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How to Sleep

theatlantic.com

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Re: How to Sleep

#41

Post by closeparen »

aarohmankad wrote: post #2

What are your recommendations for dealing with noisy roommates/hallmates? There have been nights where I had to put on my ANC headphones to get some peace and quiet. (I've heard a good pair of earplugs may work?)

A fan.

I sleep like a baby with an extremely loud fan roaring in my face, as long as the noise is consistent. Sort of like being in an airplane.

Would you fall asleep with someone whispering in your ear? Earplugs can only reduce the intensity of sounds, but the distracting part is the detail/variation/information in them. Even in a quiet room, putting in earplugs guarantees I will stay awake listening to my own heartbeat and blood flow in excruciating detail. shudder.

A sufficiently loud drone noise, on the other hand, drowns out any of the more variable noises that would keep me awake.

Re: How to Sleep

#42

Post by [deleted] »

ams6110 wrote: post #21
JustSomeNobody wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

60-67F? That's cold. I live in Fl so if I were to let myself get used to that temp I would literally melt when I went outside. 76F is more reasonable here.

Easy in the winter, crack a window if necessary. In the summer the A/C bill would be outrageous.

[deleted]

Re: How to Sleep

#43

Post by balladeer »

ashark wrote: post #25

1) no glowing screens at all after the sun goes down. 2) no glowing screens at all after the sun goes down. 3) no glowing screens at all after the sun goes down. 4) very low candle-temperature lighting only after dark. Especially try to keep it out of your direct line of sight. It'll work, but 1-3 are hard .

I sleep on my left side usually or back.

A lot of times I just fall asleep watching something on my laptop which also standing on its side a little away from me (not at full brightness though; but in general I keep my computer screens brightness to moderate). I just close the lid and push it away while falling asleep. Never bothered me really.

Re: How to Sleep

#44

Post by hughdbrown »

Bakary wrote: post #33
ams6110 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I typically have to sleep with the TV on. I put on some boring documentary with a droning narrator. Otherwise my thoughts just keep me awake until I finally fall asleep from exhaustion.

You can achieve the same effect as the documentary by focusing on your breathing. Starting at 100, you count down with each breath. I've never gotten to zero after years of trying. Amusingly the stereotypical sheep counting method works wonders as well when your thoughts won't give you a break.

I can count a long way down by ones. The pattern is too obvious -- as it also is with even numbers, three, five, nine, ten. I find that counting down by 7s from 1000 does the trick. I can never get to 600 like that before I am asleep.

Re: How to Sleep

#45

Post by csa »

Teichopsia wrote: post #10
rrggrr wrote: post #8

1. Room temperature should be between 60 - 67 degrees F. 2. No electronics, games, and minimal to no blue light 30min to 1hour before sleep. 3. Do not exercise less than 3 hours before sleep. Exception: sex. 4. Coffee and other stimulants before 12pm, not after. 5. Avoid naps longer than 15 minutes day of. 6. Stretch before going to sleep, particularly if you experience minor restless legs or periodic leg movements.…

3- unless one is a woman. From my limited understanding, men get sleepy and women get 'activated' (lack for a better word).

As an anecdotal contrast, I (male) get activated even when I'm very tired beforehand.

Re: How to Sleep

#46

Post by mythrwy »

I've had great luck with these videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7OGw1QS9JI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTAwdgf1nZE

I went through a phase a few years ago where I'd fall asleep only to wake up a short time later with mind racing, then be up half the night and tired the next day. This went on for some months and was very annoying.

These videos cured that phase right away. I don't listen to them much anymore but they really worked. It wasn't just staying asleep that was cured, the quality of the sleep seemed much better. Still listen on occasion if having trouble getting in "sleep mode".

Re: How to Sleep

#47

Post by tacoman »

Bakary wrote: post #33
ams6110 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I typically have to sleep with the TV on. I put on some boring documentary with a droning narrator. Otherwise my thoughts just keep me awake until I finally fall asleep from exhaustion.

