Sleeping Habits

[Rodrigo]

Ok, so before I dive into anything related to paleo, parkour, and stuff, I decided to tackle the sleeping problem I currently have.

 

I have a notebook pc, and I usually use it at nigths to surf the web in the comfortness of a bed. When Im aware of the time, I shut it down at 12 am. The thing is, I do that practically everyday, even when I have to get to university next day, when I have to wake up at 6 am. I decided to enter the forum to begin asking about things that helped you guys to get a better sleep overall, because I feel that I won't get anything done if I don't overcome this obstacle first.

 

Any tips? Thanks in advance.

[MissMormie]

How about not taking your phone, laptop or other communication devices into bed with you as a start. Stay up until the same time if you like, but your bed is for sleeping. Then once you've gotten that into your system change the time you go to bed, by small steps.

[RisenPhoenix]

I've gotten into the habit of heading to bed ~30 minutes before I actually want to sleep to read a book/comic for a while.  The worst case scenario is that I read longer.  Oh no, the horror.  But even in that case, my brain usually conks right out and I sleep amazingly.  I've also noticed that when I do the book-before-bed thing I wake up earlier (like, 45 minutes to an hour earlier) and more refreshed than if I was watching tv/playing a game/being social with people till the last second I flopped into bed.

[stevembk]

http://justgetflux.com/

[rrababit]

While I agree with everyone else that getting the laptop out of bed is an awesome idea, is there room for naps in your day?

 

I get up crazy early (3:50 a.m.) to make my guy breakfast, so I usually try to get a nap before I actually have to be up (7 a.m.) I know that the days I miss my nap are a lot harder to get through.

[AlexCold]

You need to get rid of the laptop. Bedroom is for sleeping! This will get you in the motions of only being on the bed for sleeping. After you do that, work on changing the time you go to bed. 

[Donar]

I have been an insomniac all my life.....I use the following to help:

 

- no caffeine after 2 PM

- no backlit electronics (phone, computer screen, TV, etc...) after 9 PM

- Physically in the bed by 9:30 to do some reading

- I eat a PRO/FAT snack while reading so I don't wake up hungry as hell

 

The goal: asleep by 11 PM for 7AM wake up time.

[MariahSnow]

After you get rid of the laptop, set a wake up time that's reasonable (like 7 AM if you have to be at work at 8:30). Wake up at that time. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. This is incredibly hard but also incredibly simple. If you wake up consistently at the same time, by 9-10 PM, you will be tired. But this takes time. For me this took more than a month. Unfortunately, it also includes weekends. So many people wake up at 6:30 during the week, then party it up and wake up at 11:30 on the weekends. You are essentially giving yourself jet lag and that's why Monday morning feels like such a nightmare. Set an alarm, and then don't ever touch it except to turn it off. Don't snooze. Ever. If you are going to go back to sleep, do it alarmless.