Getting a good nights sleep

[dustinthewind]

Greetings all!

I am now in my third week of the new me and I would like to get input on how others with my problem deal with it. 

What is my problem? Well, it is falling asleep.

I have always been a bit of a night owl, and have never really gotten enough sleep. I have a problem "shutting off" my head at night. Since I have started working out after work it has gotten worse. I know I should probably work out in the morning, but here it is, after midnight and I know I am not going to get a good night's rest. It really is a vicious cycle. 

 

So, my fellow rebellion members, what have YOU done to become a morning person? Do I just need to pick a day, get three hours sleep, and struggle through it?

[Nomad Jay]

I'm a natural morning person (ooh, sunlight time to be awake!) but I suffer from regular bouts of dysomnia. Try reading a good middle-grade book, nothing too difficult but nothing so exciting that it makes you want to finish the whole thing. I occasionally resort to over-the-counter sleeping pills for particularly bad cases.

[BiginJapan]

I find that there's a certain time at night that's a sort of point of no return... for me it's around 10:30. If I'm up past this time I get a little adrenaline kick that keeps my mind tumbling around and stressing about nothing until I finally drift off well past midnight. 

 

I'm finally on a regular sleep schedule of 10pm to 6am every night and I feel awesome! I thought I wasn't a morning workout person (always feeling sluggish and unmotivated) but since establishing a regular pattern I can push it hard in the mornings no problem!

 

I also read somewhere that looking at a bright phone or computer screen can affect your sleep too. It has to do with your rods and cones firing, but I can't seem to find the article I read. I've found that turning everything off 30 minutes before I plan to be asleep helps a lot. 

[RisenPhoenix]

+1 to the reading

What I try to do is make a cup of chamomile tea (Twinnings now makes a really tasty one), and then sit myself in bed with a book. I get teased a bit from my roommate and friends, but I have a hard time falling asleep and this seems to be the best way I can combat it.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I think you have a good idea with the 3 hours of sleep one night. Force yourself to get up in the morning at a certain time and eventually your body will be willing to fall asleep earlier.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

+1 to waking up early no matter what.  When i allowed my self to sleep until 10 every day, I could never fall asleep before midnight.  Once I switched to waking up at 6-7 am, my body adjusted by getting tired earlier.

[PrincessHeather]

Absolutely agree with everything posted here so far... creating a routine of getting up at a particular time should eventually train your hormone cycles in a way that gets you to sleep earlier. Eliminating a lot of screen time at the end of the night is good, as is having a bed time routine. A half hour before you want to be sleeping, have a few things you do every time, like setting out clothes, setting the coffee maker, brushing teeth etc. If you do those things everytime, it should help signal to your brain that the day is over and sleep is coming soon. 

 

Other things that may help though YMMV, is taking a Vit D supplement in the earlier part of your day (particularly if you get very little sun exposure during the day), and a magnesium supplement like Natural Calm in the evenings. Both of these things helped my husband get a handle on sleeping enough in spite of a rotating work schedule.

 

I prefer working out in the afternoons, and since I've implemented a set betime pattern, I've managed to learn to be sleepy around the same time every night. It's less than helpful when I have a school paper to write, but it worked wonders for my overall health!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Heather mentioning coconut oil reminded me of melatonin, you can take it to help you fall asleep at first, though it's a "Supplement" and not heavily tested by hard science, so your mileage may vary. I've used it before and it has a similar effect as Nyquil as far as sleep goes, not something you want to do very often but might help a time or two when starting to reset your body.

[ceethegreat]

I second the melatonin to sleep earlier. Varies for the person, but it usually makes me sleepy within the hour. Just make sure to have enough time for a full 8 hours of sleep or you may wake up groggy. I don't use it often, but it certainly works each time and could help get you used to sleeping earlier.

[Eats-Own-Tail]

i went paleo last week for about a week and i found that i had a much easier time getting to sleep, and a much easier time waking up.

 

because of all my medications and probably my blood sugar (im diabetic) sometimes i find it hard to get to sleep....... and then when i do i will sleep for hours and hours and hours.

 

might have been a fluke... im gonna go paleo again soon and find out.

 

also another thing that helps me is not playing mmos. if i get exited by a game, i can stay up all night and all the next day playing it.

