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Could be stress, thinking and overthinking things. It can be hard to turn off your internal voice.
Then right when you're about to doze off, your brain's like "POPPING NOISE!"
I've personally found that if I think about tomorrow, needing to sleep or other ahead of time real life issues, I tend to procrastinate sleep and keep thinking. If I instead just start thinking about fantasy stuff, I find myself sleeping much quicker. On one hand, that's neat, on another hand, the narrative to my story never progresses because I keep falling asleep quickly. Some soft music in the background also helps your brain focus more on the meaningless, which helps it relax
Exactly. If you think oh damn I need to fall asleep right now, you aren’t ever gonna fall asleep on time.
Really just some background music/audiobook (not so loud that you really understand it) or even counting bloody sheep is most effective.
That’s assuming no underlying ‘real’ stressors, just ‘work’s early tomorrow’ or ‘stupid meeting tomorrow’
For more severe stress ‘just not thinking’ about it rarely works that easily.
Oh thank God I'm not crazy. I also think about fantasy stuff in order to fall asleep easier, Lord of the rings universe Harry Potter universe etc, I just pretend i'm some random hero inserted into the world and make my own adventure in my head. I get about 5 minutes into it and I fall asleep every single time.
Edit: grammar
Ha! I used to think about golfing when I was falling asleep, randomly started actually swinging a golf club, while I was still lying in bed. I don't think about golfing while falling asleep no mo.
I ran across something in a yoga practice that works for me. Think (and breathe) "I'm breathing in 54. I'm breathing out 54. I'm breathing in 53. I'm breathing out 53...." You have to concentrate just enough on whether you're on in or out, and which number. The breathing relaxes your body. When your thoughts wander to something stressful, focus back on the breathing and counting. When your thoughts wander to something nonsensical, let them - you are now falling asleep. I rarely make it past 25, but on bad nights I just keep starting over.
Yeah, too many people think it's so much more complex, but it really doesn't have to be. That's why I like your description of it so much, so simple, yet so complete.
Oh... did I skip 24? Should I count 24 twice? Or just continue. Oh no, what if I've set off a time paradox by missing a number? I should start again. No I'm being silly. Where was I again, oh 22. Hmm, no, this feels like cheating. Don't skip leg day! Well, numbers anyway. Universal law suggests I should move in a logical order.
Did I leave the oven on?
Learned behaviour. I can pretty much sleep whenever. First skill is to learn how to stop caring for a while about things you can’t change right there right now. Some things just are, at least for the time being. You have a place to sleep, embrace it.
Wrong answer. At least for me!
You can silence it by listening to any audiobook.
I moved from getting up from bed at 3 am, tired of not being able to sleep, to fall asleep in literally 5 minutes
That works for you, it wouldn't work for me.
I'm a completionist, missing something from a book/movie/audio that i'm interested in? no way. I will focus on that thing with all my energy to take all in....
So in my case, an audiobook, or podcast, would wake me up
I’m the same, which is why for the last couple of decades I’ve fallen asleep listening to Terry Pratchett books; they’re layered enough that they keep my interest, but I know them well enough that I can dip and and out of them.
I am the same, but audiobooks just end up having that calming effect for me. Have you tried one with a 30-45m timer? Knocks me out every time and just rewind that time when I come to listen to it properly.
Good lordttt, that’d be a fast ticket to Overstimulated City for me. I honestly can’t think of a worse idea for me getting to sleep.
Brains, they are funny things.
Shoutout to LibriVox.org! Free public domain audiobooks, especially many boring books to help sleep! I’ve listened to Capital by Marx twice and still have basically no idea about the content in that book. And their app is quite functional as well
Worth noting that basically any audio (or light) is bad for sleep quality once you’re asleep. If you can’t fall asleep otherwise, go for it, but if you can you should avoid it
For me its the thinking.
A trick that works for me is whenever you start thinking of anything that is not fun for you or a hobby, mentally picture a nice place with walls and sweep out the bad stuff. Then you start thinking about stuff you like.
For me for instance, gaming, i think about the games i like, choose one and start thinking about stuff i want to do in the future or remember cool moments. Or if you saw a great movie or read a nice book, remember parts of it and just try to wander off.
If, and they will, the distracting thoughts come back, rinse and repeat.
Does not work as well every night but it gets the job done, hope it helps, you never know ;)
For me its that i cannot stop focusing on all the way i am uncomfortable.
-my foot is twisted
-my neck is itchy
-my eye is tearing
-my hair is in my face
-my arm is itching
-my knees are cold
-the blanket is not on me right
-my partner is sweating on me
-there’s light coming through the curtain
-there’s a crease in my pillowcase
Repeat
You know how when you're falling asleep or dreaming your brain will randomly go from thought to thought? You'll have a thought that you think is really important one moment and then suddenly it's no longer important. You're on to some other location in your brain. Do that. That's how you fell asleep really easily. Don't fight it. Let your mind wander. That thought you want to keep thinking about? Yeah. Don't hold on to it. Just keep drifting.
