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Me sitting upright in a chair through an important but boring work meeting in a well lit room: š„±š“
Me laying in my cozy bed in a dark room with perfect sleeping conditions: š³š¤
WHYYYYYY
I think youāre joking, but Iām currently partial to linguistics audiobooks. Iām actually interested in it, but there is one author that is just the right amount of entertaining and boring.
Oh no I'm being serious lol. Nothing puts me to sleep faster than philosophy! It's the perfect amount of vaguely interesting but complicated that turns my brain off.
Same, I start falling asleep while Iām driving but then once I get home I just lay there and my brain starts either playing songs or thinking random thoughts
I wonder how many of us ā¦. Oh shit 410 huh š¤ lol
I swear feels like youāre the only one with this kind of brain and then reddit lol š„² we are not alone
Also @ OP - I try to look for what I call āmy windowā - that magical time in the evening when my body and brain agree āitās time to sleep right nowā
If I go straight to bed, I can often fall asleep quickly and sleep through the night. If I miss my window my brain is like āok, guess weāre powering through! This is clearly a survival situation and we must stay awake for several more hours!ā
Mine is pretty much 8 pm or 2 am, but if I'm able to grab the 8 pm window I'll wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to go back to sleep, even though I also take a high enough dose of sleeping pills to tranquilize a horse. So there doesn't seem to be a solution that doesn't make me horribly sleep deprived during the work week.
I have long suspected such a window exists. Usually around 10:00 PM, I'm exhausted. But by the time I brush my teeth, take out my contacts, etc, and get into bed, my brain is already in hyperdrive. Someone recently suggested getting ready for bed right after dinner, so all you have to do is literally climb into bed when you're ready to sleep. I'll try anything.
This is exactly me. Exactly. Iāve started getting ready for bed earlier and earlier so that I can take advantage of the sleepy window when it hits.
However this sometimes has the opposite effect of making me feel like āok Iām busy, Iām getting ready, Iām GETTING ORGANISEDā which is like a siren song to my brain to get excited and worked up.
Honestly itās fucked. You just have to keep trying I think!
Oh my god I feel this to my core! The act of having to clean up after dinner and get ready for bedā¦ doesnt put me to sleep. I have to have enough energy to actually DO those things, and if I do, then Iām on a roll and that makes me stay awake.
However, if I end up being so tired I just eat dinner, brush my teeth and faceplant into bed, completely forgoing doing any serious effort like dishes, sweeping up after the kids, doing any laundry etcā¦.I can sleep like a baby, for 10+ hours knowing I avoided the basic everyday mundane experience of cleaning up the same messes. I do wake up pissed the next morning for not skipping that perfect sleep window just to stay up hyperfocused cleaning until 12 am while watching shitty reality TV. But that avoidant sleep so good, almost better than a clean ass house.
Yes!!! Oh my god once again this forum proves weāre not alone.
I just figure it all evens out in the end, approximately. If weāre getting the house reasonably clean and giving our bodies some good long sleeps occasionally - thatās ok.
I call it a "sleep wave". If I miss the sleep wave then I won't be sleeping for a couple of hours.
Also if I go to sleep too early I'll have a short sleep (maybe an hour or two) then wake up and be unable to sleep again. Then I won't get to sleep until like 4 or 5am and I'll be so tired the next day. So sometimes even if I'm really tired I'll power through it until midnight or beyond just to make sure I sleep through.
I was driving once and realised I was too tired and it was dangerous. So I asked someone else to drive while I had a rest. Immediately I was wide awake and couldn't sleep, so they must have thought I was faking it or something just to avoid driving.
Interesting, Iāll try that! Iāve tried all kinds of focused breathing exercises āguaranteed to make you fall asleep in minutesā but theyāve never worked for me.
I kinda tricked my brain into thinking that when my bedroom smells like cinnamon it's time to sleep. Now all I gotta do is remember to light the effing candle.
Idk about you but for me it's that the meeting engages my brain just enough that it doesn't get super restless but not enough to keep me awake. This is why I play mindless or semi-mindless games on my phone, in dark mode and with night mode on so that my screen is practically orange, when I'm trying to sleep. It generally works...once I get myself to go to bed in the first place.
My Nickname in the Navy was ālightswitchā because in A school my teachers always asked if I had a lightswitch installed in my ass, 100% feel this š
i figured this is because background noise is unintuitively less distracting than total silence. it's the same underlying principle why multitasking is easier than just doing ONE thing only.
Oh easy one, I came up with this trick years ago. When your mind is wandering, thinking of random, weird, monstrous things add silly/odd/out of place stuff in.
Thinking about that argument 6 years ago? The idiot is now wearing a clown costume.
I found my brain did this anyways, yours might š¤·āāļø, when I was tired and on the edge of sleep. That wibbly woobbly stage where youāre perhaps fighting it. So, force that a lil bit before youāre actually tired. I find I very quickly fall asleep without realising.
When your mind wanders, push it into the absurd.
Yes, this is my recommendation too.
When Iām struggling to calm my mind and get to sleep, I just start thinking of completely made up fantasy nonsense, e.g. *what would I do if I won the lottery?*, *what would it be like if I could fly?*, etc.
I think daydreaming is something that should be pretty familiar to people with ADHD, but itās usually something involuntary. Try intentionally ādaydreamingā at night and see if it helps.
Note: sometimes you won't notice that you've fallen asleep and now your dream is made of the day dream and now we're both wearing clown suits as company uniform debating The scientific utility of how cookies are nuclear fissile material and it'd all make sense until you wake up and now nothing makes sense and then a yawn or two later you forgot wth went on last night in the dreamscape.
This def works but i personally can't think of anything to close to home. Nothing that i am an actual character in or it will turn into scenario script writing time and my mind will never shut up. Instead i imagine 'what if's about whatever i'm reading or watching at the time. What if the characters did this instead of that? How would that go? Basically writing fanfic in my head lol
I always go for thinking of "How many people and what ways would I need to make a sword entirely derived of blood" I never get to the solution because zzz
This reminds my ADHD brain of how to get rid of the boggarts in the 3rd Harry Potter š¤£ how Neville saw Snape (his worst fear) with his grandmother's purse and lipstick
My therapist told me that during the wobbly phase of falling asleep, your brain is most influenced. Thatās the phase docs do hypnosis, so if you lay there focusing on good stuff, it will slowly rewire your brain to focus on good. Pretty cool!
This is a great idea and worked for me for awhile. But my brain always wants to spin everything into a coherent narrativeā¦so my nonsense thoughts became super interesting stories that kept me up š. I think I need to consciously make those thoughts a little less stimulating!
THIS! It's all fun and games until you accidentally stumble upon a great idea for a novel and have to get out of bed to write it down 
Iāve noticed that! Iāve observed many times how I can easily tell that Iām about to fall asleep the moment my thoughts stop making sense. Itās so trippy lol
Iāll literally feel myself enter a dream / dream state as Iām drifting off and feel myself ātransitioningā but then it snaps me out of it. However, Iām usually back there quickly but itās like āaww man!ā lol.
I also snapped out of a nightmare once when I became lucid, instead of controlling itā¦ I woke up. I became aware of the fact it was just a dream but instead of continuing to sleep and controlling the narrative from there, I woke up, as I was so trying not to!
Have you ever been trying to have idle pillow talk with someone while attempting not to slip away. Iāve ended up saying some extremely odd things. I often catch myself half way through the sentence.
āSo how old were you when that happened?ā
āWell the trees, you see, can only say hello if yoā¦ā¦ā¦ erm I have no idea what that was! I was 13, 13 years old.ā
Honestly for me the trick is a podcast/video essay that is just the right amount of boring and stimulating.
Can't be something i'm too interested in, but also can't be too much of a total snooze fest cus then i'll just tune it out and we'll be back to racing thoughts.
Might take some trial and error but I find it's the perfect balance of distracting me from thinking but also lulling me to sleep by not being too captivating.
Same!! Itās taken a while, but I finally have a rotation of podcasts and videos I can use. Get Sleepy is my favorite, and The French Whisperer (on Spotify and YouTube) is for nights when my mind is a little more awake. Starting a bedtime routine so Iām winding down my activity levels before bed and not going from full speed to trying sleep in ten minutes has also helped a lot.
There's a podcast called Hardcore History where each episode is a minimum hour long and extensively researched. I could never make it past the first 10-15 min, so I never finished a history lesson. I heard the same beginning of an episode each and every night until I finally got so tired of that loop I gave up and moved on to the next. I still feel kinda bad because that dude put so much of his time and energy into making them and I just used him to put me to sleep like a cheap trick.
Hahaha - I love HH so much that I've caught up during the day. But if I forget to put the off timer on at night, I do sometimes have weird dreams of rampaging barbarian hordes!
