Ask Lemmy

For those who like sounds while sleeping, I heartily recommend mynoise.net. It has amazing soundscapes... static noises, rainforest wildlife, medieval library, starship bridge... It is excellent for sleeping, adding some background noise, or enhancing the atmosphere of a DND session.

Sleeping hygiene is a good point. No phone in bed.

But also try to make it cozy

Have a nice duvet cover, I like cotton. No synthetics. Change it more often.

Temperature in your bed room should be lower, open your window before going to bed.

Have good curtains. But not too dark. Whenever I have a window shutter and I close it completely, I just don’t wake up and sleep over 8-10 h.

Here are my things I do when I can’t sleep

If my feed are cold, wear socks, or cloth but don’t heat the room too much.

Try to sleep in a different room (if you can). When I am just too active I move to my sofa for a change. It really helps me.

Important question. Are you alone or is someone next to you. If your sleeping schedule or preferences don’t mix with your partners, try separate beds. Cuddling sounds cute until you cannot sleep because of a snoring person next to you. And don’t be angry when your partner prefers to be separate.

As some others have mentioned, regular workout will help a lot. Another thing you can do is cardio for 10 minutes before sleep and ending with a few minutes stretch to tire and loosen up your body. Also try to sleep at the same time daily. Your circadian rhythm will aid you too.

If you have trouble sleeping in general, it might be a bad habits thing. Melatonin supplements can help to get you tired. 1mg before you go to bed is enough, if you try to relax and sleep. They don't do anything if you do stuff that keeps you awake however.

This particularly anything exciting like sports, listening to energetic music, watching tense movies, playing fast or demanding games etc. Avoid any such thing for at least two hours before you try to sleep.

History documentaries with good narrator and minimal loud music

Don't try to fall asleep.

The effort is what's keeping you awake. Sleep when you feel tired.

If you don't feel tired at night, then you may not be doing enough mental or physically engaging activities during the day.

Exercise

Minecraft Sweden on loop at low volume

Sleeping is my super power - I fall asleep within two or three minutes every night. Here's how I do it.

• No caffeine ever.
• Listen to the same white noise track every night while sleeping. Your brain will recognize that the track equals time to sleep.
• Go to bed at the same time every day, even on weekends.
• Don't hang out in bed. The bed is only for sleeping or sex. No phone use in bed.

I've found that I have to keep my hands off my body, the stimulation of being touched keeps me alert.

Two things that helped me in the past year:

• Avoiding caffeine after 10:00AM or so. I cut coffee completely, but I noticed positive effects by just drinking all caffeine before ~10:00AM.
• Sleep mask helped me a ton. Turns out we are super sensitive to the most minute amount of light.
• At least for me, not eating past ~6:00PM makes falling asleep way easier.
• Regular exercise (of any kind) allows you to fall sleep easier. Probably has to do with regulating hormones/biological subsystems.
• NO PHONE on bed. Bed is only for sleep and sex. In my opinion anyway.

Hope this helps!

for me, i find background watching/ listening to history videos really effective. Not sure what the rationale there is, but that's how it goes.

A lil weed before bed has been a game changer for me

People have said to relax your face and jaw. Take it a step further and relax your tongue from the roof of your mouth. It sounds silly, but I found it works for me.

That was a tip from the other site I saw years ago, and now if I'm tired and have 15 minutes I can usually grab a power nap by keeping this in mind.

cuddle with big dog

That's a great question to not have a good answer to. I've been smoking weed and drinking vodka cause I'm bored and will inevitably pass out eventually but that's not good advice

Antiques Roadshow.

I used to struggle with sleep. It turned out I’m bipolar. Thankfully, it mellows with age and I learned how to manage it. I was probably ~23 when I got diagnosed. Just sharing because it’s useful to know that sometimes there’s a very specific reason why sleep seems elusive.

You can get sleeping pills for such a situation. I also use melatonin gummies. You can get CBD gummies in a lot of places. Meditation might help.

The most important aspect of sleep management for me is keeping a solid routine. I go to bed at the same time every night and get up early even on my days off. Breaking that routine leads to issues, resuming the routine solves them quickly.

https://www.realsimple.com/military-sleep-method-7552781

I agree with what other people have said plus:

The bed should only be used for sleeping, when you wake up get out of bed and don't go back. Don't use your laptop or phone in bed, if you still have a tv - don't watch it in bed.

This helps set the situational subconscious expectation that the bed is for sleeping.

Been using asmr for years. Probably not for everyone, but works well enough for me. Also, I sleep infinitely better with background white noise of some sort, but that's due to tinnitus :/

I am a chronic insomniac. At my worst I can average less than 90 minutes of sleep in a 24 hour period, which is actually very dangerous. Before bed I eat some bland protein (plain super firm tofu and a handful of almonds), never carbs, and I microdose either Indica or if that is not available, Indica based Delta 8. Microdose is the key word here. I take two deep puffs and that's it. Enough for a little head buzz but not enough to get high. Bundle up, close my eyes, and most of the time fall asleep for a solid 4-6 hours.

wear yourself out during the day. easier to fall asleep if you're exhausted

• If you're the kind of person to keep yourself busy all day, then when you're trying to go to sleep might be the first time all day you've allowed your mind to wander! You need to find some other time in the day to allow yourself to daydream. Some tips are to not read anything while in the bathroom or turn the radio off in your car if you have a commute. Maybe even schedule some time to sit and think about things if you can.
• Only use your bed for sleep and sex. Reading, eating, browsing on your phone, watching TV, or any other activity should be done elsewhere. This way you train yourself that it's sleeptime when you're in bed.
• This is probably something that can't be done if you have a rotating shift, but go to sleep on a regular schedule. Go to sleep at the same time every day. Staying up late should a rare occurrence. Your body will become tired at the same time each day and it's much easier to fall asleep when you keep a schedule.

I like to think of nostalgic memories.

Noise canceling headphones plus Brownian noise.

https://archive.org/details/brownnoise_202103

In my case Sennheiser hd450bt.

Turn off phone data, so only regular texts from VIP can break through DND.

Solitaire, crosswords or codewords app to sleep. Voyager with pagination on if you really want to read but have an end page.

If you have the "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" like me, get a fan.

Exercise will control your circadian rhythm, set your metabolism on a more consistent routine, and help you sleep better. Endurance based exercises are best; cycling, swimming, running, rowing, etc. You need 1 hour every 3 days at a minimum in my experience. Don't think in terms of a week, just do it somewhere between daily and every 3 days no matter what. Even someone like me that has major chronic health problems from a broken neck and back manages to pull off this one. In fact, I fall apart and turn into a sleepless zombie if I fail to maintain my exercise routine. I'm likely one of the most sleep deprived people here. This works when nothing else does or is possible.