Why is it that even when I get a good night sleep I still wake up feeling tired? I know a lot of people feel the exact same way. I also know the sleep specialists have a list of dos and don’ts for getting restful sleep but in reality how many of them are realistic? One thing they always mention is “don’t do anything stimulating for 2 hours before your bedtime” which I’ve always had an issue with, especially since I tend to have 5 hours of free time at night (between the time I get home and the time I go to bed). In a 24 hour day 5 hours isn’t much time to get anything done. I don’t want to spend the last 2 hours of it doing nothing.
One of my big problems is that it tends to take me a while to get to sleep. Though some nights are better than others. I also need “white noise” to fall asleep – I’m too sensitive to other background noises and since I live in an apartment in the city (close to two universities) there is always something else going on. So I sleep with a fan running. I’ve always wondered if this “white noise” has been affecting my sleep. One of these days I will need to try to sleep with the fan off.
Do you have any sleeping tips that have worked for you?
7 Comments
No sleeping tips to share, I’m afraid – I usually fall asleep quickly and I sleep soundly, that’s just how I am. But I do need at least 8 hours of sleep each night or I feel terrible, preferably 9 or 10 hours. That definitely sucks on weekdays – my bedtime is 9.00 PM. 🙁
Dude,
I feel the same way this morning – I have no memory of sleep. Reminds me of that Star Trek NG episode where no one got REM sleep and the whole ship freaked out. Good times. But I feel like shit!
I’m trying a new herbal remedy called “Midnight” which is supposed to help you sleep “naturally” — it actually seems to be working for me.
hi Troy! I felt the same thing this morning, even though I made it a point to sleep early last night (10pm!!). Sunday nights are the worst to fall asleep… If you need some kind of background noise, try making a mix of soothing music and sleep to that? Or go to your happy place.. that always works for me.
Kirsi: I’ve tried going to sleep early but then it feels like I don’t have any free time to myself. I’ve done the sleep-eat-work-eat-sleep cycle before but it just ends up feeling like life is meaningless.
Handy: I vaguely recall that TNG. I’ll really need to watch a lot of those episodes again. I miss Star Trek.
Dave: Is this herbal remedy a pill or a drink? Who makes it. I might look into that.
Sharon: Music and me going to sleep doesn’t tend to work. If I’m listening to music when I’m trying to sleep my brain plays the music in my head. Makes it even harder to sleep 🙂
it sounds hyper-virtuous and boring, i know, but exercise usually does the trick for me (not right before bed as then i’m all endorphin-awake tho).
I’m the same way, even the slightest noises keep me from drifting off unless I’m super bagged. I’ve found that exercise, no coffee’s black tea etc too late in the day and a steady schedule work well – though the schedule is damn near next to impossible for me.
Also, I got one of those hemi-sync cd’s – I listen to it with headphones on some nights – it works sometimes… other nights, my mind just doens’t want to turn off.
I read somewhere that you shouldn’t even lie down until you are tired enough to fall asleep – reading a book and I can’t make it through a page without drifting is definately a good sign…
🙂