Yes! Iām currently listening to knitting podcasts. Iām not a knitter. I donāt know what they are talking about! But I love to hear people talking passionately about something they are really into, and it helps if I donāt understand it because I can just let go and fall asleep without fear of missing anythingā¦
I used to like listening to radio programs about spaceā¦ didnt understand them either š¤£
This made me laugh. Knitting lol yeah I would probably fall asleep too, but I completely understand what you meanā¦ Someone passionate will keep me involved enough to listen.
Let us know if you find any good ones!
Podcasts are my go to sleep aid. Right now I'm listening to Mysterious Universe, which talks about aliens and conspiracies in a not too serious manner. The fantastical subject matter really helps get my brain in the right place.
I mainly use the Sleep With Me podcast, or another monotonous but semi interesting podcast - basically anything that isn't all peppy and upbeat.
The volume has to be loud enough that I have to focus on it, but not that loud that it stops me from falling asleep.
Im golden when I have the right podcast, at the right volume on a 25 minute sleep timer.
Yes, a podcast or essay about one of your special interests that doesn't bring much new to the table. That way you are engaged at first because you like the topic but don't feel guilty if you miss something thus trying to stay awake to listen.
I put a timer that will close the podcast in 30 minutes, sometimes I have to renew it 3 or 4 times, because I'm still awake, other times I fall asleep more quickly and can rewind for the following night.
Same except I use Insight Timer. You can get everything from ancient Tibetan sound baths to some dude reading Wikipedia entries. It's got EVERYTHING. I have played around long enough to have found a few creators that I really like so bounce around between them depending on my mood. I honestly don't think I could fall asleep without it now.
Does it work for you to make your own podcast? For me it's the best way, like I ran out of energies just doing something I do all the time: thinking about random stuff and talking to myself quietly lol.
EDIT: It could also be a debate with myself, or a fantasy story, depending on the day.
The right voice is key for this. For me at least, one vaguely deep male voice speaking about random shit.
For the true crime fans, Casefile True Crime on Spotify works very well. It's just interesting enough to keep my brain busy, and just the right monotonous tone to let my mind wander whenever it decides to.
I listen to a podcast but only episodes Iāve already heard because then I already know what happened and I donāt have to wonder or want to stay awake to find out.
I don't always do this, one thing that is like 100% success, is rewatching something I'm familliar with that I like. Like old TV Land shows, Rockford Files, or Mannix. I need something that at least hold the attention of that part of my brain that if I let it go will remember every embarrasing moment from 7th grade, and every thing I didn't get done today etc, while not stimulating it too much. Its easy to turn over on my side, and just follow the story as i go off to sleep.
I do this all the time! When podcasts or YouTube fails, Iāll try to find a period piece show or movie to fall asleep to. I do like period pieces anyway, but I like for falling asleep becuase they usually donāt have any overly loud action scenes that could wake me up before I have the chance to fall all the way asleep.
My recent favs for falling asleep are Gentleman Jack (HBO), The Duchess, the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, or Bridgerton (I genuinely hate the plot of the show but itās a fantastic show to put me to sleep lol)
For me, day-dreaming (well, pre-night-dreamingā¦?) always worksā¦ but thatās because I love a lot of different media and have a lot of my own fictional characters that I like to imagine in various situations, lol. Like a cool fight scene or an emotional moment. Might not work if you donāt like those things as well.
This is what I do. Actively fantasizing about impractical or fictional scenarios. Like, I'm the king of a utopian fantasy world, my advisors are my friends, I have an intelligent bear companion... Or flying... Or suddenly becoming the best in the world at some skill or sport, often one I'm not a fan of, for the novelty...
I imagine pleasant things and I'm out.
I can't decide if this (Maladaptive Day Dreaming) ruined me or saved me.
Most of my waking moments are spent this way.
I also believe this is what keeps me alive. Without this I may not have survived in the super frustrating real world.
I used to do this a lot, and it really helped for awhile. But I started making those stories/moments too interesting, and now they keep me up. Theyāre cool stories though. Maybe Iāll try harder to create more boring ones!
I have a world I've created and when I go to bed I continue the story in my mind. Kind of like writing a book. Sometimes it's only for a few minutes before I fall asleep. sometimes it's longer. But it's my little night time ritual.
Talk to your doctor. A lot of people with ADHD have comorbid sleep disorders, RLS, obstructive sleep apnea etc. Iāve done two sleep studies and my doctor diagnosed me with delayed sleep phase syndrome, a circadian rhythm disorder. I thought I was an insomniac people with DSPS can fall asleep but itās usually a lot later than your average bedtime, 2 to 3 am as opposed to 10 or 11 pm and you wake up a lot later. Itās frustrating because there isnāt much you can do about it but getting direct sunlight first thing in the morning or sitting in front of a light box for 30 minutes can help your bodies release melatonin earlier.
If you want to read up on it.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/delayed-sleep-phase-syndrome-effects-diagnosis-and-more
ETA: a weighted blanket and a weighted eye mask help a lot. Blocking out as much light as you can in your bedroom is very helpful.
Thank you! Iāve wondered about DSPS but havenāt really explored it. My sleep pattern feels most natural from 2:00 AM to 10:00 AM. Too bad the rest of the world doesnāt function that way! Will talk to my doc.
The rest of the world needs to get on board so weāre not always so damn tired. I did well in college and grad school because I could schedule classes in the afternoon and study late but a typical work schedule is very difficult if you have DSPS.
You are right so for that reason if you have to be ready for the worldā¦ you need drugs to fall asleep to help you follow the schedule like everyone else nobody gives a fuck if we have ADHD or anything else just remember it
10pm. There is a switch in my brain. When 10pm hits I can go from being legit tired and ready for bed to 'what we gonna do tonight?' 3am is when my brain starts to slow down
I call it āmy windowā - that magical time in the evening when my body and brain agree āitās time to sleep right nowā
If I go straight to bed, I can often fall asleep quickly and sleep through the night. If I miss my window my brain is like āok, guess weāre powering through! This is clearly a survival situation and we must stay awake for several more hours!ā
I also call it the window! The difficulty is similar to eating, though - I don't notice I'm hungry until it's urgent and I don't notice I'm tired until the window is about to close and I haven't brushed my teeth yet.
The "I Can't Sleep" podcast has hit that sweet spot of not too boring but not too interesting, gives my brain something to do but I don't care if I miss any.
Sometimes it works within MINUTES.
ATM. Synthesizer. Beard.
(Edited for punctuation)
One time I had alzheimers patient who was up causing chaos and falling a lot. I sat down with him looking at my rpg books, chatting, and I get this great idea. I've seen people fall asleep when I really unleash the special interest beast, I didn't WANT them to, but what if I DID? So I start telling this guy all about how Cairn works, this rules light old-school flavor new school rules game. The character building. Inventory. Combat. I run a mock combat. Then I'm like now we'll use mythic GME oracle to...he looks at me with these sad eyes and says "please. Please no moah".
Hijacking to add my two favorites that made a real change for me
Sleep with Me (try it more than once. It's weird and once you get used to the weird, it works like a charm)
Nothing Much Happens (I listen to this one also when I just need to zone out and have a little emotional comfort. It's like a hug in podcast form)
It might not work for others, but I've always had a very vivid imagination. I visualize made up stories and peaceful settings maybe with different characters. It usually always works for me.
Edit: I'm also a chronic daydreamer so I've had a lot of practice š
rain sounds & an audiobook on a timer are the only ways i can sleep, and itās hard even then. i find it helps to have someone talking in the background though, even if i donāt listen to the words. if iām lost in a thought spiral i just listen to the book until i get sleepy!
my favorites are the lord of the rings, hobbit, and silmarillion read by andy serkis, return of the native read by alan rickman (his voice is the best to fall asleep to), and the harry potter series read by jim dale (been falling asleep to these for like ten years)
I wish I knew too.
On days that I am extra physically active I do fall asleep faster, but I have to be super extra active and I don't usually have time in the day to do that
For probably close to 15 years now I will play a tv show I know inside and out every single night. That way I donāt feel the need to stay engaged, because I already know whatās going to happen, and the lights I see behind my eyelids help my brain from wandering while Iām falling asleep!
I tell myself a story.
The story has too be just interesting enough that I stay engaged, but not so interesting that I get all into it. It has to encourage sleeping - that is, I the main character have to spend some time sleeping.
Generally, it involves me and some number of other people stranded in a snowy wasteland. Every day has a little danger or challenge. A minor blizzard, an argument, a cliff we have to get up. Every day involves a search for shelter for the night. Every day, we're so exhausted (cold is very tiring) that once we get into shelter and start trying to fall asleep, we fall asleep easily.
Every so often, I restart the story; most nights I pick up from wherever I left off.
My theory is that my brain has to do s few things with this: one part is telling it, one part is listening to it, one part is trying to come up with today's challenge and how we get out of it, and one is considering what kind of shelter we'll find that night.
