Ask Lemmy

No screens for two hours before bedtime.

Read a book or listen to music.

Melatonin works for me.

Hot shower.

I'm able to sleep almost immediately basically wherever I lay my head, so I've never really had any problems sleeping. However the most important change I've ever made for sleep quality was how I consume caffeine. Yes, I believe you can fall asleep while totally wired, I can too. The problem is that the sleep quality will be terrible and definitely can contribute to insomnia.

So first, the FDA nailed the appropriate amount of caffeine in a day. Don't consume more than 400mg in a day, and keep track. Too much caffeine with overstimulate you and will contribute to any feelings of anxiety while awake or trying to sleep.

Second, stop consuming caffeine several hours before bed. The biological half life of caffeine is between 6-8 hours, so if you have 400mg at 2pm, you'll still have roughly 200mg in your system at 10pm. That's where your sleep quality will get impacted. My personal rule is that I should space out my consumption over the morning, and stop having any caffeine at all in the afternoon.

It's really simple: you stfu and listen.

Turn off the narrative, the inner monologue, the train of thought. You probably can't shut it down completely - that's okay, just let it go each time you notice it.

Meanwhile, the back of your mind is constantly generating chatter. Passively eavesdrop on that chatter. You won't be able to make much of it out, it's mumbling and disconnected scraps, like someone else's conversation across a cafe. That's okay. Just kind of tune in; if you get stuff, you get stuff.

Being still enough to listen relaxes your body, and the listening-state and the space you create for it soon fills up with dream-gibberish - and that segues smoothly into actually dreaming.

Jerkoff without porn

No phone, No light, no noise, slightly cold temperature, read a book, have vigorous sex.

Alternatively some strains of weed also work allegedly.

Don’t drink coffee or tea past 4:00PM

I haven't seen exercise mentioned nearly enough in this thread. Doing an hour of yoga before bed makes sleep soo much easier.

Do relaxing activities before bed.

dont move at all. get comfy, then stop moving. dont even scratch a slight itch

Working out helps a bunch.

Medication:

Diphenhydramine 50mg.

Then diphenhydramine + Melatonin (20mg) (if I want to be dead asleep but will be groggy in the morning. Only used as last resort).

Exercise. If you aren’t physically tired you’ll have a hard time falling asleep. Most people with physical jobs have no problem sleeping.

Take 1 g of niacin and 1 mg of melatonin right before bed.

I heard the US military swears by a bodyscan meditation exercise. That works for me, or at the very least calms me way down. Sometimes I'll try and take a short walk through the night, because I love it, but thinking about leaving the bed an getting ready for outside makes me very sleepy :) . Good luck falling asleep, unwanted awakeness is super boring and gets old really quick.

In addition to all the above, I found a weighed blanket really helped me. Make sure your room is very dark, pitch black. If it is not, upgrade your blinds or a sleep mask. I got one that's simple and cotton and it works wonders.

Now its winter I also have a heated blanket.

Progressive relaxation. Seriously.

How To Trick Your Brain Into Falling Asleep | Jim Donovan | TEDxYoungstown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5dE25ANU0k

Meditation works really well for me.

This is what I tell my children, get comfy, relax your body, close your eyes, and think of something happy.

• Partial tip: There's often the suggestion of concentrating on breathing, usually with some kind of regular pattern. This is an alternative to try.

You'll need to have been in bed for a while, mind racing. Take how extreme that racing is and then taking a similarly extreme, almost uncomfortably deep breath to match it. This requires having been in bed for a while.

Hold it for a bit. Don't count seconds - avoid numbers. As soon as you get the vaguest hint from your body that you need to let it out and breathe normally again, do so. Try to relax as much of yourself as possible as you do that. This is not a "hold your breath till you pass out" thing. You want to go back to breathing normally.

If the breath was too deep and that freaked you out a bit, try going a bit more shallow on the next one.

This has sometimes worked for me, especially if I've been asleep already and can't get back to sleep.

Sometimes I've tried a regular breathing exercise after that.

Other times I have got out of bed and done something mindless for a while until I felt tired again. No doomscrolling.

• More traditional tip: No caffeinated beverages for at least 6 hours before you go to bed. Yes, six. Nine's even better.

Jack off first

Controlled breathing

/c/futuramasleepers

Close your eyes and lie very still