You can achieve the same effect as the documentary by focusing on your breathing. Starting at 100, you count down with each breath. I've never gotten to zero after years of trying. Amusingly the stereotypical sheep counting method works wonders as well when your thoughts won't give you a break.

This is simple advice, but was effective for me after some practice. For months, I had to fall asleep listening to podcasts because my brain would be thinking about work. I just couldn't shut it off.

I decided I couldn't live that way, so I worked on breathing techniques like this. After a couple of weeks, I could finally focus on breathing long enough to fall asleep.

I still have nights where it just doesn't work, but it's made a big difference in my life.

Re: How to Sleep

#48

Post by zzalpha »

Hydraulix989 wrote: post #40
TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I take melatonin for sleep only as necessary. I work a physically demanding job that requires approximately 50% computer time, so I find the mixed physical & mental effort of work tiring. What I found help immensely with regaining my focus and mental clarity after coming off caffeine, and before that methamphetamine 4 days out of 7 for nearly a year, is taking a multi B vitamin plus 1000mcg methylcobalamin (also know…

Vitamins are a complete scam. They aren't even FDA regulated. After I read about their ineffectiveness and possible harm, I threw all of my bottles into the garbage can. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/07/the-vitam... The placebo effect is powerful. I highly recommend reading Topol's "The Creative Destruction of Medicine" for more information.

The one vitamin worth taking for anyone living in a northern climate is D, particularly if, like me, you don't consume a lot of dairy. Beyond that, I agree, vitamins are entirely unnecessary.

Re: How to Sleep

#49

Post by wapz »

Bakary wrote: post #33
ams6110 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I typically have to sleep with the TV on. I put on some boring documentary with a droning narrator. Otherwise my thoughts just keep me awake until I finally fall asleep from exhaustion.

You can achieve the same effect as the documentary by focusing on your breathing. Starting at 100, you count down with each breath. I've never gotten to zero after years of trying. Amusingly the stereotypical sheep counting method works wonders as well when your thoughts won't give you a break.

This may work for you but it doesn't work for me and a lot of others. Particularly after a stressful day the basic "10 tips" etc don't work. I've "counted" 300 sheep and gave up. I've counted down from 100. I've tried multiple youtube sleep hypnosis videos. Nothing seems to work after stressful days.

Re: How to Sleep

#50

Post by beagle3 »

Hydraulix989 wrote: post #40
TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I take melatonin for sleep only as necessary. I work a physically demanding job that requires approximately 50% computer time, so I find the mixed physical & mental effort of work tiring. What I found help immensely with regaining my focus and mental clarity after coming off caffeine, and before that methamphetamine 4 days out of 7 for nearly a year, is taking a multi B vitamin plus 1000mcg methylcobalamin (also know…

Vitamins are a complete scam. They aren't even FDA regulated. After I read about their ineffectiveness and possible harm, I threw all of my bottles into the garbage can. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/07/the-vitam... The placebo effect is powerful. I highly recommend reading Topol's "The Creative Destruction of Medicine" for more information.

While there's a lot of placebo and less-than-truth-in-advertising regarding vitamins, they do make a difference to some people:

See gwern on vitamin D[0], which shows it's likely not a placebo, (n=1, of course, but coincides with a lot of not-quite-as-well-executed self experiments from other people)

Iron and/or vitamin B3 (Niacin) make a huge difference for RLS[1]; You'll find some peer reviewed reference for iron, mostly anecdotal for B3 (some better executed than others).

As a general rule, if you eat a variety of foods, some of which are grown naturally and not processed to death, and have decent exposure to the sun, then - no, you don't need vitamins. But among my peers it seems that this rather simple set of requirements is often not satisfied, and vitamin supplements are needed (usually B12, D, and Iron deficits are found for whoever does testing).

[0] https://www.gwern.net/zeo/Vitamin%20D

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restless_legs_syndrome

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