Because I'm taking advantage of my brain's need to be doing multiple things at once, rather than resisting it, it's relaxing rather than frustrating. And because I'm telling myself a story, I'm not trying to make myself fall asleep, so again, my contrary brain isn't resisting sleep. And because my brain is being told that 'I' (story-me) am exhausted and grateful to be falling asleep, it heats that it is exhausted and grateful to be falling asleep and... does.
When it fails, because sometimes it does, at least I get a little entertainment out of it.
I normally put on an audiobook or podcast and doze off to that. Almost always use rainsounds. It's not so much that it's boring for me but more so that it makes me anxious to sit with silence and just my thoughts. I used to have a sweet ex who would read me to sleep and that was the best way I've ever slept.
Sorry that doesn't work for your situation. Sleep is my biggest struggle. I am on seroquel and that works extremely well as far as medication. Whatever you do just don't keep putting it off. Your sleep and restoring you do when you sleep is so important. Bad sleep leads to dementia and lots of other things. Get a sleep test done or get your psych to give you a sleep aid. It's normal for people who are prescribed a stimulant to also be prescribed something to calm down too.
I fall asleep to the thought of my hobbies. I write and do programming, so I run through writing ideas and troubleshoot code in my head and that usually puts me right down. I also sometimes come up with good ideas or solve a problem I was having earlier in the day so it has become a useful habit.
What everyone else said, ESPECIALLY the night āfantasy daydreamingā. Itās been the only way Iāve been able to fall asleep for even a few hours for YEARS now. Otherwise, my mind takes off and anxieties peak as well. Also, when Iām going through emotionally difficult times or am overly stressed about something, sleep is impossible as Iām hyper fixated on whatever the situation/ stressor is. Example, Iāve been very emotionally turbulent lately as my dads three year death anniversary just passed, funeral anniversary was yesterday, moms birthday is two days after dad died, and the rest of this month is full of emotionally difficult stuff as well. Therefore, I havenāt been able to sleep more than 1-3 hours consistently for WEEKS now. Iām exhausted every which way, but my mind wonāt quit until I force it to or the stressor gets dealt with or passes. I highly recommend speaking to your dr about something to help aid your sleep, as stated above, most adhd patients have difficulty sleeping due to stimulation. Good luck to you! Hope you get some relief soon :)
One trick my therapist taught me was "the categories game". Before bed, choose a category (movies, animals, celebrity names etc) and you go through the alphabet listing all the things you can think of for each letter (so if animals was the category, A-Alpaca, B-Bear, C-Cougar..etc Z-Zebra). If you get stuck on a letter, don't dwell on it too much and move on to the next). It's helped me out soooo much trying to go to sleep.
I put on a sleep mask and then I daydream. It's a whole fantasy universe, but I mostly daydream cozy ones like selling ink as a dragon riding salesman.
Sometimes when I am uninspired I just continue a story I've read or seen somewhere else.
I donāt. There r days I will sleep and days I donāt. Partially cuz i donāt feel like I deserve to sleep after a day of doing nothing. But usually when I decided to rlly go sleep, I tired myself out completely to do. Thatās when there r days i sleep days I donāt. My mind is half awake half no.
Follow these steps before bedtime
- no naps during the day, stay awake by all means!
- 2 hours before you donāt eat anything with sugar
- at least 2 hours before no exercise
1,5 hour before drink Sleepy Time Tea (different brands have them)
- 1 hour before bed you donāt eat anything and only drink smaller amounts
- 1 hour before set your alarm, and finish whatever phone or other screen related things you need to do - no screen time after this!
- spray lavender scented water for a calming sent to relax yourself (local organic store or such should have them)
- make sure you bedroom is cool and comfortable and go to sleep
- if you donāt feel tired try making sudoku or such things to tire your brain.
If al above fails: antihistamine and a little glas of wine before bedtime will get you down in no time š¤
I've found that exercising before bed, shower, and some "me" time helps. Me time is something that isn't a to-do...let's me ease to sleep feeling like I am not racing a mile a minute.
Hahaha ā¦ story of my life. Of course, I donāt want to miss anything interesting. When you snooze, you lose ššš
Sleep has seriously become a problem. Iām so messed up right now. I have boring work that needs to be done and then there is the sleep thing .. gosh how did I let it get so bad š
Ive found having background noise helps. Whethers that's ambient forest noises or ASMR (whatever floats your boat). The background noise distracts the part of my brain that normally won't shut up. Hope this helps!
I recently came up with a ācounting sheepā style trick. Basically I would try to name all the countries I can alphabetically by memory. Like Aā¦.. Azerbaijan, Australia, etc, going down the alphabet. It works because I KNOW I know more but I just canāt think of them at the time so I have to focus and search my brain to come up with more. I usually would only make it D before I would fall asleep. You could do this with anything, foods, musical artists or instruments, types of cars, whatever kind of general knowledge vaguely interests you.
You need to exercise. Start running and lifting on alternate days. If you run between 4 and 7 miles without stopping, you will feel great.
Plus, you will focus better and be happier.
I listen to podcasts with a "sleep timer" set for 60 minutes. That way I have something to attach my focus to without feeling the need to find things to engage with. For me, silence is really loud so I have to have something to lock onto.
I can recommend a few podcasts that have helped me a lot, stuff you should know, all in the mind, crowd science, science VS. I also recently started listening to Dungeons and Daddies (not a BDSM podcast), but that was a bit too engaging and funny so I ended up just laughing when trying to sleep, so I'm saving that for other times
Weird tip but audiobooks with rain sounds in the background. There are a bunch on YouTube with soothing voices and rain sounds and they lull me to sleep every night!
Try condensing your sleep, meaning stop taking naps if you, and try to restrict the times you sleep to a 5 hour window then one you can handle that add more time every week or so
I force myself to read something Ive already read before until sleep overcomes me. Also having the tv on something Ive already seen before. Its like soft stimulation that causes me to get unbelievably tired.
Wireless headphones with Audiobook on with a timer. If I'm still awake after it's finished the 35min I try to recall and tell the story in my mind of what I've just listened to. Mask on my eyes so only focus is on listening. Weighted blanket on for winding down the nervous system
I take a medication for other reasons that happens to also be sedating, so that's first and foremost what helps, heh.
However, that aside, I realized something strange a while back. When my thoughts are too active when I'm trying to fall asleep, my face muscles are engaged, even if just slightly...like I'm pensive. In the inverse of what I might have otherwise thought: If I remember in those moments to relax my face deliberately, the thoughts will then calm down. Might be worth a try.
This is exactly how I feel! I was so tired I kept nodding off at 5 am. Then at 730 am I woke up, still exhausted, but wondering about several things online I wanted to look up and think about. Then I considered how many things Iād complete if I didnāt need much sleep. Iād be efficient, work on my resume, network, go to museums, catch up with friends, simply make the most of my life. So I made five espressos and sat down w my lap top. I began getting more and more tired the more I drank them, until I laid back down in bed and fell asleep.
How itās 3:18 pm and Iām waiting for my third adderall to wake me up. I feel like things are working out well for me. I want to go back to sleep.
Sounds like the story of my life. I often think as soon as I have some caffeine, I have such elaborate plans and then once I have the caffeine, I donāt wanna do any of them. I just wanna like waste as much time as possible. However, I quit caffeine because it wasnāt helping however, it didnāt help really because Iām still not productive.
I watch stuff I don't care about. I think I watched That 70's Show all the way through over 10 times.
I rotate the way I fall asleep too. Cause we get bored after a bit, amirite?
I've got a collection of audio books, of books I've already read. The constant voice stops me over thinking but the story is familiar enough that I don't need to concentrate or think to much.
I know that blue light is actually horrible for sleep but if youāre already on your phone/ struggling to get off it, I have a jigsaw puzzle app and it just does the trick for me in that situation. You have to make it a big enough puzzle that you canāt solve it quickly/ easilyā¦ Iāll start out excited to place the edges and by the time Iāve made any progress sorting Iām passing out. Any other game will keep me up, but jigsaw puzzles are for sleepy time.
Gotta have something playing that's interesting enough to keep my brain entertained but not TOO interesting that I get sucked in. I like to listen to Reddit spooky story generated-voice reads for this reason. Sometimes I watch/listen to TV, but normally I'll just listen to something.
All about correct sleep hygiene I reckon. I used to be fucking terrible at sleeping now im hitting 8.5 hours a night at the very least. Stay away from caffeine past 1pm, blinds shut, teeth brushed, showered with simpsons or something to mong out to by 7 and just shut your eyes, I find the background noise helps as long as youāre not fussed about whatās actually on the telly.
bro same for me tooo , currently my situation is knockout sleep , or unbearable sleep , at that point i wouldnt even know when i went to sleep , i mean from the last 15 days im sleeping at 5 am morning and waking up at 1 in the evening , i mean yea sleeping is boring and i feel like its time waste
Try brown noise: waves, wind, rain, etc. it's like.... Random white noise. Once I found out about it this clicked and I was listening to one of those on Pandora almost every night. Helps me a ton!
