Why Can’t We Fall Asleep? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#71

Post by provemewrong » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 2:09 PM UTC

henryV wrote: post #58

My problem is the opposite. I can fall asleep very easily. Over 8 or 9 o'clock in the evening, if I'm doing something that doesn't require too much attention (like watching a film or something like that) I start to feel asleep and it's very hard not to. The funny thing is that, if I let myself sleep for a few minutes (5-15), then I wake up fresh and ready to be awake a bunch of hours more (and it doesn't prevent me f…

>The funny thing is that, if I let myself sleep for a few minutes (5-15)

You're essentially taking a nap and waking up before entering deep sleep. This is the refreshing kind of nap. Conversely sleeping just a few minutes more and waking up in the middle of deep sleep would make you feel grumpy and tired. There are some polyphasic sleep techniques that basically exploit this and have sveral short naps of light sleep throughout the 24 day instead of a night's sleep.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#72

Post by provemewrong » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 2:12 PM UTC

nomercy400 wrote: post #12

Is the blue light bothering you? - Windows/Linux: f.lux - Android: twilight

If you are rooted, then CF.lumen is a better choice than twilight, because it is a hardware filter instead of a software overlay. And f.lux is also available for jailbroken iOS devices.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#73

Post by minikites » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 2:20 PM UTC

m_fayer wrote: post #10

I'm surprised the article mentions the blue light problem and devices but does not talk about flux, it's a little app that shifts the color temperature of your display to match what you're supposed to see at your location given the time of day. So, after sunset your screen basically turns orange. Although it's a bit annoying and takes some getting used to, I've tried it on and off and whenever I'm using it I fall asl…

Does f.lux affect the brightness or does it just make everything look like a sodium lamp? Bright light is still a problem, regardless of how jaundiced you make it.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#74

Post by raducu » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 2:25 PM UTC

bmurphy1976 wrote: post #45

I have not read the article (yet). I used to have trouble falling asleep, to the point where I was concerned enough to go to a doctor about it, but I never followed up after the first visit. Instead I not very intentionally made some adjustments on my own which resolved my situation: 1. No lights/noise. Get rid of all blinky things, particularly blue and green lights. Faint red lights are tolerable. Black electrical…

I used to take hours to fall asleep. Some things that helped a lot: 1. Twilight on android and on my laptop 2. Thicker curtains. 3. "Meditating" in bed with my eyes closed.

My version of meditation is laying in bed with my eyes closed and actively trying to shut off all thoughts; at first it seems it's not working because I'm suddenly aware of everything around me and I feel more awake. But after 5-10 minutes I no longer see the "noise" with my eyes closed but instead I start seeing images. Once I start seeing images with my eyes closed I know I'll be asleep in a few minutes.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#75

Post by chdir » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 2:36 PM UTC

I had a severe case of not being able to sleep if my mind was busy after dinner time e.g. coding, debugging, mentally solving a problem. Adjusting light temperature, using flux software etc. helped marginally, but never attacked the root of the problem. What really helped was meditation i.e. being able to take my mind away from everything & focus on /dev/null. It is like a magic button. I can fall asleep whenever I consciously wish to divert my attention. Just a single book & a month of practice.

Next challenge : Wake up whenever I feel like. Haven't found the magic button yet. All the fancy alarm clocks, sleep trackers, REM techniques aren't helping.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#76

Post by burke » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 2:43 PM UTC

chdir wrote: post #75

I had a severe case of not being able to sleep if my mind was busy after dinner time e.g. coding, debugging, mentally solving a problem. Adjusting light temperature, using flux software etc. helped marginally, but never attacked the root of the problem. What really helped was meditation i.e. being able to take my mind away from everything & focus on /dev/null. It is like a magic button. I can fall asleep whenever I c…

Same experience here. For me it was two realizations:

1. Focusing awareness via meditation techniques is a great sleep aid.

2. When your mind is buzzing, it's because it thinks it needs to work through problems or solidify memories before it shuts down for the night. Sometimes it's right, and rather than fighting that:

  a. Give your mind other time to garbage collect than the moments before sleep;
  b. Don't feed your mind new problems in the last hour or two before bed.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#77

Post by udfalkso » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 2:49 PM UTC

chdir wrote: post #75

I had a severe case of not being able to sleep if my mind was busy after dinner time e.g. coding, debugging, mentally solving a problem. Adjusting light temperature, using flux software etc. helped marginally, but never attacked the root of the problem. What really helped was meditation i.e. being able to take my mind away from everything & focus on /dev/null. It is like a magic button. I can fall asleep whenever I c…

What book?

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#78

Post by erikb » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 2:50 PM UTC

m_fayer wrote: post #46

ionised wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

F.lux is great. I agree that the shift towards red light on your monitor is weird at first but after a short while you get used to it, and your monitor starts to look very weird without it.

Now non-fluxed monitors at night somehow feel rude to me. Like someone waving a flashlight in my face.

I have never used such kind of software but I feel the same rude way about my screens at night. It's unnatural to get that strong light pushed into your face at late hours, even if you have experienced it for years already.

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#79

Post by matrix » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 3:15 PM UTC

udfalkso wrote: post #77

chdir wrote: post #75

I had a severe case of not being able to sleep if my mind was busy after dinner time e.g. coding, debugging, mentally solving a problem. Adjusting light temperature, using flux software etc. helped marginally, but never attacked the root of the problem. What really helped was meditation i.e. being able to take my mind away from everything & focus on /dev/null. It is like a magic button. I can fall asleep whenever I c…

What book?

Most likely he's referring to this book:

B. Stahl & E. Goldstein, A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook

Re: Why Can’t We Fall Asleep?

#80

Post by nshepperd » Wed, Jul 08, 2015, 3:18 PM UTC

jwdunne wrote: post #30

veidr wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Acting on a tip from an HN user on a similar thread this year, I ordered these blue light blocking glasses[1] for only $10. If you can get past the goofy look (perhaps a bit more problematic at work than at home), they work great, and obviously they work with any device. [1]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000USRG90?psc=1&redirect=t...

Not just goofy. Most people in the UK would associate glasses like that with ali G: http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/deedfyOGpiI8a2UWYdSCFLjbX... In all seriousness, how do they affect colour? If you're working on a front-end web project or design, could these be problematic?

I took an online colorblindness test while wearing my set, and got a diagnosis of tritanopia. So, maybe wear them if you want to simulate colorblindness for accessibility reasons, otherwise not when you're doing color-sensitive design!