It takes me 45-90 minutes to fall asleep, counting from the moment I first close my eyes. I’ve had this condition ever since I was, I dunno, ever since I can remember. During this time, I get bored. So often, after 30 minutes, I get up and wait till I feel sufficiently drowsy. Thing is, this rarely happens. I might feel “tired” as in low alertness, but I don’t normally get tired as in “dozing in 5 mins” tired.
Currently, winter break’s just ending and my schedule is warped. Wake up at 1-3 PM, sleep at 7-8AM. As of this moment, I’ve been up 17 hours. I tried to sleep at 4AM (4 hours back), but the usual routine repeated. Right now, I feel alert enough to not want to sleep, but not alert enough to want to read/study something. I have two options: just lay in bed till I fall asleep and sleep on till morning tomorrow OR try to be awake till 10-11 PM tonight and hopefully fall asleep quickly. Thing is, both options aren’t really palatable.
As far as stimulant intake goes, I drink a can of Coke/Pepsi with each meal. Other times I want to drink, I enjoy Concord grape juice or water.
What’s the best option for me to fall asleep quickly? I would strongly prefer not using any drugs.
In the immediate moment, what can I do today to get my schedule back to normal?
How weird. I was about to start a thread about this exact same thing. Although it doesn’t take me long to fall asleep, I’ve been going to bed really late (between 5 and 8 a.m.) and I usually wake up really late at around 6 or 7 p.m. Then the whole cycle starts all over. I’m not taking any drugs, and people have told me that I should just stay awake all day and sleep well at night, but I am unable to do this, as I lack that sort of self discipline.
OK. I carefully read the first page search results from googling sleep hygiene. Most things I knew, a few I didn’t. Should help with the long-term problem. Still not sure what to do today. Luckily it’s Sunday. Alertness not required.
Try imaging. Sometimes called self hypnosis, but that makes it sound more difficult than it is. To start, get comfortable. Make sure the room is a good sleeping temperature.
First, relax. To do this, starting with your feet, tighten each muscle group on a ten count, then relax also on a ten count. Continue up you body, tightening and relaxing. At the same time, breathe on the same ten count, breathe in while you contract, and out on relaxing.
After you’ve relaxed your body, now relax your mind. There are several imaging scenarios, I’ll just give you one or two.
A simple one, using your breathing again, visualize your anxiety/wakefullness as a colored fog. now visualize sleep as another color. I use red for anxiety and blue for sleep. Now, breathing slowly, and deeply, breathe the anxiety out and the sleep in.
Another requires some imagination. In this, you tell yourself a story.
You’re outside on a sunny day. The nice weather, makes you happy and calm. You find a path through a sunny field. You smell the sweet grass. The path calls you. As you walk the path, visualize the scene. Just as you start feeling a bit too warm, the path turns into a shady wood. The path is wide and clear. You hear water ahead. It sounds so soothing you follow the sound, and find a (fill in your own body of water.) Its so inviting, you must sit down on the side of the (stream). The moss is soft and smells sweet and clean. You can’t resist lying back. As you lie back you see clouds through the tree tops. What do you see in the clouds?
Okay, you can take it from there. I’m never awake beyond there.
Try imaging. Sometimes called self hypnosis, but that makes it sound more difficult than it is. To start, get comfortable. Make sure the room is a good sleeping temperature.
First, relax. To do this, starting with your feet, tighten each muscle group on a ten count, then relax also on a ten count. Continue up you body, tightening and relaxing. At the same time, breathe on the same ten count, breathe in while you contract, and out on relaxing.
After you’ve relaxed your body, now relax your mind. There are several imaging scenarios, I’ll just give you one or two.
A simple one, using your breathing again, visualize your anxiety/wakefullness as a colored fog. now visualize sleep as another color. I use red for anxiety and blue for sleep. Now, breathing slowly, and deeply, breathe the anxiety out and the sleep in.
Another requires some imagination. In this, you tell yourself a story.
You’re outside on a sunny day. The nice weather, makes you happy and calm. You find a path through a sunny field. You smell the sweet grass. The path calls you. As you walk the path, visualize the scene. Just as you start feeling a bit too warm, the path turns into a shady wood. The path is wide and clear. You hear water ahead. It sounds so soothing you follow the sound, and find a (fill in your own body of water.) Its so inviting, you must sit down on the side of the (stream). The moss is soft and smells sweet and clean. You can’t resist lying back. As you lie back you see clouds through the tree tops. What do you see in the clouds?
Okay, you can take it from there. I’m never awake beyond there.
If you don’t mind the sewing, you could make a herb pillow. Sew a small cotton or muslin bag (you can make it into a fancy shape if you like), and fill it with any of the following herbs: lavender, lemon verbena, rosemary, sage, basil, thyme, mint, dill, camomile, tarragon. You could probably use dried flowers too, if you like.
You could also try angelica, woodruff, bergamot, valerian, elderflowers, hops or borage, but they’re a little harder to find. My herb book says that hops alone make the best pillow, but I can’t imagine how you’d get hold of them nowadays, aside from raiding a brewery.
Apart from all the good advice given above, you may want to do some research on sleep disorders. A good place to start is Talk About Sleep. There are many reasons your sleep patterns could be disturbed that have nothing to do with how well you prepare/relax yourself.