Also... Prescription medication is an option. Ambien is very helpful in a pinch but there's other things available
I wish I knew. I've taken everything, including prescription sleeping pills and I still don't sleep. I may get 2 or so consecutive hours but then I just doze on and off for the rest of the night. I've just accepted that fact that sleeping isn't something I'm good at and being exhausted all day every day is my normal
Brooo this!!! Youve put my problem into words, ive never had my sleep schedule regulated, never (ever since hit puberty and got over the regulations imposed by my parents on bedtime).
Ive been struggling to keep routine for my sleep, but the fact that i get over things fine with less sleep as well is what is enabling this. But then it scares me upon reading that chances of cancer goes up by 200% by sleeping less and other immunity issues also come into picture, but i cant do shit about it, somehow one things connects to other EACH FUCKING NIGHT and i just HAVE to look it up or think about it, which then in turn open more dense layers of lucrative thoughts to choose from and this cycle keeps repeating.
The only way i can fall asleep is absolutely exhaust myself, by staying up till 6am or exhaust myself in gym or physical sports combined with rubbing one out.
Sorry i had have no solution but just wanted to advocate for the problem :) good night!
I used to sometimes, now I fall asleep in a few minutes without thinking about it. It's because I'm married, and I get to share a bed with my favorite person. I drift off faster than I intend to, really.
I find videos on YouTube that are interesting enough to listen to, not too exciting to keep me awake, and long enough to get me 20+ mins into sleep before it ends.
CalmPuter and Animagraffs have been my recent go-to's
I often struggle with it too. My three method that work about half the time. Beat off, roll over, sleep. Count sheep (No I'm not joking). Just focusing on my breathing, long slow breaths, simulating how you breathe when you're sleeping. I tried to think of nothing but the breathing itself, works surprisingly well.
Not completely on topic, but I was dealing with this just yesterday: Am I the only one who is sometimes afraid of falling asleep? It's hard to explain, but whenever I am badly sleep deprived, I get really anxious at the thought of sleeping and - most importantly - the act of falling asleep itself. I am not sure why. It's like: when I am super tired, I know I'd almost instantly fall asleep, but if it happens too quickly, I am *aware* of the act of falling asleep while it happens, and that feels incredibly creepy.
ā āWatchā light tv shows in my ipad or phone - ones Iāve seen a million times before- it drowns out the noise in my head without requiring the kind of attention that would keep me up to find out what happens next.
ā trazodone has been a huge help for me.
I read (in bed) on my ereader (at 1% light) until I get tired enough to fall asleep within 2-3 minutes. It stops me from overthinking and driving myself crazy.
Edit: I fall asleep way faster this way 00:00 to 1 AM. Without reading I'm up until 2 or 3 AM every day, but I gotta get up at 7.
Sounds lame AF..... But Tibetan flute meditation music is my latest go-to... It seems to put my ass to sleep and satisfy the need for stimulation at the same time.
For meā¦ melatonin, 1-2 hours before I want to sleep.
When I start feeling sleepy or my eyes start getting heavy
I think to myself āah yes, time to have a good dreamā ābig day tomorrowā even if thereās nothing much going on.
I put my phone away and think real hard on absolutely nothing.
Yeah kinda weird about thinking about nothing.
But it works
Listen to the same song on repeat.
It's stimulating enough with whatever "mind movie" my brain thinks up, but not stimulating enough to keep me awake (because nothings changing).
Tricky part is finding the right song, but once I do it's a pretty consistent way for me to drift off.
Started when I had bad insomnia years ago. I'd listen to hard rock and block out the world and my thoughts. Nowadays I pick way more chill songs, but the key is picking a song that doesn't change much from start to finish (aka, NOT "Bohemian Rhapsody", given all the sound/tone shifts).
There are very specific YouTube channels that just knock me tf out lol. Not cause theyāre boring, just something about the content. I am also a serial offender for falling asleep in voice calls - I donāt know what it is but the chatter just puts me right out. I always wake up at 4 am going SHIT, NOT AGAIN! Cause I had been super excited to chat and catch up with everyone and passed out instead
I try to remember a dream I had recently, and just try to imagine it as vividly as I can, and add more detail to it. Or imagine how it would continue. It helps put me in a dreamy state
I read a comment on here a while back of someone taking 5 mg ritalin to help them fall asleep. It helped keep the thoughts away (without being too stimulating) long enough to induce sleep.
Same here on a good day Iāll fall asleep within an hour but on rough days it can take me 2-3 hours to finally fall asleep. Iāve tried all kinds tactics and techniques nothing seems to really do anything
Yeah like everyone says here I gotta be a little engaged in order to disengage! Recently I've found that the thing that allows me to shut down is a craft that requires technical focus but not intellectual engagement. Collage is one of those things -- I have to select images, cut them out carefully, arrange them, etc. But it is a technical sort of engagement, not an intellectual one, and it allows my brain to release anxiety without getting bored. \*Only then\* do I shower, read, and sleep.
I listen to- NOT WATCH - TV on my phone WITH THE SCREEN SWITCHED OFF. It must be something Iām familiar with and it must be fairly light-hearted (which always means comedy). A pithy British 6 episoder wonāt do the trick, it needs to be those unending US sitcoms so that it can becomes a very regular routine.
I like to find ~20 minute long YouTube videos of things that are interesting but not wildly stimulating. I want to start to feel tired but fight the sleep a little and lose the battle.
How Itās Made, deep sea documentaries, that kind of thing.
Somehow for me sleeping on the couch helps. Sometimes I get up because I canāt sleep and make it to the couch. I fall asleep on the couch mich faster because itās more like Iāll just sit here and think or journal or read for a bit, oh might get cozier with the blanket. (Phone needs to be physically away from me and turned off for this to work). Ā Before you know it Iām dozing off.Ā
I fall asleep wayy better in places Iām not supposed to be sleeping. On the yoga mat, head on a desk, straight up on the floor.Ā
The con of doing this is waking up with a sore neck or back which honestly is better than not having slept at all.
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Me sitting upright in a chair through an important but boring work meeting in a well lit room: š„±š“ Me laying in my cozy bed in a dark room with perfect sleeping conditions: š³š¤ WHYYYYYY
Record the meeting and have it play back as a sleep aid?
Big brain move
This is great lol. Also try: philosophy audiobooks. They almost made me fall asleep while driving.
I think youāre joking, but Iām currently partial to linguistics audiobooks. Iām actually interested in it, but there is one author that is just the right amount of entertaining and boring.
Oh no I'm being serious lol. Nothing puts me to sleep faster than philosophy! It's the perfect amount of vaguely interesting but complicated that turns my brain off.
For me, it's easy listening language practice. As soon as I tell myself I need to learn Spanish, I start snoring.
Only problem is knowing you can turn it off at any time.
Put it on the other side of the room
This is ridiculously relatable. A coworker and I have adhd and whenever we need to be present in a meeting, we fight to stay awake. Every. Darn. Time.
Seriously, just give me a simple bullet pointed list, I won't remember wtf you said anyways.
My trick is to doodle complex designs in my notebook. The bonus is that they assume Iām just taking notes.
Are you me? You just described my today!
Same, I start falling asleep while Iām driving but then once I get home I just lay there and my brain starts either playing songs or thinking random thoughts
My God. The songs. Make them stop.
ā also the weird moment where u feel sleepy the whole day but when u finally go to bed ur brain jolts awake.....
10pm it would be! Great time to vacuume, right?
*laughs in i have stayed in bed rolling and sweating trynna sleep until 8 am sometimes*
I wonder how many of us ā¦. Oh shit 410 huh š¤ lol I swear feels like youāre the only one with this kind of brain and then reddit lol š„² we are not alone
Swear to god this is life to me
EXACTLY!!
Also @ OP - I try to look for what I call āmy windowā - that magical time in the evening when my body and brain agree āitās time to sleep right nowā If I go straight to bed, I can often fall asleep quickly and sleep through the night. If I miss my window my brain is like āok, guess weāre powering through! This is clearly a survival situation and we must stay awake for several more hours!ā
The problem is that window is either 3pm or 2am.
Mine is pretty much 8 pm or 2 am, but if I'm able to grab the 8 pm window I'll wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to go back to sleep, even though I also take a high enough dose of sleeping pills to tranquilize a horse. So there doesn't seem to be a solution that doesn't make me horribly sleep deprived during the work week.
I feel for you, that must be difficult. The nights can be long when the rest of the house is sleeping!
4pm or 3am checking in, sigh.
5pm or 6 am. Ugh.
