One of my cousins is in that 1% of people. He sleeps 4-5 hours a night and stays hyperactive all day. I'm so jealous of him!
How to Sleep
121–130 of 274 posts
Re: How to Sleep
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Have you tried ASMR videos?
Those creepy whisper videos make me cringe. Each to their own.
Re: How to Sleep
#123Earlier 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.
My sense is that needing a TV to sleep is a sign of a deeper issue, that of some underlying dissatisfaction or depression or boredom with life.
What? Preferring white noise like background TV has nothing to do with "underlying deep depression". I think anyone who suggests such a thing might be projecting their own issues of that nature.
Re: How to Sleep
#124If you have problem sleeping do this: there will be some times when you will sleep better. What you have to do is go back 3-7 days and see what you did in those days and do more of that regularly.
Re: How to Sleep
#125Earlier quoted context omitted.
My sense is that needing a TV to sleep is a sign of a deeper issue, that of some underlying dissatisfaction or depression or boredom with life.
That is a possibility
The more likely possibility is that the background TV acts as "noise canceller", allowing your focus to hover between non-specific environmental sound, and your internal thoughts. Neither wins your attention, so your mind is at rest and you sleep.
The echo of our internal thoughts darting around as we approach sleep is quite normal. In the absence of TV background noise, the trick would be to not focus or chase or indulge the thoughts but "allow" them to simmer without your involvement, or allow them to pass by without looking at each one in depth; be indifferent from a distance. That's a technique not difficult to master, but is basically how to still your mind and go to sleep.
Re: How to Sleep
#126> The original studies seemed to say yes. But when the military put soldiers in a lab to make certain they stayed awake, performance suffered.
One minor piece of anecdotal evidence here. I have done a few 5-6 day sleep deprivation experiments in my life. I've stayed up for 3 days more times than I can count. I also used to regularly sleep every other day for long chunks of time. It's something that I could do much better when I was younger, and I try to avoid this now as I regularly get sick when I don't sleep for extended periods of time nowadays.
Firstly, performance (particularly my short term memory) always suffered. Sometimes if not active, or sitting for long periods of time I'd also get pain in my joints. Typically, when I fall asleep or start feeling tired it's because I enter a small boring, quiet homely environment (i.e. go home, or sit in a quiet room, or watch tv). My secret to staying awake was constant activity like walking around, talking to people, hydrating (water), small snacks, and walking some more, etc.
I feel that the effects of sleep deprivation hit the hardest when I'm not being stimulated physically. As such, I think dragging someone into a lab would have a harsh effect on one's performance. While I think no matter what you will suffer from performance degradation, I would love to see some contrast between performance given different environments/habits.
Re: How to Sleep
#127My 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'm right there with you on not feeling like I'm done with the day. After my son goes to sleep I a precious few hours to myself, of which chores takes a fair chunk - so I might have only one hour of "me time" if I go to bed when I should. So often, that 1 hour is pushed out a wee bit. Brain works much better on at least 7 hours though, but that time at the end of the night is really my sweet spot and I savour it like nothing else.
At any rate, I find reading using the Kindle app on my OLED device (S8+ or S2 tab) with bluelight filter enabled (native filter on S8, app on S2 tab) with lowest brightness (white text/black background) to be great.
I'll start off with a bit of sci-fi, and if it gets too exciting I'll then switch to something less exciting - e.g. continue my work on the blue book (DDD) or something like that. ;)
Lifting weights in the gym also helps (e.g. 5x5 stronglifts), and not just for sleep either.
Re: How to Sleep
#128> In 2013, a 24-year-old advertising copywriter in Indonesia died after prolonged sleep deprivation, collapsing a few hours after tweeting “30 hours of working and still going strooong.” She went into a coma and died the next morning.
Things like this always slightly scare me.
I have been awake consecutively for far longer, and on several occasions. But does that mean I just can - or would I really be risking death each time?
Re: How to Sleep
#1291. 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 seems controversial. Vigorous exercise before bed seems OK based on what I've been seeing: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20673290 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/04/sleep-...
"less than 3 hours"
Re: How to Sleep
#130> In 2013, a 24-year-old advertising copywriter in Indonesia died after prolonged sleep deprivation, collapsing a few hours after tweeting “30 hours of working and still going strooong.” She went into a coma and died the next morning. Things like this always slightly scare me. I have been awake consecutively for far longer, and on several occasions. But does that mean I just can - or would I really be risking death e…
The article suggests his death was due to a combination of too much energy drinks and a preexisting mild heart condition. If you get regular checkups you should be probably mostly fine for a while until you get weakened by old age and can't do it any more.
That is not to say that it's at all recommended. I personally absolutely cannot stay awake for more than 20 hours.