What helps you go to sleep at night?
- Thread starter starseed galaxy auticorn
- Start date
- 222
- Posts
- 14
- Years
- South Carolina, US
- Seen Sep 24, 2016
Deep breathing. I like to cycle between quick rapid breaths for a minute and then deep breaths and then quick, then deep, etc. It always gets me really sleepy. :)
- 41,366
- Posts
- 17
- Years
- She/Her
- Australia
- Seen today
I need all the lights to be off or I'll go crazy. That means no lights on in my room, the bathroom, hallway, etc etc... or I wouldn't be able to sleep until I've turned them off. Also drives me nuts when any one of the home computers aren't turned off before bed.
Going to kickboxing the same day helps too since I tire myself out but even then it's not too major of a change since I end up shifting and turning for a little bit anyway. Just how it is for me.
Going to kickboxing the same day helps too since I tire myself out but even then it's not too major of a change since I end up shifting and turning for a little bit anyway. Just how it is for me.
Cherrim
PSA: Blossom Shower theme is BACK ♥
- 33,291
- Posts
- 21
- Years
- Age 35
- she / her
- Toronto
- Seen today
I've had chronic insomnia for about... I guess about 4 years now? So I'm very particular about my sleep habits because otherwise, I just don't sleep.
My room has to be completely dark and completely silent. All blinking lights from any electronics charging have to be covered up, the kitchen light upstairs has to be turned off or the door at the top of the stairs has to be closed so the miniscule amount of light from it doesn't show in the doorframe of my basement room. Lots of little details that I have to check before bed everynight, in case some sort of covering shifted during the day. The speakers on my desktop have to be physically turned off because otherwise they emit the tiiiiniest of static noises which will keep me up all night if I've forgotten to turn them off.
As for my methods for actually getting to sleep... I take a melatonin pill about 30 minutes before I want to get to sleep, and that's when I sign off my computer, turn off my game consoles, or otherwise start winding down and trying to avoid electronics. I brush my teeth, change into pyjamas, get my stuff ready for the next morning... and then when I'm ready to crawl into bed and try to sleep, I take my actual sleeping pill which generally takes about 10-30 minutes to kick in and turn my lights out to sleep.
Recently, even though LCD screens are awful for sleep, I'd trained myself to fall asleep to a very specific Youtuber's videos. I feel bad saying it because it's not like I find him boring or anything, but it's a Minecraft LPer (EthosLab, for anyone curious) and I just find it very calming and relaxing. I only ever watch his vids in bed, so my mind simply associates his videos with drifting off to sleep. Then in the morning as I wake up, I finish off the video (often having to go back a few minutes to where I conked out). However, my sleeping pill dosage had to be dropped recently and I'm really noticing the difference the LCD screen makes, so I've had to cut this out of my routine and it sucks because now I can't do the thing I've mentally trained myself to sleep to. :( I'm trying to take up reading instead but it's been about a week and so far my bedside lamp definitely keeps me more awake than my phone screen. Having to lift myself up, lean over to turn out my light, set my book to the side, and then sleep when I feel myself drifting off rather than just turning off my phone and sliding it slightly under my pillow turns out to be a big deal. But hopefully over time I'll successfully retrain myself again. Otherwise it might be time to invest in a better ereader with a backlight, assuming the backlights are healthier. (I've never actually looked into this.)
My room has to be completely dark and completely silent. All blinking lights from any electronics charging have to be covered up, the kitchen light upstairs has to be turned off or the door at the top of the stairs has to be closed so the miniscule amount of light from it doesn't show in the doorframe of my basement room. Lots of little details that I have to check before bed everynight, in case some sort of covering shifted during the day. The speakers on my desktop have to be physically turned off because otherwise they emit the tiiiiniest of static noises which will keep me up all night if I've forgotten to turn them off.
As for my methods for actually getting to sleep... I take a melatonin pill about 30 minutes before I want to get to sleep, and that's when I sign off my computer, turn off my game consoles, or otherwise start winding down and trying to avoid electronics. I brush my teeth, change into pyjamas, get my stuff ready for the next morning... and then when I'm ready to crawl into bed and try to sleep, I take my actual sleeping pill which generally takes about 10-30 minutes to kick in and turn my lights out to sleep.
Recently, even though LCD screens are awful for sleep, I'd trained myself to fall asleep to a very specific Youtuber's videos. I feel bad saying it because it's not like I find him boring or anything, but it's a Minecraft LPer (EthosLab, for anyone curious) and I just find it very calming and relaxing. I only ever watch his vids in bed, so my mind simply associates his videos with drifting off to sleep. Then in the morning as I wake up, I finish off the video (often having to go back a few minutes to where I conked out). However, my sleeping pill dosage had to be dropped recently and I'm really noticing the difference the LCD screen makes, so I've had to cut this out of my routine and it sucks because now I can't do the thing I've mentally trained myself to sleep to. :( I'm trying to take up reading instead but it's been about a week and so far my bedside lamp definitely keeps me more awake than my phone screen. Having to lift myself up, lean over to turn out my light, set my book to the side, and then sleep when I feel myself drifting off rather than just turning off my phone and sliding it slightly under my pillow turns out to be a big deal. But hopefully over time I'll successfully retrain myself again. Otherwise it might be time to invest in a better ereader with a backlight, assuming the backlights are healthier. (I've never actually looked into this.)
- 17
- Posts
- 9
- Years
- Seen Mar 8, 2015
Nothing, officer. My doctor prescribed this for me.
Shining Raichu
Expect me like you expect Jesus.
- 8,959
- Posts
- 13
- Years
- Age 33
- Australia
- Seen Nov 20, 2023
Laying down and closing my eyes usually does the trick
BonkersRider
Twisted Fashion Gal
- 379
- Posts
- 10
- Years
- Age 38
- Somewhere near the sun, Florida.