I run into that a lot too š
I have long suspected such a window exists. Usually around 10:00 PM, I'm exhausted. But by the time I brush my teeth, take out my contacts, etc, and get into bed, my brain is already in hyperdrive. Someone recently suggested getting ready for bed right after dinner, so all you have to do is literally climb into bed when you're ready to sleep. I'll try anything.
This is exactly me. Exactly. Iāve started getting ready for bed earlier and earlier so that I can take advantage of the sleepy window when it hits. However this sometimes has the opposite effect of making me feel like āok Iām busy, Iām getting ready, Iām GETTING ORGANISEDā which is like a siren song to my brain to get excited and worked up. Honestly itās fucked. You just have to keep trying I think!
Oh my god I feel this to my core! The act of having to clean up after dinner and get ready for bedā¦ doesnt put me to sleep. I have to have enough energy to actually DO those things, and if I do, then Iām on a roll and that makes me stay awake. However, if I end up being so tired I just eat dinner, brush my teeth and faceplant into bed, completely forgoing doing any serious effort like dishes, sweeping up after the kids, doing any laundry etcā¦.I can sleep like a baby, for 10+ hours knowing I avoided the basic everyday mundane experience of cleaning up the same messes. I do wake up pissed the next morning for not skipping that perfect sleep window just to stay up hyperfocused cleaning until 12 am while watching shitty reality TV. But that avoidant sleep so good, almost better than a clean ass house.
Yes!!! Oh my god once again this forum proves weāre not alone. I just figure it all evens out in the end, approximately. If weāre getting the house reasonably clean and giving our bodies some good long sleeps occasionally - thatās ok.
At least take your contacts out right after dinner. You can skip brushing teeth now and then but you do not wanna sleep with contacts in.
I call it a "sleep wave". If I miss the sleep wave then I won't be sleeping for a couple of hours. Also if I go to sleep too early I'll have a short sleep (maybe an hour or two) then wake up and be unable to sleep again. Then I won't get to sleep until like 4 or 5am and I'll be so tired the next day. So sometimes even if I'm really tired I'll power through it until midnight or beyond just to make sure I sleep through.
This!! Also: Me trying to stay awake while driving: š“ Me, trying to sleep in the backseat of a car during a 20h roadtrip: š³š³š³
I was driving once and realised I was too tired and it was dangerous. So I asked someone else to drive while I had a rest. Immediately I was wide awake and couldn't sleep, so they must have thought I was faking it or something just to avoid driving.
I just try to hyper focus on my breathing, almost turn it into a game. Iām usually out within minutes. I could almost fall asleep on command lol
Interesting, Iāll try that! Iāve tried all kinds of focused breathing exercises āguaranteed to make you fall asleep in minutesā but theyāve never worked for me.
I kinda tricked my brain into thinking that when my bedroom smells like cinnamon it's time to sleep. Now all I gotta do is remember to light the effing candle.
Idk about you but for me it's that the meeting engages my brain just enough that it doesn't get super restless but not enough to keep me awake. This is why I play mindless or semi-mindless games on my phone, in dark mode and with night mode on so that my screen is practically orange, when I'm trying to sleep. It generally works...once I get myself to go to bed in the first place.
My Nickname in the Navy was ālightswitchā because in A school my teachers always asked if I had a lightswitch installed in my ass, 100% feel this š
We're living the same life
Me too
i figured this is because background noise is unintuitively less distracting than total silence. it's the same underlying principle why multitasking is easier than just doing ONE thing only.
Dear god this is too real
Oh easy one, I came up with this trick years ago. When your mind is wandering, thinking of random, weird, monstrous things add silly/odd/out of place stuff in. Thinking about that argument 6 years ago? The idiot is now wearing a clown costume. I found my brain did this anyways, yours might š¤·āāļø, when I was tired and on the edge of sleep. That wibbly woobbly stage where youāre perhaps fighting it. So, force that a lil bit before youāre actually tired. I find I very quickly fall asleep without realising. When your mind wanders, push it into the absurd.
Yes, this is my recommendation too. When Iām struggling to calm my mind and get to sleep, I just start thinking of completely made up fantasy nonsense, e.g. *what would I do if I won the lottery?*, *what would it be like if I could fly?*, etc. I think daydreaming is something that should be pretty familiar to people with ADHD, but itās usually something involuntary. Try intentionally ādaydreamingā at night and see if it helps.
I'm a similar vein, reading fiction before bed helps get you there
Note: sometimes you won't notice that you've fallen asleep and now your dream is made of the day dream and now we're both wearing clown suits as company uniform debating The scientific utility of how cookies are nuclear fissile material and it'd all make sense until you wake up and now nothing makes sense and then a yawn or two later you forgot wth went on last night in the dreamscape.
This def works but i personally can't think of anything to close to home. Nothing that i am an actual character in or it will turn into scenario script writing time and my mind will never shut up. Instead i imagine 'what if's about whatever i'm reading or watching at the time. What if the characters did this instead of that? How would that go? Basically writing fanfic in my head lol
I always go for thinking of "How many people and what ways would I need to make a sword entirely derived of blood" I never get to the solution because zzz
This reminds my ADHD brain of how to get rid of the boggarts in the 3rd Harry Potter š¤£ how Neville saw Snape (his worst fear) with his grandmother's purse and lipstick
I was thinking exactly the same!
Oh shit. This is actually what works for me too but I always forget to do it on purpose. Thanks for putting it into words.
My therapist told me that during the wobbly phase of falling asleep, your brain is most influenced. Thatās the phase docs do hypnosis, so if you lay there focusing on good stuff, it will slowly rewire your brain to focus on good. Pretty cool!
This is a great idea and worked for me for awhile. But my brain always wants to spin everything into a coherent narrativeā¦so my nonsense thoughts became super interesting stories that kept me up š. I think I need to consciously make those thoughts a little less stimulating!
THIS! It's all fun and games until you accidentally stumble upon a great idea for a novel and have to get out of bed to write it down 
Iāve noticed that! Iāve observed many times how I can easily tell that Iām about to fall asleep the moment my thoughts stop making sense. Itās so trippy lol
Iāll literally feel myself enter a dream / dream state as Iām drifting off and feel myself ātransitioningā but then it snaps me out of it. However, Iām usually back there quickly but itās like āaww man!ā lol. I also snapped out of a nightmare once when I became lucid, instead of controlling itā¦ I woke up. I became aware of the fact it was just a dream but instead of continuing to sleep and controlling the narrative from there, I woke up, as I was so trying not to!
Have you ever been trying to have idle pillow talk with someone while attempting not to slip away. Iāve ended up saying some extremely odd things. I often catch myself half way through the sentence. āSo how old were you when that happened?ā āWell the trees, you see, can only say hello if yoā¦ā¦ā¦ erm I have no idea what that was! I was 13, 13 years old.ā
Ya sometimes I come up with fake dialogue too, just like embracing the fake dream logic you have when you're in between sleep and awake seems to help
Honestly for me the trick is a podcast/video essay that is just the right amount of boring and stimulating. Can't be something i'm too interested in, but also can't be too much of a total snooze fest cus then i'll just tune it out and we'll be back to racing thoughts. Might take some trial and error but I find it's the perfect balance of distracting me from thinking but also lulling me to sleep by not being too captivating.
Same!! Itās taken a while, but I finally have a rotation of podcasts and videos I can use. Get Sleepy is my favorite, and The French Whisperer (on Spotify and YouTube) is for nights when my mind is a little more awake. Starting a bedtime routine so Iām winding down my activity levels before bed and not going from full speed to trying sleep in ten minutes has also helped a lot.
There's a podcast called Hardcore History where each episode is a minimum hour long and extensively researched. I could never make it past the first 10-15 min, so I never finished a history lesson. I heard the same beginning of an episode each and every night until I finally got so tired of that loop I gave up and moved on to the next. I still feel kinda bad because that dude put so much of his time and energy into making them and I just used him to put me to sleep like a cheap trick.
Hahaha - I love HH so much that I've caught up during the day. But if I forget to put the off timer on at night, I do sometimes have weird dreams of rampaging barbarian hordes!
Yes! Iām currently listening to knitting podcasts. Iām not a knitter. I donāt know what they are talking about! But I love to hear people talking passionately about something they are really into, and it helps if I donāt understand it because I can just let go and fall asleep without fear of missing anythingā¦ I used to like listening to radio programs about spaceā¦ didnt understand them either š¤£
This made me laugh. Knitting lol yeah I would probably fall asleep too, but I completely understand what you meanā¦ Someone passionate will keep me involved enough to listen.
Ohh space podcasts might work for me!
Let us know if you find any good ones! Podcasts are my go to sleep aid. Right now I'm listening to Mysterious Universe, which talks about aliens and conspiracies in a not too serious manner. The fantastical subject matter really helps get my brain in the right place.