[MariahSnow]

I have always struggled with sleeping in my life. If I was left to my own devices, like a teenager in the summer, my body would march right around the clock so I'd be going to sleep at 6 AM and waking up sometime around 2 PM. If I don't regulate my sleep pretty intensely and work out, I will get off my pattern in about 2-3 days. Once, I spent a month waking up at 6:30 AM and then in 2 days I was sleeping until 10 AM. So for me it's always a struggle and it's always hard. But what helps is biting the bullet and waking up when you are supposed to wake up. And I've also discovered that while some people can function on like 6, 7 or even 8 hours of sleep, I need more like 9. Also, I rarely feel tired at night, so instead I just set a bedtime. Right now, my schedule is crazy with working out so I wake up at 5 AM. Which means I'm getting ready for bed no later than 8 PM and sometimes honestly at 7:30. Some people say that habits get stuck after 14 days or 28 days, but this habit absolutely never sticks with me. Some things that get me through are: knowing I can go to bed early if I want to. And then also, I learned to really enjoy waking up at like 1 AM, looking at the clock, and being like, "yesss I still have 4 hours to go."

 

Hope this was helpful!

[Niwa]

I don't have any trouble sleeping at night, but my boyfriend does. He takes a melatonin about an hour before he wants to go to sleep (takes it around 9pm) and then we go to bed around 9:45pm or so. We make sure the room is dark and avoid any distractions. Sometimes I play some music (classical or Enya) and it seems to help. 

 

It's been about 3 weeks of this new habit and he is started to get a good night sleep. I think its just creating the habit.

[Terinatum]

DustintheWind

Fellow insomniac here... I've tried the following things... hope they help or give you ideas of your own.

 

 

Before getting in Bed:

make a list of things to do tomorrow well before

stop using screens about 1/2 hour before

do something to trigger your brain, letting it know it's time to sleep (wash face, brush teeth)

shut off or cover all blue lights (clock, modem, stereo, laptop)

do slow Tai Chi - like movements with music, sound machine (ocean waves are good for me), or quiet

 

Same bedtime (i.e. in bed at 10:30 pm and then a 1/2 hour to settle down once in bed)

 

Once in Bed:

deep breathing while doing muscle relaxation (toes to head)

talk with your inner self about going to sleep or giving them permission to do something to stop worrying or fixing things (the daydreaming part of you can help).

 

Your mind, body, and spirit all need to know and agree it's time to sleep. Good luck!

[notanartmajor]

On the contrary, Melatonin is quite well studied, and unlike other hormones, ingestion does not affect natural production.

[cracked_belle]

Asian Efficiency's article "Sleep Your Way to the Top of Peak Productivity" may be of use to you.

and I used to use melatonin m'self.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

On the contrary, Melatonin is quite well studied, and unlike other hormones, ingestion does not affect natural production.

I stand corrected.

[Unit562]

A few years back I had the same problem and did a bunch of research on sleep hygine and this is the gold.

 

Every night when I lie down to sleep - I say the "key phase" - the same thing for the last 2 years, it lets my mind know that it's time to sleep - and in 5-20 minutes I am asleep.  works for naps as well.

 

1.  Set up your environment.

2. lie down

3. Choose your sleep phase "i.e. Good night capt. Steve" - it doesn't matter what it is - it is the trigger to help you relax into sleep.

4. assume the sleep position and sleep.

 

 

- My sleep phase"  take the boat down to 100 meters, all ahead slow, C.O.B. you have the conn., I'll be in my ward room"  Very nerdy Submarine references, but it works for me.

[notcreative]

I listen to books on my iPhone to fall asleep at night. I'm so attached to it that I have a horrible time sleeping if I can't listen to a book.

I agree with what everyone else said about a bedtime routine. Good luck!

[bananandrea]

THIS THREAD IS THE BOMB DIGGITY. 

I have been struggling with getting a good nights sleep for MONTHS now. I guess part of my problem is I am addicted to all things that use a screen >.< 

The habit thing is good. I might make an adendum to my challenge and add something about sleep. 

NF'ers rock. 

[SkiBlue]

Funny how I find this thread (at 4am >.<) right before the challenge in which I have included a goal to change my sleep schedule so that I can start sleeping better!

 

From everything I have researched about sleeping problems, the keys are usually this: dark, calm, relaxing, and habitual. Get in bed the same time every night. Stop working and staring at screens at least a half hour before that time. Create some sort of bedtime routine, something you always do before you get in bed. Calm yourself, give yourself time to relax before you go to bed. Do not have a visible clock, not just to hide the light that would keep you awake, but also to keep you from looking at it when you get in bed and you wake up in the night. Stressing about getting enough sleep will keep you from sleeping well. Do not worry about falling asleep, just breathe, calm down, and relax. Try to get up at the same time every day.

 

I know I repeated a lot of the advice already given, but it is sound advice. These are also all of the things that I plan on incorporating to achieve my challenge goal.