- Seen Oct 30, 2015
When I was much younger I used to hug a pillow in order to get to sleep. These days I hug my wife to fall asleep. She is so much better than a pillow (she's so warm and soft in the right places).
The drawback is that I had to travel alone on business and not have my snugglebunny by my side. Having to use a pillow once again is just not the same.
The drawback is that I had to travel alone on business and not have my snugglebunny by my side. Having to use a pillow once again is just not the same.
- 13,131
- Posts
- 19
- Years
- Between your fantasy and my reality
- Seen Apr 19, 2024
Darkness and silence. Or at least some partial form of those, especially darkness. I actually get really agitated past a certain point in the evening (I'd say maybe like 1 am or so) if lights are still up way high by that point.
But the best things to get me to sleep are having a dark room - although something like a computer monitor still being on won't bother me much - and having mostly silence. Can't be much activity going on. If I'm having some major troubles settling down, I'll actually grab my headphones and tablet, load up a youtube video of some relaxing sounds, and listen to that.
(It works quite a bit of the time for me, surprisingly.)
Oh, and coolness. I cannot have a room be too warm or I'll be tossing and turning for quite some time. This is more relevant during the summer, where I'd rather fall asleep on the couch in front of the AC than back in my bedroom where there is no AC.
But the best things to get me to sleep are having a dark room - although something like a computer monitor still being on won't bother me much - and having mostly silence. Can't be much activity going on. If I'm having some major troubles settling down, I'll actually grab my headphones and tablet, load up a youtube video of some relaxing sounds, and listen to that.
(It works quite a bit of the time for me, surprisingly.)
Oh, and coolness. I cannot have a room be too warm or I'll be tossing and turning for quite some time. This is more relevant during the summer, where I'd rather fall asleep on the couch in front of the AC than back in my bedroom where there is no AC.
I've never had too many problems. I used to watch like a 10 minute let's play after I got in bed, and had my computer set to automatically shut down when it ended. Lately, I started watching longer videos, and wrote a little program to slowly turn the volume down over the course of 10 minutes, and then shut down when it hits 0. I usually fall asleep somewhere around the time it gets quiet enough that I can't tell what they're saying anymore.
- 3,509
- Posts
- 15
- Years
- Seen Nov 5, 2017
most classic rock albums send me straight to sleep
Klippy
L E G E N D of
- 16,405
- Posts
- 18
- Years
- Disneyland
- Seen Dec 14, 2023
I used to listen to audiobooks to fall asleep, but I lost my entire Harry Potter audiobook series and can't find the discs again. Oftentimes now, I listen to ASMR videos. They're often geared to get you sleeping and they work great!
curiousnathan
Starry-eyed
- 7,753
- Posts
- 14
- Years
- Australia
- Seen Mar 11, 2024
Clean sheets, stomach full of food and warm blankets!
CoffeeDrink
GET WHILE THE GETTIN'S GOOD
- 1,250
- Posts
- 10
- Years
- Lootin' Your Poké's
- Seen Dec 5, 2016
Hahaha, what? Sleep? What's that? *sips coffee*
I actually was found on the couch with a cup of coffee. Seemed I dozed off for about 20 minutes, woke up and finished a cold coffee (blech), and then finished the rest of the day. So just work can lull me to sleep after a long day. A guilty pleasure of mine though is that I have this wall clock that has a nice tick to it, so falling asleep to that is pretty good.
I actually was found on the couch with a cup of coffee. Seemed I dozed off for about 20 minutes, woke up and finished a cold coffee (blech), and then finished the rest of the day. So just work can lull me to sleep after a long day. A guilty pleasure of mine though is that I have this wall clock that has a nice tick to it, so falling asleep to that is pretty good.
Having my bed pushed up against a wall really helps me sleep. I have a terribly hard time falling asleep or even feeling tired if my bed is in the middle of the room. I need to have a wall behind me and a wall on one side, which is usually the side that I face when I actually end up falling asleep.
Twisted Cuteness
Always a team
- 542
- Posts
- 14
- Years
- Va
- Seen Apr 24, 2016
I usually have trouble sleeping, so I watch something on Netflix and have my TV and Xbox on a timer to shut off.
I sleep facing the wall with my stuffed animals and a quilt. I usually have my feet peeking out so I don't get overly warm
I sleep facing the wall with my stuffed animals and a quilt. I usually have my feet peeking out so I don't get overly warm
I'm so HM02
Banned
- 281
- Posts
- 9
- Years
- Age 32
- Your worst nightmare!!!
- Seen Dec 7, 2016
Watching YouTube, and maybe listening to music. It really helps me work my brain till I am tired. Or look up stuff on the Internet, like Sports facts and stuff.
Leviathan
[span="font-family:ubuntu; color: whitesmoke; padd
- 1,103
- Posts
- 10
- Years
- Age 30
- Ireland
- Seen May 7, 2023
Lights off, complete silence, no-one talking or dogs barking. Perfect recipe for a good ol' nap in my case. If I'm sick, I tend to sleep it off. I really can't get some shuteye if I'm trying to sleep in a 'noisy' place, though I do tend to drift off if I'm traveling somewhere via car, bus or plane.
- 245
- Posts
- 9
- Years
- Somewhere
- Seen Sep 19, 2017
I have to be tired to sleep obviously. I also have a stuffed giraffe toy I cuddle. Don't laugh cause my best friend sent it to me and I really like her alot romanticly. I've learned over time not to be bothered by noise, but a ticking clock always makes it hard for me to sleep. I can't sleep if I'm not covered by something either.