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How to Sleep

theatlantic.com

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Re: How to Sleep

#101

Post by Kostic »

Bakary wrote: post #29
nemasu wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, can people reasonably do 1-3 in places where the sun sets at like 6PM?

There are tools that reduce the amount of blue light emitted from the screen. They essentially turn your screen orange. The difference it makes is large enough that you wonder how you managed before it. The most well known is f.lux, but it's also natively supported in some phone OSes.

Also available in GNOME 3, on Linux, under the name of 'Night Light'[0].

[0] https://www.gnome.org/news/2017/03/gnome-3-24-released/attac...

Re: How to Sleep

#102

Post by teolandon »

shostack wrote: post #88
teolandon wrote: post #59

My biggest struggle with sleep is that I'm always excited to do stuff, and always feel like I'm not done with my day. Exceptions are when something happens and I end up feeling very depressed during the day, and simply want to shut down and do nothing. Usually, I get so infatuated with a script I'm writing, a new program I discovered, a bug that I need to resolve, a book that I'm reading, some concept that I'm thinki…

For me it is sometimes "excited to do stuff" but it also is often "life got in the way and I never got a chance to unwind." I really need to unwind before bed, and if I don't get that time to turn off my brain, I'll be up all night. So I stay up late until I feel ready for bed, but I'm screwed either way at that point.

Yeah seems like I'm still on the good boat where I'm not actually forced to be concentrated on something all the time, I just do it because I'm like that, and have free time to focus and obsess over the stuff that I like.

Getting life in your way often seems to be way worse.

Re: How to Sleep

#103

Post by closeparen »

teolandon wrote: post #59

My biggest struggle with sleep is that I'm always excited to do stuff, and always feel like I'm not done with my day. Exceptions are when something happens and I end up feeling very depressed during the day, and simply want to shut down and do nothing. Usually, I get so infatuated with a script I'm writing, a new program I discovered, a bug that I need to resolve, a book that I'm reading, some concept that I'm thinki…

Ritual helps me shut down. Power off the computer, make tea, curl up on the couch and read, brush teeth, etc. Going from 60 to 0 instantly is never realistic.

Re: How to Sleep

#104

Post by mtgx »

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 .

3) seems the hardest.

I would also recommend using f.lux or similar for your phone. I think it helps quite a bit, and it's the same principle as the candle-temperature lighting for your light bulbs.

Re: How to Sleep

#105

Post by [deleted] »

tuwtuwtuwtuw wrote: post #84
teolandon wrote: post #59

My biggest struggle with sleep is that I'm always excited to do stuff, and always feel like I'm not done with my day. Exceptions are when something happens and I end up feeling very depressed during the day, and simply want to shut down and do nothing. Usually, I get so infatuated with a script I'm writing, a new program I discovered, a bug that I need to resolve, a book that I'm reading, some concept that I'm thinki…

I have the same issue. My workaround is to lie in bed, count 1, 2, 3, 4 over and over again (in my mind) and try to focus on these numbers. My mind wanders away all the time but then I just try to get back to counting. Might sound stupid but I guess after a while of thought-speeding my brain gets bored and calm down. Works for me at least. Also no coffee after 4PM.

[deleted]

Re: How to Sleep

#106

Post by RandomInteger4 »

htk wrote: post #30
RandomInteger4 wrote: post #15

I'm not sure what the long term effects of chronic melatonin supplementation are, but I'll find out eventually. I've been taking between 3-6mg of melatonin every night for the past few years (2011?) It's almost required. Without it my sleep cycle seems fine at first, but then gets out of whack as I can't seem to keep a circadian rhythm in line with the rest of society / the earth's rotation. On the opposite end of th…

I share the habits (melatonin, caffeine and exercise) and eventual strategies (coffee withdrawal from time to time). Would you care to elaborate on your methods? (What time do you take melatonin, how much and at what time do you take coffee?) Thanks!

For caffeine, I'm probably consuming way too much. I use french roast (less caffeine + less acid) with an espresso machine (course grind folgers rather than fine grind). I think it comes out to roughly slightly less than 1.5 cups (12 fluid ounces) per dose.

I take a dose within about 1 - 1.5 hours of waking up and another dose half way through the day. I need to start taking the second dose earlier so 1) I don't experience the mid day crash and 2) there's less in my system when I go to bed.

For melatonin I take 3mg about an hour or two before going to bed and another 3mg right before going to bed. Sleep is generally good, but not as much as I would like, which I think is partly due to going to bed too late, thus light entering my room due to insufficient window blackout methods.

Something weird I notice about melatonin is that it helps me get work done just before bed, because my mind thinks less about it and just does it, but this probably isn't the best way to work.

Re: How to Sleep

#107

Post by icc97 »

unicornporn wrote: post #89
tuwtuwtuwtuw wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have the same issue. My workaround is to lie in bed, count 1, 2, 3, 4 over and over again (in my mind) and try to focus on these numbers. My mind wanders away all the time but then I just try to get back to counting. Might sound stupid but I guess after a while of thought-speeding my brain gets bored and calm down. Works for me at least. Also no coffee after 4PM.

That's actually what we do in some schools of zen when we do zazen. We begin to steady and stabilize the mind by counting the breath. We practice by counting each inhalation and each exhalation, beginning with one and counting up to ten. Inhale — at the end of the inhalation, count one. Exhale — at the end of the exhalation, count two. When you get to ten, come back to one and start all over. The only agreement that…

Yes - I've come across the same breathing suggestions via Headspace.

Re: How to Sleep

#108

Post by sleepeejoe »

teolandon wrote: post #59

My biggest struggle with sleep is that I'm always excited to do stuff, and always feel like I'm not done with my day. Exceptions are when something happens and I end up feeling very depressed during the day, and simply want to shut down and do nothing. Usually, I get so infatuated with a script I'm writing, a new program I discovered, a bug that I need to resolve, a book that I'm reading, some concept that I'm thinki…

Save the game! I had the same issue because I was terrified of forgetting things...so I've started taking notes and reminders for the following day(s) in order to resume the mental processes. Even a to-do list using todoist would free you some CPU cycles and will make you sleep better.

Re: How to Sleep

#109

Post by fjdlwlv »

soperj wrote: post #58
Shank wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From The Atlantic, I expected a little more science and a little more suggestion from this article. This read more as a summary of all of the little sleep tips I've seen and heard anecdotally over the last few years rolled into one summary. Not exactly on the same level as "When Your Child Is a Psychopath" or "My Family's Slave" (two very recent and exceptionally great articles from The Atlantic).

I really wonder about the "When Your Child is a Psychopath" one, it was a good story and all, but I wonder how many people read that article and like me left feeling like "I can relate". As a kid in pre-school, I pissed in another kids face. In elementary I ripped a kid's eyelid off, and pulled another kid's leg through a bike lock station and then broke it amongst many other things. I never hurt a teacher, but I was…

When did you stop being a psychopath? Were you aware of the change?
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