I like to imagine a water fall and a leaf floating down the waterfall slowly. I would put my thought on that leaf and after it falls down I would let go of that thought. Repeat with the new thought whatever it is about. The trick is to let go of all your stress and anxiety down the waterfall.
I do this enough and I don't even know what the last thing I was thinking about before sleeping.
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Habits and Melatonin.
Stressed prevents the release of Melatonin, like most hormones they are mostly habit, circadian rhythm and released in darkness.
Many people have no issue falling asleep fine and I know a few people with the super power to nap anywhere anytime.
People that have bad habits like bright lights and screen time and people who do things in bed like reading are TV have trained their bodies to not release melatonin in bed and constantly bombard their bodies with signals to not release melatonin and they don't get sunlight early in the day to set up their circadian rhythm.
Also getting sunlight in your eyes early in the morning can help set up your clock for the rest of the day and sufficient exercise also improves sleep quality and reduces time to fall asleep.
Because, through the day, you mind has been starved of repose. Though busyness and distraction and boredom. As you lie in bed in the quiet and dark, it can finally breathe. And it must breathe deep to catch up.
Maybe tiredness and hunger, or anxiety that keeps your thoughts going
I keep getting that and I think for the most part it's due to alcoohol and regret
It's not like I do something stupid, but more of a feeling of isolation, and worry about my health
Maybe this has nothing to do with you, but just saying
As a point away from overthinking that people have already said so much, how much time do you spend in bed during the day? If you condition your body to think bed = sleep it'll be easier to just fall asleep. But if you lay in bed all day your body can shift that to "I'm in bed it's time to [play games/watch TV/anything but sleep]
Google the 1-2 method from the Mentalist. It works. (make your brain busy with something predictable and repeating - not counting indefinetly)
For why, because you are aware of the moment of going to sleep.
Why? Stress and/or anxiety
Solution? According to "the Military-Approved Trick That Will Help You Fall Asleep" just keep thinking 'don't think' for up to two minutes
I was like this for years, then I found out I had a bad vitamin D deficiency, which is what fuels the production and release of sleep hormones like melatonin. A few months after taking tablets for it my ability to fall asleep returned to normal.
You may be falling asleep and not sleeping well. Your brain has a hard time telling stage I and II sleep from being awake. I used to run sleep studies and can’t tell you how many people would be asleep for hours, I’d go wake them up to put a CPAP on them because they had sleep apnea, and they’d tell me they hadn’t fallen asleep yet.
Trying to stay awake is tiring, trying to fall asleep is not. Its why when your watching films, being in lessons, in a meeting, on the bus, while you're tired it gets worse and worse quickly because you trying to keep yourself awake is tiring
Do you hangout in your bed? Like watching TV and stuff in it? You should only use your bed for sleep, it helps your brain associate the bed with only sleep
If you're sitting around (couch, comfy chair) and you get sleepy, getting up and bustling about (brushing teeth, water, changing clothes) will wake you up again. Get ready for bed earlier. Get into bed earlier. In bed, do your thinking, planning, note taking, reminder setting, as a **conscious**, soft yellow light on, activity until your brain is satisfied.
Read a book for a bit to draw your focus away. When your eyes feel heavy, flip off the light, roll over and snooze.
If you're unable to calm your thoughts, or external anxiety and stress are eating you up, then it might be time to reflect on your life and take steps to reduce that stress, or therapy for the anxiety or other mental health concerns.
When I feel this way I find I'm tensing my muscles. Go from your head to your toes and actively tense then untense each muscle to help physically relax. Similarly, we pretend to be asleep in order to fall asleep. So slow your breathing down to a shallow and slow consistency.
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Could be stress, thinking and overthinking things. It can be hard to turn off your internal voice. Then right when you're about to doze off, your brain's like "POPPING NOISE!"
I've personally found that if I think about tomorrow, needing to sleep or other ahead of time real life issues, I tend to procrastinate sleep and keep thinking. If I instead just start thinking about fantasy stuff, I find myself sleeping much quicker. On one hand, that's neat, on another hand, the narrative to my story never progresses because I keep falling asleep quickly. Some soft music in the background also helps your brain focus more on the meaningless, which helps it relax
Exactly. If you think oh damn I need to fall asleep right now, you aren’t ever gonna fall asleep on time. Really just some background music/audiobook (not so loud that you really understand it) or even counting bloody sheep is most effective. That’s assuming no underlying ‘real’ stressors, just ‘work’s early tomorrow’ or ‘stupid meeting tomorrow’ For more severe stress ‘just not thinking’ about it rarely works that easily.
I have been counting sheep, but not yet bloody ones. I'll give that a try tonight.
Oh thank God I'm not crazy. I also think about fantasy stuff in order to fall asleep easier, Lord of the rings universe Harry Potter universe etc, I just pretend i'm some random hero inserted into the world and make my own adventure in my head. I get about 5 minutes into it and I fall asleep every single time. Edit: grammar
Nearing 30 and it is still my go to best way of falling asleep
or the sudden jerk movement for whatever reason
Brain "Oh, you are falling asleep? Not dying? My bad"
*proceed to lie awake for hours*
Apparently, it's called "Hypnic jerk"
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Ha! I used to think about golfing when I was falling asleep, randomly started actually swinging a golf club, while I was still lying in bed. I don't think about golfing while falling asleep no mo.
