In general I moved from a model where the limiting factor was absolute number of hours worked to quality of peak hours in the day, where (I believe) the latter is much higher variance and also significantly affected by not having sufficient sleep. I moved from taking modafinil (which never helped me) to taking melatonin (which helps a lot), and always letting myself sleep in as much as I need. I think this has helped a lot.
Getting pregnant may cause insomnia both while you’re pregnant and postpartum (even if someone else is taking care of the baby or you’ve sleep-trained the baby).
At all times, I have a set of topics to think about during downtime, such as showers and walks. (I try to include several different topics, including at least one piece of fiction I’m writing.) If I can’t sleep, I lie still in bed and think about one of my topics. I find I get a lot of creative insight, I avoid anxious ruminating, and I often drift off back to sleep.
Don’t drink caffeine late in the afternoon, and if you use stims or other insomnia-causing medication try to take them as early as possible.
A good quality pillow (and/or mattress or mattress topper, if you can afford it) is surprisingly helpful. I’m not sure how much it affects my sleep quality, although I think it does. It definitely makes sleeping more comfortable and decreases my back and neck pain.
I used to be out of balance all the time, but grokking the phase response curve seems to have given me full control of my circadian rhythm. Taking term release melatonin at 16:00 and again at 20:00 can make me go to sleep a good 3 hours earlier.
However there doesn’t seem to be a thing in the world that cures sleeplessness that was caused by an overload of stress. If I’m sufficiently overwhelmed, I’m going to lie awake until 04:00 no matter what I do. There is no substitute for opening up to and fixing the underlying issues.
For over 10 years now I’ve managed getting enough sleep mostly by fixing my wakeup time and going to sleep whenever I get tired. The trick is you can’t really take breaks, even on the weekend, or you fall back into patterns that may result in not enough sleep (nb I do in fact not wakeup at a fixed time on Sundays, so I’m less benefiting from this advice now than I have in the past). This has worked for me even though I have narcolepsy and sometimes take “naps” during the day due to sleep attacks.
The way this seems to work is that after a few days of being tired or waking up too early (if you wake up early doing this, stay in bed and try to keep sleeping but definitely don’t get up) your body learns to get tired an appropriate time for you to get enough sleep. It creates a feedback loop that is self reinforcing, and it’s easy in that all you have to do is go to sleep when you’re tired.
There may be other caveats to making this work but worth trying since it’s simple and doesn’t even require you buy anything.
My self-control is much weaker after a workday. Even if I have good intentions I usually semi-automatically do something addictive and unproductive for a few hours.
What has helped you sleep better?
Examples:
Blackout curtains
High end earplugs
Meletonin
Theanine
Cortisol Manager supplement
Sleep Reset supplement
Weighted blanket
In general I moved from a model where the limiting factor was absolute number of hours worked to quality of peak hours in the day, where (I believe) the latter is much higher variance and also significantly affected by not having sufficient sleep. I moved from taking modafinil (which never helped me) to taking melatonin (which helps a lot), and always letting myself sleep in as much as I need. I think this has helped a lot.
Getting pregnant may cause insomnia both while you’re pregnant and postpartum (even if someone else is taking care of the baby or you’ve sleep-trained the baby).
At all times, I have a set of topics to think about during downtime, such as showers and walks. (I try to include several different topics, including at least one piece of fiction I’m writing.) If I can’t sleep, I lie still in bed and think about one of my topics. I find I get a lot of creative insight, I avoid anxious ruminating, and I often drift off back to sleep.
Don’t drink caffeine late in the afternoon, and if you use stims or other insomnia-causing medication try to take them as early as possible.
This is such a genius idea, thank you!
A good quality pillow (and/or mattress or mattress topper, if you can afford it) is surprisingly helpful. I’m not sure how much it affects my sleep quality, although I think it does. It definitely makes sleeping more comfortable and decreases my back and neck pain.
I sleep a lot better when I’m cooler, and I’ve found this helpful: https://www.chilitechnology.com/. Others recommend https://bedjet.com/.
I used to be out of balance all the time, but grokking the phase response curve seems to have given me full control of my circadian rhythm. Taking term release melatonin at 16:00 and again at 20:00 can make me go to sleep a good 3 hours earlier.
However there doesn’t seem to be a thing in the world that cures sleeplessness that was caused by an overload of stress. If I’m sufficiently overwhelmed, I’m going to lie awake until 04:00 no matter what I do. There is no substitute for opening up to and fixing the underlying issues.
Having regime and not breaking it. (Now after a year, I can break it by one or two hours, if I can sleep the next morning longer)
Always sleeping enough hours (luckily, I don’t have to be at work on time)
Meditating (learning to step out of the anxious thoughts and rumminating)
Having blue light off on the phone and notebook. And ideally not using it.
Not looking at social media, emails and other stuff which can bring me anxious thoughts.
Trying to read in the evening
Use podcast / audiobook when I really feel weird about sleeping.
Open window
For over 10 years now I’ve managed getting enough sleep mostly by fixing my wakeup time and going to sleep whenever I get tired. The trick is you can’t really take breaks, even on the weekend, or you fall back into patterns that may result in not enough sleep (nb I do in fact not wakeup at a fixed time on Sundays, so I’m less benefiting from this advice now than I have in the past). This has worked for me even though I have narcolepsy and sometimes take “naps” during the day due to sleep attacks.
The way this seems to work is that after a few days of being tired or waking up too early (if you wake up early doing this, stay in bed and try to keep sleeping but definitely don’t get up) your body learns to get tired an appropriate time for you to get enough sleep. It creates a feedback loop that is self reinforcing, and it’s easy in that all you have to do is go to sleep when you’re tired.
There may be other caveats to making this work but worth trying since it’s simple and doesn’t even require you buy anything.
Compressionless socks (from Qatar airlines)
Strong norm for not using a computer after 2230
My self-control is much weaker after a workday. Even if I have good intentions I usually semi-automatically do something addictive and unproductive for a few hours.
Also, helps with melatonin.