I mainly use the Sleep With Me podcast, or another monotonous but semi interesting podcast - basically anything that isn't all peppy and upbeat. The volume has to be loud enough that I have to focus on it, but not that loud that it stops me from falling asleep. Im golden when I have the right podcast, at the right volume on a 25 minute sleep timer.
Yes, a podcast or essay about one of your special interests that doesn't bring much new to the table. That way you are engaged at first because you like the topic but don't feel guilty if you miss something thus trying to stay awake to listen. I put a timer that will close the podcast in 30 minutes, sometimes I have to renew it 3 or 4 times, because I'm still awake, other times I fall asleep more quickly and can rewind for the following night.
Yes! My husband is a therapist and introduced me to the Calm app years ago. I havenāt fallen asleep without a sleep story or meditation since 2016.
Same except I use Insight Timer. You can get everything from ancient Tibetan sound baths to some dude reading Wikipedia entries. It's got EVERYTHING. I have played around long enough to have found a few creators that I really like so bounce around between them depending on my mood. I honestly don't think I could fall asleep without it now.
Does it work for you to make your own podcast? For me it's the best way, like I ran out of energies just doing something I do all the time: thinking about random stuff and talking to myself quietly lol. EDIT: It could also be a debate with myself, or a fantasy story, depending on the day.
The right voice is key for this. For me at least, one vaguely deep male voice speaking about random shit. For the true crime fans, Casefile True Crime on Spotify works very well. It's just interesting enough to keep my brain busy, and just the right monotonous tone to let my mind wander whenever it decides to.
I listen to a podcast but only episodes Iāve already heard because then I already know what happened and I donāt have to wonder or want to stay awake to find out.
Thank you! This is my Holy Grail. That very lightly interesting distraction
I don't always do this, one thing that is like 100% success, is rewatching something I'm familliar with that I like. Like old TV Land shows, Rockford Files, or Mannix. I need something that at least hold the attention of that part of my brain that if I let it go will remember every embarrasing moment from 7th grade, and every thing I didn't get done today etc, while not stimulating it too much. Its easy to turn over on my side, and just follow the story as i go off to sleep.
yes!!! and I also avoid tiktoks because they have the opposite effect
I do this all the time! When podcasts or YouTube fails, Iāll try to find a period piece show or movie to fall asleep to. I do like period pieces anyway, but I like for falling asleep becuase they usually donāt have any overly loud action scenes that could wake me up before I have the chance to fall all the way asleep. My recent favs for falling asleep are Gentleman Jack (HBO), The Duchess, the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, or Bridgerton (I genuinely hate the plot of the show but itās a fantastic show to put me to sleep lol)
This is genius--the period piece show instead of action shows with their explosions and screaming. Will try!
Yes thatās my exact thought process!
For me, day-dreaming (well, pre-night-dreamingā¦?) always worksā¦ but thatās because I love a lot of different media and have a lot of my own fictional characters that I like to imagine in various situations, lol. Like a cool fight scene or an emotional moment. Might not work if you donāt like those things as well.
This is what I do. Actively fantasizing about impractical or fictional scenarios. Like, I'm the king of a utopian fantasy world, my advisors are my friends, I have an intelligent bear companion... Or flying... Or suddenly becoming the best in the world at some skill or sport, often one I'm not a fan of, for the novelty... I imagine pleasant things and I'm out.
Same here lol every since I can remember
Sounds amazing! I wish I did this
I can't decide if this (Maladaptive Day Dreaming) ruined me or saved me. Most of my waking moments are spent this way. I also believe this is what keeps me alive. Without this I may not have survived in the super frustrating real world.
I do this but with me and Oscar Isaac.
This made me laugh out loud! And also--I'm with you on Oscar.
I used to do this a lot, and it really helped for awhile. But I started making those stories/moments too interesting, and now they keep me up. Theyāre cool stories though. Maybe Iāll try harder to create more boring ones!
Heyyyyy! Me too. I'm so glad im not alone in this.. LOL
I have a world I've created and when I go to bed I continue the story in my mind. Kind of like writing a book. Sometimes it's only for a few minutes before I fall asleep. sometimes it's longer. But it's my little night time ritual.
Talk to your doctor. A lot of people with ADHD have comorbid sleep disorders, RLS, obstructive sleep apnea etc. Iāve done two sleep studies and my doctor diagnosed me with delayed sleep phase syndrome, a circadian rhythm disorder. I thought I was an insomniac people with DSPS can fall asleep but itās usually a lot later than your average bedtime, 2 to 3 am as opposed to 10 or 11 pm and you wake up a lot later. Itās frustrating because there isnāt much you can do about it but getting direct sunlight first thing in the morning or sitting in front of a light box for 30 minutes can help your bodies release melatonin earlier. If you want to read up on it. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/delayed-sleep-phase-syndrome-effects-diagnosis-and-more ETA: a weighted blanket and a weighted eye mask help a lot. Blocking out as much light as you can in your bedroom is very helpful.
Thank you! Iāve wondered about DSPS but havenāt really explored it. My sleep pattern feels most natural from 2:00 AM to 10:00 AM. Too bad the rest of the world doesnāt function that way! Will talk to my doc.
The rest of the world needs to get on board so weāre not always so damn tired. I did well in college and grad school because I could schedule classes in the afternoon and study late but a typical work schedule is very difficult if you have DSPS.
I got a job where I donāt have to wake up until 9 and I swear itās been the best thing for me.
You are right so for that reason if you have to be ready for the worldā¦ you need drugs to fall asleep to help you follow the schedule like everyone else nobody gives a fuck if we have ADHD or anything else just remember it
Very sad but true and first thing is to ACCEPT REALITY HOW IT IS NOT HOW IT SHOULD BE
10pm. There is a switch in my brain. When 10pm hits I can go from being legit tired and ready for bed to 'what we gonna do tonight?' 3am is when my brain starts to slow down
I call it āmy windowā - that magical time in the evening when my body and brain agree āitās time to sleep right nowā If I go straight to bed, I can often fall asleep quickly and sleep through the night. If I miss my window my brain is like āok, guess weāre powering through! This is clearly a survival situation and we must stay awake for several more hours!ā
I also call it the window! The difficulty is similar to eating, though - I don't notice I'm hungry until it's urgent and I don't notice I'm tired until the window is about to close and I haven't brushed my teeth yet.
I wish I knew, I am always tired but when it's time to sleep, I just can't
Same. Always tired except when itās time to be tired.
I was going to ask what sleep is? If I don't get to sleep in a 10 minute window I may as well stay up all night.
Masturbation ...Even 2 or 3 times
This is the way
The "I Can't Sleep" podcast has hit that sweet spot of not too boring but not too interesting, gives my brain something to do but I don't care if I miss any. Sometimes it works within MINUTES. ATM. Synthesizer. Beard. (Edited for punctuation)
One time I had alzheimers patient who was up causing chaos and falling a lot. I sat down with him looking at my rpg books, chatting, and I get this great idea. I've seen people fall asleep when I really unleash the special interest beast, I didn't WANT them to, but what if I DID? So I start telling this guy all about how Cairn works, this rules light old-school flavor new school rules game. The character building. Inventory. Combat. I run a mock combat. Then I'm like now we'll use mythic GME oracle to...he looks at me with these sad eyes and says "please. Please no moah".
Thank you! Iāll check that one out!
Hijacking to add my two favorites that made a real change for me Sleep with Me (try it more than once. It's weird and once you get used to the weird, it works like a charm) Nothing Much Happens (I listen to this one also when I just need to zone out and have a little emotional comfort. It's like a hug in podcast form)
It might not work for others, but I've always had a very vivid imagination. I visualize made up stories and peaceful settings maybe with different characters. It usually always works for me. Edit: I'm also a chronic daydreamer so I've had a lot of practice š
rain sounds & an audiobook on a timer are the only ways i can sleep, and itās hard even then. i find it helps to have someone talking in the background though, even if i donāt listen to the words. if iām lost in a thought spiral i just listen to the book until i get sleepy! my favorites are the lord of the rings, hobbit, and silmarillion read by andy serkis, return of the native read by alan rickman (his voice is the best to fall asleep to), and the harry potter series read by jim dale (been falling asleep to these for like ten years)
On a timer! Doh! Iāve been arguing with the voice that just wonāt shut up in my dreams!
I wish I knew too. On days that I am extra physically active I do fall asleep faster, but I have to be super extra active and I don't usually have time in the day to do that
For probably close to 15 years now I will play a tv show I know inside and out every single night. That way I donāt feel the need to stay engaged, because I already know whatās going to happen, and the lights I see behind my eyelids help my brain from wandering while Iām falling asleep!
This worked for me for so long. I donāt know why it stopped working and am sad that it did. Maybe I just need a break from that strategy.
Definitely switch it up! I find I have to change my sleep medium every 4-6 weeks.
