It also works if you're depressed.
Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia
31–40 of 49 posts
Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia
#32Yup, rate of change, the same reason hot water freezes faster than cold water ... maybe http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/422/which-freezes-f...
It's not really rate of change... a better statement of this is that there exist some set ups in which a hotter sample of water will freeze faster than a cooler one, because more complex stuff goes on than simply "temperature--". It's not a general rule, and it doesn't rely on any kind of temperature-drop momentum.
I know your link doesn't exactly say that it does, but the summary felt kind of misleading.
Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia
#33I've struggled with insomnia since college... Here are the things that have worked.
- No computer before bed. TV shows and movies on my laptop are fine, but anything active and stimulating is really bad.
- No video games at all. Even if I play them hours before bed, I can correlate that with a shitty night of sleep.
- Cut back coffee to one cup early in the day. Even though they say caffeine stays in your system only for X hours, I find that any coffee after say 2pm will probably screw with my sleep.
- Exercise. Studies conflict on whether this works but I know it works for me to be in moderately good shape rather than terrible shape.
- Low volume music. Any kind is fine for me, I've fallen asleep to punk. The key is that it be low volume.
On stretches of days when I can convince myself to cut out caffeine entirely, I find that I can actually take naps, something I normally can't do.
Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia
#34Yes, the shift in body temperature helps facilitate sleep. You don't necessarily even need to take a cold shower. Even a warm shower should do the trick just as well, since your body temperature will still be shifting from its natural state.
Interesting...perhaps I should have tried this first. I hate cold showers.
cold showers also trigger mammalian dive reflex. not sure how that would change your ability to sleep, though
Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia
#35I used to struggle with insomnia a lot, but for now I (knock on wood) have it under control. The trick is to have a routine. Simply having a routine is more important than the specifics, I think. Mine is:
- No caffeine after 3pm.
- Lower the lights as much as possible half an hour before bed.
- I have a playlist of Chopin nocturnes on my iPod I've been using for about 6 years now. I never listen to it except in bed. At this point my brain associates that music w/ sleep. Until I started doing this, I had a big problem with fast music getting stuck in my head and keeping me awake.
- Read in bed until I feel sleep coming on.
Again, routine is key. It especially helps when on the road, since your routine can help counteract the unfamiliarity of the surroundings.
Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia
#36I had trouble getting to sleep when I was younger and I was facing a test or something in the morning. Besides the usual no caffeine/moderate exercise/moderate eating etc good advice I came up with a "mind hack" inspired by Richard Feynman.
Summarizing: try to re-play or think about dreams that you had before. If you don't remember any, think of a story that looks like a dream (with impossible things happening etc).
The trick is that when we transition between awake and asleep we have a train of thought and suddenly there are dream-like things like surprising jumps in the thoughts, impossible occurrences etc (this is what Feynman remarked and I observed too), so I try to recreate that state.
It worked for me.
Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia
#37Sounds easy enough to give it a shot. I also found that lifting weights has that effect.
Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia
#38I used to struggle with insomnia a lot, but for now I (knock on wood) have it under control. The trick is to have a routine. Simply having a routine is more important than the specifics, I think. Mine is: - No caffeine after 3pm. - Lower the lights as much as possible half an hour before bed. - I have a playlist of Chopin nocturnes on my iPod I've been using for about 6 years now. I never listen to it except in bed.…
"Read in bed until I feel sleep coming on"
Not sure if there is any merit to that, but it may help.
Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia
#39An ice bath is one of the recommendations Tim Ferris gives in this* post.
A summary:
1. Consume 150-250 calories of low-glycemic index foods in small quantities (low glycemic load) prior to bed.
2. Use ice baths to provoke sleep.
3. Eating your meals at set times can be as important as sleeping on a schedule.
4. Embrace 20-minute caffeine naps and ultradian multiples.
5. Turn off preoccupation with afternoon closure and present-state training.
He says he has problems falling asleep too so what works for him may work for you.
*http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/01/27/relax-like-a...
Re: Tell HN: my hack to beat insomnia
#40Your mind is probably thinking about too many things. You can also try this trick. I read about a simple technique in a meditation book (the purpose of this was not falling asleep, but it works for me). Close your eyes and start counting with a special technique to infinity. The trick is to count one number while breathing in... slowly counting in your head until you are done breathing in and when your breath out imm…
Interesting, will try it.