How do you turn off your brain before going to bed?

[The_Tao_s_Revenge]

My kitty! She usually lays next to me purring and lets me snuggle her like a big warm felid teddy bear. Its very calming, also I either put the weather channel, or some tv show on.

[EmAnJ]

A glass of wine or a beer works for some people, for sure, but not all. And alcohol can interrupt a proper sleep. YMMV.

[Thudlow_Boink]

@Shamozzle

Podcasts are great for this! There are so many, one is bound to find a few that are the right depth and tempo. I like This American Life, Wiretap, and Q Radio.

Yeah, the right podcast, or OTR radio show, or audiobook, is the perfect way to keep you from getting bored without keeping you awake.

Also, no caffeine. At all. A huge help.

Well, none after, say, noon. If you need caffeine to get or keep you going, make sure you get it early.

[Grrr]

My cats help me sometimes.

I’ll pet him. He starts to purr. The purring sound helps put me to sleep.

My next big invention is to invent a pillow that purrs.

[Mithras]

When I can’t sleep, I close my eyes and sort of focus on the back of my eyelids. I start to notice faint differences in color and movement. Watching those, they get more complex. Eventually I’ll have drifted off. It’s weird. If something brings me out of it a little before I feel like I’m actually asleep, I’ll realize I was watching a scene and much like a dream I can’t remember it clearly.

I know it seems like I’m saying that when I can’t go to sleep I just go to sleep, but for me there’s something about the conscious watching/focusing that can stop my mind from racing and trigger sleep.

[The_Second_Stone]

@SeaDragonTattoo

I read a book, or I turn the screen light on my phone all the way down and play solitaire or a no-stress type game like the endless versions of bejeweled or mahjong or puzzles. I kinda prefer the phone these days, because if I’m reading a paper book the nightstand light needs to be on, and I have to reach over to put the book down and turn off the light. With the phone, whether playing a brainless game or reading, I can just drop it and sleep.

My mom taught me a version of meditation that always puts me to sleep. Lay in your comfy “I’m going to sleep now” position and close your eyes. Take some slow, deep, relaxing breaths and become aware of your own breathing. Start with your toes. Become aware of them. Tell them to go to sleep. Be conscious of your breaths, make them slow and regular. Thank your toes and feet for carrying you through the day, and they deserve some good rest. Breathe. Sometimes I’ll make the part I’m telling to sleep twitch just the slightest bit so I am aware of the muscle groups and can then make them relax. Do each foot individually if you need to, or both at the same time. It may take a few nights to figure out how slowly to go through body parts. I start with toes and then ankles and go to calves, knees, hips… I’ve never made it to my waist before being asleep!

These are good techniques. One I do when my mind races is to see how fast I can jump to different subjects and keep doing it until it is just nonsense.

[Missy2U]

I drink and take allergy medicine. This is not recommended though.

[EmAnJ]

@Missy2U

I drink and take allergy medicine. This is not recommended though.

This is similar to what almost killed me on a few occasions. I’d recommend stopping.

[Taomist]

Another recommendation is white noise. Lots of it. For me it’s a fan set to High near the bed. Helps.

[Imago]

@Taomist

-Discovered Tylenol PM and have never looked back. It is, so far, the ONLY thing that has shut my hyper-assed brain down enough to let me sleep. For the record, Benedryl is exactly the same amount of the same ingredients, so…I often wonder how people can take Benedryl and walk around, much the less work/drive/live. O.o

In the vast majority of people tolerance to it builds up very fast and dissipates very slowly. That’s how folks with allergies can take it and still function.

[Mdcastle]

Non-adictive meds for me.

[Max_the_Immortal]

I read a book; usually a novel, always a paper book. I usually fall asleep faster this way than just lying in the dark. It can backfire if I get to an exciting part of the book, though.

[secretsmile36]

I don’t have this problem. As a busy mom to many kids my sleep-deprived brain shuts itself off.

[TriPolar]

I have a little switch on the back of my head. I don’t sleep if I flip it to off, but the neighbors garage door opens. Got to get that fixed some day.

[MeanOldLady]

@secretsmile36

I don’t have this problem. As a busy mom to many kids my sleep-deprived brain shuts itself off.

Ah. So the secret, Mike, is to have a bunch of children.

[Mr.Accident]

Over the years I’ve trained my body to go to sleep if i’m laying down and a certain show is on. (Kim Possible, Recess, King of the Hill, Simpsons.) If I lay down and one of these shows are on, I’ll be asleep before the first episode is off. I did this by playing the same thing on the dvd player every night when I go to bed, regardless of what time it is.

[Hockey_Monkey]

I use Tylenol PM, but not frequently. I use it when I know I HAVE to get a good sleep, and I have to take it before between 8 and 9pm to be able to wake up on time. It renders me pretty much unconscious in about an hour and a half.

My husband is one of the lucky people that is asleep 5 minutes after his head hits the pillow (or sooner!). Sometimes it irks me to lay there for hours listening to him sleeping, knowing there is nothing I can do to make myself go to sleep any faster. (If I haven’t taken a sleep aid before going to bed, there isn’t anything I can do at that point.)

[Viridiana]

@rachelellogram

I leave a season of South Park playing on my computer, quiet but loud enough to hear. I’m usually out before the first episode is over (22 minutes, give or take). My issue is not falling asleep, but staying there. A nightmare will predictably wake me up within an hour of bedtime, then I’ll get up and get a drink of water and go back to bed. Usually I’ll be ok then (with just a couple of early-morning wakeups).

Weird, I do the same thing, same show (sometimes I alternate with Family Guy or Cleveland Show, or something on Hulu I know I’ll be re-watching the next day).

[overlyverbose]

I tell myself a story. I’ve got a running storyline in my head that I pick up whenever I’m bored or tired but can’t sleep (I typically remember where I was when I last stopped). I arrange my body so I’m comfortable and focus on thinking through what happens next. I usually drift off fairly quickly - about 5-10 minutes.

If that doesn’t work, I try what SeaDragonTattoo mentioned with the meditation. My mom also taught me that. We called it “the relaxing thing” when we were kids - we were clearly very imaginative with the name. It generally doesn’t put me completely asleep, but it does put me in the right frame of mind and calms down those racing thoughts. Then I usually start with the story and conk out.

[Rachellelogram]

@Viridiana

Weird, I do the same thing, same show (sometimes I alternate with Family Guy or Cleveland Show, or something on Hulu I know I’ll be re-watching the next day).

Yeah I get tired of the same season pretty fast and will rotate in Daria or Always Sunny sometimes. But thankfully there are many seasons of South Park!