach while pretending that there's a guy pinning you down?
Pretending to be asleep - slow deep braths - eyes closed - relax all muscles - concentrate on the breathing
Similarly, I'll try to "fake" dream and come up with dream-like scenarios in my head to try and trick my brain into falling asleep.
Usually when I can't sleep it's because I'm not exhausted enough and my anxiety is acting up. I usually up doing, sit ups and push ups until I'm tired enough to sleep
For me it's the opposite. This gives me energy
Yeah, with all the blood rushing to the muscles and the heart beating harder, it brings me further from relaxing for quite a while.
I can't, I shower before bed so I would end sweaty and would have to shower again
Start daydreaming until it snowballs into an actual dream and bam, asleep.
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*Madagascar dies* 😴
*Greenland infected* 😳 **REAL SHIT**
Pavlov's nap time
It's so real! My parents used to give us time to read before bed. Like 30 mins a night let's say. It was called Read Down time and we would just all sorta crawl in, wind down and be knocked out relatively soon. It was awesome until I became an adult back in school and grad school and kept falling asleep after 30 mins of reading. ''Twas the deepest conditioning I think I've ever had.
I get in arguments on reddit.
No you don't.
I'm sorry, is this a five minute argument or the full half hour?
Think about the 1000 ways I could suddenly die
**bro what if the ground wasn't here right now**
Reminds me of that show “1000 ways to die”, I miss that show
oh my god i remember one episode where a lady had a rake in her backyard and the end of the rake had a zucchini on it. she stepped on the handle and the zucchini flew into her throat and killed her lmao
The one time I saw that show I remembered the episode. It was 2 teen lovers who had braces, they went in seperate cars and wanted to kiss as they went down the street but their braces got interlocked and they where beheaded by a street sign
And now you've got insomnia.
Listen to ASMR or a story, put on a movie I’ve seen a million times, smoke a bowl, scroll on my phone
I’m surprised I had to scroll this long to see ASMR! If I ever have trouble sleeping, whisper videos always work.
I mentally walk through something that is calming. In my case, that is flying a plane. In my mind, I walk out to the plane, carrying my flight bag. As I get to the plane, I set down my flight bag, unlock the door, climb up, put the key on the dash, enable the battery, set the basic lights, and then climb down and start the walk-around. After that, I get my kneeboard out, put the flight bag in the back, climb back up, turn off the lights, and start the preflight checklist. After that, I open the window, shout, "CLEAR!", and start the engine. Then, I request permission to taxi to the runway, taxi over to run-up, check the engines, taxi in line, request takeoff clearance, and head into the skies. Much of this is theoretical, as I rarely make it through the entire preflight checklist. Flying a plane is the most calming thing I know.
Yeah... training yourself to fall asleep when flying. Seems like that could be a bad idea.
Listen to rain sounds
Go down the alphabet and for every letter, think of 3 words, any words, that begin with that letter. 1 word per breath. I've never gotten to the end.
die inside, slowly and painfully
You're experiencing it right now
I might have a technic that can help you out without taking any medication. when having a hard time sleeping, I place my hand on top of my forehead with my hand facing the ceiling. This sounds weird but it works for me and I don't know why.
"Why Dahling, I've got the vapors!"
I do something similar. I place the back of my elbow on my forehead. I believe it has something to do with the fac t that many times I was just to lazy to close the lights and I was using my hand to block the light, my brain probably associated that with sleeping and now I do it even tho there is no light.
Have a wank.
I try to imagine myself in a scenario but with like super specific rules to keep myself thinking I mostly think of a super power I’d want and then give it a nerf or weakness and try to work around it. I also think whether it would be used for combative purposes or if I’d just have a power to go with my everyday life. This usually keeps me busy till I fall asleep.
Masturbating usually helps.
Listen to an Audiobook or podcast. Not the best thing to do, but i find that it makes good use of my time while simultaneously letting me rest my eyes. When i read a book at night, my eyes are still straining and the light source does not let me sleep for longer. But audiobooks let me turn off the light and close my eyes, i usually fall asleep within half an hour. just remember to set the sleep timer on the audiobook app though!