I understand this won't sit well with a lot of people, but reading a chapter or two of the Bible before bed totally resets my mind and helps me fall asleep almost immediately when I am ready. It calls you to a different realm. Especially the historical books like Judges, Samuel, and Kings.
Impacts of lack of sleep
101–110 of 196 posts
Re: Impacts of lack of sleep
#102> Increased (+33%) risk of dementia which is something you should be terrified of
Terrified of dementia, yes.
Terrified of a ~2% chance becoming a ~2.6% chance, not quite so much.
Re: Impacts of lack of sleep
#103As someone that has recently perfected their sleep I'll share my approach for anyone willing to try. 1. Always go to sleep within 30 minutes of a specific time every single day. If this ever starts to drift, take a pill of 100 micrograms of melatonin 3 hours before you intend to sleep to get back on track. 2. Get lights that turn on and off via a smartphone app. Set them to turn on 30 minutes before you intend to wak…
Did you ever used to wake up groggy? I feel like that's been a constant for me since forever.
Yes, and I used to feel tired all day. I didn't include this in my original list but eating at the same specified time every day also helps with tiredness and keeping a sleep schedule.
Re: Impacts of lack of sleep
#104I've struggled with sleep for as long as I can remember. I have improved it considerably in the past year (still not perfect). Out of the dozens upon dozens of things I've tried, here's what I think made the most difference, in order of importance. 1. Very consistent bedtime and wake up time. +/- 30 minutes, but ideally less. Obviously if you struggle with sleep you can't count on falling asleep at the same time, but…
Can't agree on reading. It's cognitively stimulating, assuming you read something that interests you. I don't know about you, but I can't just close the book and forget about it.
There are morning w/coffee books and, nighttime books. For me, history works well for night time. The 18th or 19th century. Ancient works. YA novels. Something which will take you out of your day and into another place mentally. Examples of bad books to read before bed: business books, technical books, self-help.
Re: Impacts of lack of sleep
#105I’ve had luck with valerian root and melatonin getting me to sleep, but wake up 12-2 am, even with a “slow release” formula.
Re: Impacts of lack of sleep
#106My problem is that I get too much sleep and it's very difficult for me to wake up if there's no meeting scheduled that morning for my flexible remote job or if there's no social pressure to get up. I'll happily sleep 12-14 hours if you let me. I've been this way since I was a teenager, and I'm 25 now. I know this sounds like I'm complaining about a luxury, and lack of sleep is definitely worse, but it's always made m…
I'm just like you. Healthy, but I sleep a lot. 10h is ok, but 12h is my sweetspot. And before people ask, I love starting my day with a Monster (caffeine + taurine + ...)
I just put that on genetic variability. Stop the FOMO on life: mornings are no better than afternoons :)
Re: Impacts of lack of sleep
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, this is like "people who are overweight: lose weight". Well gee I never thought of that before, I guess I'll go right out and do it. I certainly won't continue lying awake between 3-5am 2-4 times a week now that I know it's important. /s
There's no need to be cynical. Out of all the health problems one might have, improving sleep is the easiest to fix with the biggest immediate benefits. Further, many issues people claim to have with sleep are self-inflicted, excuses, or solvable. When you improve your sleep, you're not missing out on pleasures in a way a strict diet may rob you of the goodies in life. You don't sacrifice anything with better sleep.
> improving sleep is the easiest to fix with the biggest immediate benefit
Tell it to all the insomniacs.
Re: Impacts of lack of sleep
#108I've struggled with sleep for as long as I can remember. I have improved it considerably in the past year (still not perfect). Out of the dozens upon dozens of things I've tried, here's what I think made the most difference, in order of importance. 1. Very consistent bedtime and wake up time. +/- 30 minutes, but ideally less. Obviously if you struggle with sleep you can't count on falling asleep at the same time, but…
For me the most impactful thing by far was leaving the phone in the other room. Instant gain of 1-2 hours of sleep per night.
Re: Impacts of lack of sleep
#109I’ve had luck with valerian root and melatonin getting me to sleep, but wake up 12-2 am, even with a “slow release” formula.
Take heart. This might be all natural.
Re: Impacts of lack of sleep
#110I went to jail. One of the things that I didn't expect is how little sleep it is possible to get in some cell blocks.
In prisons there are often lots of jobs or programs available, so people have to be able to get up in the mornings, but in pre-trial detention there is often nothing, so some people tend to stay up all night long.
And if you want to talk to your buddy, but he is on the other end of the cell block, then you need to scream at the top of your lungs for him to hear you. Especially if many others are trying to talk at once. So you basically get a cacophony of people screaming at each other all night. If your block has a TV and a radio, then those might be on maximum volume right outside your cell too.
I would say over eight years I got an average of four hours sleep a night due to these issues. God knows what effect this long-term sleep deprivation has on all these prisoners, but it can't be good for everyone's mental health.