4 hours of 30 second videos viewed on a screen held 4 inches away from my face, it never fails 👍
- regular vigorous exercise - I do this five or six days per week
- no caffeine after about 2 pm
- mostly consistent bedtime
- heating pad, for nights when my lower back is stiff or sore
- white noise in the form of a fan (though I’m going to need something more powerful, as my neighbor has started the lovely habit of watching tv at 330am with no headphones)
- on nights when I’m really having trouble, I have a small stash of chewable 5mg melatonin tablets on my nightstand
I scrolled way too far to find exercise. Not that you’re going to fall asleep within 5 minutes of returning from a run, but it really does work. Among other things, aerobic exercise will help with stress, sleep, some back and joint problems, helps you to eat less and burn more calories.
On another note, I heard something in a podcast or radio show that said that a special type of breathing exercise is as good as exercise for many of these things and will fool your body. Obviously, it won’t build muscle, but it may help with sleep and stress.
Fan for air flow and noise (I’ve got tinnitus). Rub one out. Small glass of cold water. I’ll roll over and pass tf out in seconds.
Highly recommended, but not necessary: Take an edible ~ 2 hours before you wanna go to sleep so you’re in the middle of riding that high when it’s time to crash.
I do not do anything but sleep in my bedroom. My phone charger stays in the living room. When I feel tired, I lay down and basically turn off for four to five hours. I have no issues getting to sleep, but I can’t stay asleep for a “normal” 6-8 hours. My body won’t do it.
Removing all distractions, which takes a bit of work. Covering every single source of light. Little indicator on my charger? Slapped electrical tape on it. Blackout curtains. Noise machine. The hardest one: Never using the bedroom for anything but sleeping. Not even a little peek at the phone and YouTube for a relaxing video. I have an analogue non-illuminated clock for daytime, and if I need to check the time in the dark, a Timex I can hit the glow button on. If I really can’t sleep, I get up and go into another room to read or listen to something.
Absolute dark
Have you tried crying for 45/60 minutes? Works like a charm
I came across c/futuramasleepers when it was on Reddit and being a Futurama fan, it worked like a charm. Effect, I wore out Futurama for myself.
So I switched to downloading Family Guy funny moment videos onto my phone. They are usually 1h long, but 20 minutes or so in, I am knocked out, with a laugh to boot.
Before, when I lived alone, I used to put on tv shows, switch off the tv and let the home theater on very low sound do the heavy lifting.
Also, the guy on YouTube, City Planner Plays has been a tremendous source of sleep for me. Put on one of his YouTube videos and bang, out like a light.
In no particular order:
- being fit
- physically tired
- no booze or cannabis on nights I actually have to sleep well
- a completely dark room, no little lights on electronic devices, blackout curtains, etc…
- a bed (I won’t mention the brand unless asked) that adjusts to my sleep patterns. It measures my breath rate, heart rate, how often I move, if I’m snoring (rare), etc… It then knows how well I’m sleeping and can soften or firm up, and tilt my upper body up or down. Depending on how my vitals change it learns how best to accommodate my sleep.
If I have trouble due to stress or the neighbors are making noise I’ll throw on an eye mask and ear plugs.
I’m basically comatose 15 minutes after hitting the pillow and wake up before my alarm.
what brand of cannabis would you recommend?
Ambien. I know that it’s not great but unfortunately it’s more complex for me than just sleep, so it’s necessary. I don’t think I’d ever sleep again without it. Wow can you do some weird things on Ambien if you don’t put your phone away.