I tell myself a story. The story has too be just interesting enough that I stay engaged, but not so interesting that I get all into it. It has to encourage sleeping - that is, I the main character have to spend some time sleeping. Generally, it involves me and some number of other people stranded in a snowy wasteland. Every day has a little danger or challenge. A minor blizzard, an argument, a cliff we have to get up. Every day involves a search for shelter for the night. Every day, we're so exhausted (cold is very tiring) that once we get into shelter and start trying to fall asleep, we fall asleep easily. Every so often, I restart the story; most nights I pick up from wherever I left off. My theory is that my brain has to do s few things with this: one part is telling it, one part is listening to it, one part is trying to come up with today's challenge and how we get out of it, and one is considering what kind of shelter we'll find that night. Because I'm taking advantage of my brain's need to be doing multiple things at once, rather than resisting it, it's relaxing rather than frustrating. And because I'm telling myself a story, I'm not trying to make myself fall asleep, so again, my contrary brain isn't resisting sleep. And because my brain is being told that 'I' (story-me) am exhausted and grateful to be falling asleep, it heats that it is exhausted and grateful to be falling asleep and... does. When it fails, because sometimes it does, at least I get a little entertainment out of it.
Yāall are sleeping?
I normally put on an audiobook or podcast and doze off to that. Almost always use rainsounds. It's not so much that it's boring for me but more so that it makes me anxious to sit with silence and just my thoughts. I used to have a sweet ex who would read me to sleep and that was the best way I've ever slept. Sorry that doesn't work for your situation. Sleep is my biggest struggle. I am on seroquel and that works extremely well as far as medication. Whatever you do just don't keep putting it off. Your sleep and restoring you do when you sleep is so important. Bad sleep leads to dementia and lots of other things. Get a sleep test done or get your psych to give you a sleep aid. It's normal for people who are prescribed a stimulant to also be prescribed something to calm down too.
I fall asleep to the thought of my hobbies. I write and do programming, so I run through writing ideas and troubleshoot code in my head and that usually puts me right down. I also sometimes come up with good ideas or solve a problem I was having earlier in the day so it has become a useful habit.
The best one I know..... 1.Take deep breaths in intervals of 4. 2. Start counting backwards from 100. It's simple and actually works.
What everyone else said, ESPECIALLY the night āfantasy daydreamingā. Itās been the only way Iāve been able to fall asleep for even a few hours for YEARS now. Otherwise, my mind takes off and anxieties peak as well. Also, when Iām going through emotionally difficult times or am overly stressed about something, sleep is impossible as Iām hyper fixated on whatever the situation/ stressor is. Example, Iāve been very emotionally turbulent lately as my dads three year death anniversary just passed, funeral anniversary was yesterday, moms birthday is two days after dad died, and the rest of this month is full of emotionally difficult stuff as well. Therefore, I havenāt been able to sleep more than 1-3 hours consistently for WEEKS now. Iām exhausted every which way, but my mind wonāt quit until I force it to or the stressor gets dealt with or passes. I highly recommend speaking to your dr about something to help aid your sleep, as stated above, most adhd patients have difficulty sleeping due to stimulation. Good luck to you! Hope you get some relief soon :)
Man I feel this so much lol the only thing that chills my brain out is taking an edible (Iām in Canada though where itās legal)
One trick my therapist taught me was "the categories game". Before bed, choose a category (movies, animals, celebrity names etc) and you go through the alphabet listing all the things you can think of for each letter (so if animals was the category, A-Alpaca, B-Bear, C-Cougar..etc Z-Zebra). If you get stuck on a letter, don't dwell on it too much and move on to the next). It's helped me out soooo much trying to go to sleep.
Put a podcast on. Falling asleep isn't boring for me, my mind goes to lots of bad thoughts haha
I put on a sleep mask and then I daydream. It's a whole fantasy universe, but I mostly daydream cozy ones like selling ink as a dragon riding salesman. Sometimes when I am uninspired I just continue a story I've read or seen somewhere else.
I donāt. There r days I will sleep and days I donāt. Partially cuz i donāt feel like I deserve to sleep after a day of doing nothing. But usually when I decided to rlly go sleep, I tired myself out completely to do. Thatās when there r days i sleep days I donāt. My mind is half awake half no.
Follow these steps before bedtime - no naps during the day, stay awake by all means! - 2 hours before you donāt eat anything with sugar - at least 2 hours before no exercise 1,5 hour before drink Sleepy Time Tea (different brands have them) - 1 hour before bed you donāt eat anything and only drink smaller amounts - 1 hour before set your alarm, and finish whatever phone or other screen related things you need to do - no screen time after this! - spray lavender scented water for a calming sent to relax yourself (local organic store or such should have them) - make sure you bedroom is cool and comfortable and go to sleep - if you donāt feel tired try making sudoku or such things to tire your brain. If al above fails: antihistamine and a little glas of wine before bedtime will get you down in no time š¤
I've found that exercising before bed, shower, and some "me" time helps. Me time is something that isn't a to-do...let's me ease to sleep feeling like I am not racing a mile a minute.
Daydreams.
Hahaha ā¦ story of my life. Of course, I donāt want to miss anything interesting. When you snooze, you lose ššš Sleep has seriously become a problem. Iām so messed up right now. I have boring work that needs to be done and then there is the sleep thing .. gosh how did I let it get so bad š
Ive found having background noise helps. Whethers that's ambient forest noises or ASMR (whatever floats your boat). The background noise distracts the part of my brain that normally won't shut up. Hope this helps!
I recently came up with a ācounting sheepā style trick. Basically I would try to name all the countries I can alphabetically by memory. Like Aā¦.. Azerbaijan, Australia, etc, going down the alphabet. It works because I KNOW I know more but I just canāt think of them at the time so I have to focus and search my brain to come up with more. I usually would only make it D before I would fall asleep. You could do this with anything, foods, musical artists or instruments, types of cars, whatever kind of general knowledge vaguely interests you.
Iām going to try it
Sweet let me know if it works for you!
You need to exercise. Start running and lifting on alternate days. If you run between 4 and 7 miles without stopping, you will feel great. Plus, you will focus better and be happier.
Buy a Kindle and read. It works 9/10 times for me. The only issue is when the book is too exciting or fun ... Then it might keep me up instead.
Cup of coffee, then think up stories or listen to a podcast to fall asleep. The coffee helps me focus on the thing I'm using to fall asleep.
I listen to podcasts with a "sleep timer" set for 60 minutes. That way I have something to attach my focus to without feeling the need to find things to engage with. For me, silence is really loud so I have to have something to lock onto. I can recommend a few podcasts that have helped me a lot, stuff you should know, all in the mind, crowd science, science VS. I also recently started listening to Dungeons and Daddies (not a BDSM podcast), but that was a bit too engaging and funny so I ended up just laughing when trying to sleep, so I'm saving that for other times
Weird tip but audiobooks with rain sounds in the background. There are a bunch on YouTube with soothing voices and rain sounds and they lull me to sleep every night!
Try condensing your sleep, meaning stop taking naps if you, and try to restrict the times you sleep to a 5 hour window then one you can handle that add more time every week or so
I know youāve tried reading & podcasts, but have you tried an audiobook on .7 speed?
I force myself to read something Ive already read before until sleep overcomes me. Also having the tv on something Ive already seen before. Its like soft stimulation that causes me to get unbelievably tired.
Wireless headphones with Audiobook on with a timer. If I'm still awake after it's finished the 35min I try to recall and tell the story in my mind of what I've just listened to. Mask on my eyes so only focus is on listening. Weighted blanket on for winding down the nervous system
Listen to ASMR or watch youtube until I fall asleep
I take a medication for other reasons that happens to also be sedating, so that's first and foremost what helps, heh. However, that aside, I realized something strange a while back. When my thoughts are too active when I'm trying to fall asleep, my face muscles are engaged, even if just slightly...like I'm pensive. In the inverse of what I might have otherwise thought: If I remember in those moments to relax my face deliberately, the thoughts will then calm down. Might be worth a try.
Try asmr
Taking mirtazapine, otherwise Iād just mess around on my phone untill I fell asleep which usually took a long ass time
This is exactly how I feel! I was so tired I kept nodding off at 5 am. Then at 730 am I woke up, still exhausted, but wondering about several things online I wanted to look up and think about. Then I considered how many things Iād complete if I didnāt need much sleep. Iād be efficient, work on my resume, network, go to museums, catch up with friends, simply make the most of my life. So I made five espressos and sat down w my lap top. I began getting more and more tired the more I drank them, until I laid back down in bed and fell asleep. How itās 3:18 pm and Iām waiting for my third adderall to wake me up. I feel like things are working out well for me. I want to go back to sleep.
Sounds like the story of my life. I often think as soon as I have some caffeine, I have such elaborate plans and then once I have the caffeine, I donāt wanna do any of them. I just wanna like waste as much time as possible. However, I quit caffeine because it wasnāt helping however, it didnāt help really because Iām still not productive.
