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How to Sleep

theatlantic.com

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Re: How to Sleep

#221

Post by jssmith »

iman453 wrote: post #201
voidz wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Earplugs are my #1 life changer when it comes to sleep. I found these really soft ones that don't really get in the way when you're lying on one ear, they filter pretty much all of the sound and when I take them out the next day, my ears don't hurt. As it turns out my wife's breathing kept me kind of awake, and traffic sounds too. And now that I got used to it, thanks to the associativity of the brain, these days I f…

Could you tell me which earplugs you use and how you went about finding the right ones?

I searched for years for the right fit in earplugs, purchasing perhaps a dozen types along the way. In hindsight I would suggest purchasing a variety pack. I think it would have saved me a lot of time and money.

Something like: http://www.earplugstore.com/foearpltrpa2.html

My personal favorites: 3M E-A-R Classic Soft Earplugs

Re: How to Sleep

#222

Post by rsp1984 »

iman453 wrote: post #201
voidz wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Earplugs are my #1 life changer when it comes to sleep. I found these really soft ones that don't really get in the way when you're lying on one ear, they filter pretty much all of the sound and when I take them out the next day, my ears don't hurt. As it turns out my wife's breathing kept me kind of awake, and traffic sounds too. And now that I got used to it, thanks to the associativity of the brain, these days I f…

Could you tell me which earplugs you use and how you went about finding the right ones?

I have tried about 10 different kinds and the ones that work best for me -- by about a mile -- are the 3M 1100 [1].

They have a light coating that makes them "stick" just a little bit in the ear (but not uncomfortably). This closes sound gaps that exist with other plugs and makes them way more effective.

[1] http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_EU/PPE_SafetySoluti...

Re: How to Sleep

#223

Post by arikr »

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.…

> 8. Avoid stimulating TV, conversations or books before sleep.

That's no fun!

Re: How to Sleep

#224

Post by m-j-fox »

Whatever you do, don't click the video at the bottom of the article unless you have a few hours to kill. Dr. James is an impossibly engaging and fun-to-watch youtuber and there goes my memorial day.

Re: How to Sleep

#225

Post by soperj »

fjdlwlv wrote: post #109
soperj wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

If you truly believed I was a psychopath, why would you try to antagonize someone like that?

Re: How to Sleep

#226

Post by lphnull »

I'm 30 years old now.

I was able to live on 4-6 hrs of sleep a night all the way up to age 25-28. That's when sleep started becoming a problem.

At age 30, I absolutely need 8 hours of sleep minimum average of sleep, but that average has to be accumulated over the course of a week! That means that a single night of sleeping less and doing strenuous tasks on a linux terminal now takes a toll on me in ways that I have never felt before in my youth.

Full disclaimer: I am a blue collar worker at a non-computer job who physically excerts myself and am very fit as a result of my job. This is part of why sleep is mandatory for me.

The older you get, the more sleep you need and the less alcohol your body can handle. This is a universal truth that people <age 25 have a hard time accepting because everybody has to be a superman of course.

Re: How to Sleep

#227

Post by jaggederest »

driverdan wrote: post #196
jaggederest wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I feel like I might need to seek some professional help on this, but I'll still take it as far as possible before that. Please don't wait. It took me years to get help, and sleep is very easy to fix with such a tiny amount of medical care. The doctor literally gave me a look like "You've tried to live with this for a decade instead of spending $40 and a couple hours to fix it at any point during that time?", gave m…

Except that's not solving the problem, that's temporarily addressing the symptom. Hypnotics should not be taken lightly or for extended periods of time. Drugs may help at first but they're not the solution for sleep issues. You need to address the underlying problem.

Seeking medical attention is the first step to addressing the underlying problem though. You need to get the rest you need in order to work on deeper issues.

Re: How to Sleep

#228

Post by lphnull »

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…

My biggest struggle with sleep is existential anxiety. I'm not ready to "close" down the day and fast forward to the next day, so I "borrow" a lot of hours off my lifespan at a high interest rate just for the sake of making the "now" last a little bit longer. I'm not afraid to die. I just hate the mandatory fast forwarding of time.

Re: How to Sleep

#229

Post by rubber_duck »

Bartweiss wrote: post #209
rubber_duck wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is ~6 hours low ? After I started working out before work I started getting up ~6-6:30 but I can't go to sleep much earlier than 12 (I just end up rolling around in bed) - but I've been doing this for so long now I can't really tell the difference. I sleep over on the weekends but I don't notice extra productivity or being rested. I'll try to go to sleep at 22:30 this week to see if I feel different.

Personal needs vary, but also know that you can stabilize on chronic low sleep and not even know it. I did a few years getting ~6 hours most days, and felt ok. I eventually ended up getting 8-9 for quite a while (months), recovered, and now quite literally feel better than I knew I could. A simple, funny example: I always thought I was prone to getting songs stuck in my head. It turns out I'm not unless I'm sleep dep…

Yea, I've been feeling 'off' for a while now but so many moving things and any one could be it - will try sleeping more for a week to see if it makes a difference.

Re: How to Sleep

#230

Post by notyourloops »

I had trouble with insomnia until I took up the practice of meditation. It was not my intention to solve my insomnia via meditation, but that's what happened incidentally.
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