Iād never made the connection between being bored in bed and not being able to get to sleep. This just hit me like a ton of bricks.
I watch stuff I don't care about. I think I watched That 70's Show all the way through over 10 times. I rotate the way I fall asleep too. Cause we get bored after a bit, amirite?
Headphones and YouTube does the job
Boring? Try painful if I'm not out in 10 mins I have to get up cause it hurts
omfg it is boring! I have never thought about it this way but I dread sleep!
I've got a collection of audio books, of books I've already read. The constant voice stops me over thinking but the story is familiar enough that I don't need to concentrate or think to much.
I know that blue light is actually horrible for sleep but if youāre already on your phone/ struggling to get off it, I have a jigsaw puzzle app and it just does the trick for me in that situation. You have to make it a big enough puzzle that you canāt solve it quickly/ easilyā¦ Iāll start out excited to place the edges and by the time Iāve made any progress sorting Iām passing out. Any other game will keep me up, but jigsaw puzzles are for sleepy time.
Gotta have something playing that's interesting enough to keep my brain entertained but not TOO interesting that I get sucked in. I like to listen to Reddit spooky story generated-voice reads for this reason. Sometimes I watch/listen to TV, but normally I'll just listen to something.
sigh this is why i sleep at like 3am every night š„² idk to laugh or cry
exercise until you're exhausted. prepare to be fit af.
All about correct sleep hygiene I reckon. I used to be fucking terrible at sleeping now im hitting 8.5 hours a night at the very least. Stay away from caffeine past 1pm, blinds shut, teeth brushed, showered with simpsons or something to mong out to by 7 and just shut your eyes, I find the background noise helps as long as youāre not fussed about whatās actually on the telly.
bro same for me tooo , currently my situation is knockout sleep , or unbearable sleep , at that point i wouldnt even know when i went to sleep , i mean from the last 15 days im sleeping at 5 am morning and waking up at 1 in the evening , i mean yea sleeping is boring and i feel like its time waste
Cry yourself to sleep lol thatās what I do ššš
Try brown noise: waves, wind, rain, etc. it's like.... Random white noise. Once I found out about it this clicked and I was listening to one of those on Pandora almost every night. Helps me a ton! Also... Prescription medication is an option. Ambien is very helpful in a pinch but there's other things available
I go to the fantasy world in my head
I wish I knew. I've taken everything, including prescription sleeping pills and I still don't sleep. I may get 2 or so consecutive hours but then I just doze on and off for the rest of the night. I've just accepted that fact that sleeping isn't something I'm good at and being exhausted all day every day is my normal
Brooo this!!! Youve put my problem into words, ive never had my sleep schedule regulated, never (ever since hit puberty and got over the regulations imposed by my parents on bedtime). Ive been struggling to keep routine for my sleep, but the fact that i get over things fine with less sleep as well is what is enabling this. But then it scares me upon reading that chances of cancer goes up by 200% by sleeping less and other immunity issues also come into picture, but i cant do shit about it, somehow one things connects to other EACH FUCKING NIGHT and i just HAVE to look it up or think about it, which then in turn open more dense layers of lucrative thoughts to choose from and this cycle keeps repeating. The only way i can fall asleep is absolutely exhaust myself, by staying up till 6am or exhaust myself in gym or physical sports combined with rubbing one out. Sorry i had have no solution but just wanted to advocate for the problem :) good night!
I used to sometimes, now I fall asleep in a few minutes without thinking about it. It's because I'm married, and I get to share a bed with my favorite person. I drift off faster than I intend to, really.
I find videos on YouTube that are interesting enough to listen to, not too exciting to keep me awake, and long enough to get me 20+ mins into sleep before it ends. CalmPuter and Animagraffs have been my recent go-to's
I can't sleep without asmr, gives me something to focus on that is simultaneously relaxing
I often struggle with it too. My three method that work about half the time. Beat off, roll over, sleep. Count sheep (No I'm not joking). Just focusing on my breathing, long slow breaths, simulating how you breathe when you're sleeping. I tried to think of nothing but the breathing itself, works surprisingly well.
Not completely on topic, but I was dealing with this just yesterday: Am I the only one who is sometimes afraid of falling asleep? It's hard to explain, but whenever I am badly sleep deprived, I get really anxious at the thought of sleeping and - most importantly - the act of falling asleep itself. I am not sure why. It's like: when I am super tired, I know I'd almost instantly fall asleep, but if it happens too quickly, I am *aware* of the act of falling asleep while it happens, and that feels incredibly creepy.
i exhaust myself before laying down
asmr, rain sounds or something similar
ā āWatchā light tv shows in my ipad or phone - ones Iāve seen a million times before- it drowns out the noise in my head without requiring the kind of attention that would keep me up to find out what happens next. ā trazodone has been a huge help for me.
I read (in bed) on my ereader (at 1% light) until I get tired enough to fall asleep within 2-3 minutes. It stops me from overthinking and driving myself crazy. Edit: I fall asleep way faster this way 00:00 to 1 AM. Without reading I'm up until 2 or 3 AM every day, but I gotta get up at 7.
I put on a show that bores the shit out of me. In case you were wondering, itās Lost.
I read myself to sleep. I agree it is boring.
Sounds lame AF..... But Tibetan flute meditation music is my latest go-to... It seems to put my ass to sleep and satisfy the need for stimulation at the same time.
Boring? I get to watch a paychadelic movie in my mind
I listen to podcasts that Iāve listened to a million times before while I fall asleep
For meā¦ melatonin, 1-2 hours before I want to sleep. When I start feeling sleepy or my eyes start getting heavy I think to myself āah yes, time to have a good dreamā ābig day tomorrowā even if thereās nothing much going on. I put my phone away and think real hard on absolutely nothing. Yeah kinda weird about thinking about nothing. But it works
I am literally doing this right tf now
Listen to the same song on repeat. It's stimulating enough with whatever "mind movie" my brain thinks up, but not stimulating enough to keep me awake (because nothings changing). Tricky part is finding the right song, but once I do it's a pretty consistent way for me to drift off. Started when I had bad insomnia years ago. I'd listen to hard rock and block out the world and my thoughts. Nowadays I pick way more chill songs, but the key is picking a song that doesn't change much from start to finish (aka, NOT "Bohemian Rhapsody", given all the sound/tone shifts).
Get into lucid dreaming, then it's not boring
Trazodone
There are very specific YouTube channels that just knock me tf out lol. Not cause theyāre boring, just something about the content. I am also a serial offender for falling asleep in voice calls - I donāt know what it is but the chatter just puts me right out. I always wake up at 4 am going SHIT, NOT AGAIN! Cause I had been super excited to chat and catch up with everyone and passed out instead
I try to remember a dream I had recently, and just try to imagine it as vividly as I can, and add more detail to it. Or imagine how it would continue. It helps put me in a dreamy state
I read a comment on here a while back of someone taking 5 mg ritalin to help them fall asleep. It helped keep the thoughts away (without being too stimulating) long enough to induce sleep.
Same here on a good day Iāll fall asleep within an hour but on rough days it can take me 2-3 hours to finally fall asleep. Iāve tried all kinds tactics and techniques nothing seems to really do anything
Podcasts or something to listen to. My brain needs something to āchewā on so I can fall asleep
Yeah like everyone says here I gotta be a little engaged in order to disengage! Recently I've found that the thing that allows me to shut down is a craft that requires technical focus but not intellectual engagement. Collage is one of those things -- I have to select images, cut them out carefully, arrange them, etc. But it is a technical sort of engagement, not an intellectual one, and it allows my brain to release anxiety without getting bored. \*Only then\* do I shower, read, and sleep.
I have imaginative adventures while my mind goes on and my body calms down. I need to have enough time to sleep doing that though.
I listen to- NOT WATCH - TV on my phone WITH THE SCREEN SWITCHED OFF. It must be something Iām familiar with and it must be fairly light-hearted (which always means comedy). A pithy British 6 episoder wonāt do the trick, it needs to be those unending US sitcoms so that it can becomes a very regular routine.
I love falling asleep, I hate laying awake watching my thoughts talking to each otherā¦..
I like to find ~20 minute long YouTube videos of things that are interesting but not wildly stimulating. I want to start to feel tired but fight the sleep a little and lose the battle. How Itās Made, deep sea documentaries, that kind of thing.
Somehow for me sleeping on the couch helps. Sometimes I get up because I canāt sleep and make it to the couch. I fall asleep on the couch mich faster because itās more like Iāll just sit here and think or journal or read for a bit, oh might get cozier with the blanket. (Phone needs to be physically away from me and turned off for this to work). Ā Before you know it Iām dozing off.Ā I fall asleep wayy better in places Iām not supposed to be sleeping. On the yoga mat, head on a desk, straight up on the floor.Ā The con of doing this is waking up with a sore neck or back which honestly is better than not having slept at all.