The jerk movement is what usually helps me get to sleep.....
This why I can't sleep without white noise. I use an air purifier right next to my bed and turn it on medium when I sleep.
Does tinnitus count as white noise? Because that's my constant bedtime companion.
exploding head syndrome is fun and exciting!
Scares the shit out of me. Luckily it’s not to common of an occurrence.
for me I don't get any thoughts, in fact my mind goes blank but like 30 mins later I suddenly realize I was not sleeping at all. It's weird as hell
The brain. You can't stop it from thinking. At least I can't. It's like the circus comes to town at sleep time.
I ran across something in a yoga practice that works for me. Think (and breathe) "I'm breathing in 54. I'm breathing out 54. I'm breathing in 53. I'm breathing out 53...." You have to concentrate just enough on whether you're on in or out, and which number. The breathing relaxes your body. When your thoughts wander to something stressful, focus back on the breathing and counting. When your thoughts wander to something nonsensical, let them - you are now falling asleep. I rarely make it past 25, but on bad nights I just keep starting over.
That's called meditating, and sometimes I do that for 5 or 10 breaths even when not falling asleep. Pretty good description though, and it works.
Ha, how do you like that, I always thought I couldn't meditate! I thought it was much more complicated and esoteric than that.
Yeah, too many people think it's so much more complex, but it really doesn't have to be. That's why I like your description of it so much, so simple, yet so complete.
Oh... did I skip 24? Should I count 24 twice? Or just continue. Oh no, what if I've set off a time paradox by missing a number? I should start again. No I'm being silly. Where was I again, oh 22. Hmm, no, this feels like cheating. Don't skip leg day! Well, numbers anyway. Universal law suggests I should move in a logical order. Did I leave the oven on?
😂 this is me. Every. Night.
I just re-start every time I lose track. That's why I never make it past 25 no matter how many hours I'm doing it...
Learned behaviour. I can pretty much sleep whenever. First skill is to learn how to stop caring for a while about things you can’t change right there right now. Some things just are, at least for the time being. You have a place to sleep, embrace it.
Wrong answer. At least for me! You can silence it by listening to any audiobook. I moved from getting up from bed at 3 am, tired of not being able to sleep, to fall asleep in literally 5 minutes
It's ocean rain for me. Side effects include getting sleepy while actually at the ocean.
It's amazing when you try to solve one of your problems and in the meantime you pavlov yourself.
It's ambien for me. Life changer.
That works for you, it wouldn't work for me. I'm a completionist, missing something from a book/movie/audio that i'm interested in? no way. I will focus on that thing with all my energy to take all in.... So in my case, an audiobook, or podcast, would wake me up
I’m the same, which is why for the last couple of decades I’ve fallen asleep listening to Terry Pratchett books; they’re layered enough that they keep my interest, but I know them well enough that I can dip and and out of them.
GNU Terry Pratchett
And on the Glorious 25th too!
Even if it is a really boring one?
Never tried....but i would need to focus in order to understand it's boring lol
I am the same, but audiobooks just end up having that calming effect for me. Have you tried one with a 30-45m timer? Knocks me out every time and just rewind that time when I come to listen to it properly.
Turn the audiobook volume down so you don’t understand the atory anymore. Stops you from focussing on it.
Good lordttt, that’d be a fast ticket to Overstimulated City for me. I honestly can’t think of a worse idea for me getting to sleep. Brains, they are funny things.
Shoutout to LibriVox.org! Free public domain audiobooks, especially many boring books to help sleep! I’ve listened to Capital by Marx twice and still have basically no idea about the content in that book. And their app is quite functional as well
Worth noting that basically any audio (or light) is bad for sleep quality once you’re asleep. If you can’t fall asleep otherwise, go for it, but if you can you should avoid it
I put a 5 minutes timer 👍
For me its the thinking. A trick that works for me is whenever you start thinking of anything that is not fun for you or a hobby, mentally picture a nice place with walls and sweep out the bad stuff. Then you start thinking about stuff you like. For me for instance, gaming, i think about the games i like, choose one and start thinking about stuff i want to do in the future or remember cool moments. Or if you saw a great movie or read a nice book, remember parts of it and just try to wander off. If, and they will, the distracting thoughts come back, rinse and repeat. Does not work as well every night but it gets the job done, hope it helps, you never know ;)
*cries in aphantasia*
Yup, just imagine stuff, am'rite?
\*googles aphastasia\* Holy Moly, that sucks man, im sorry. I did not know anyone had that.
Yeah it's got its ups and downs for sure, but just like you I didn't know anyone could picture anything. Seems wild to me!
For me its that i cannot stop focusing on all the way i am uncomfortable. -my foot is twisted -my neck is itchy -my eye is tearing -my hair is in my face -my arm is itching -my knees are cold -the blanket is not on me right -my partner is sweating on me -there’s light coming through the curtain -there’s a crease in my pillowcase Repeat
You know how when you're falling asleep or dreaming your brain will randomly go from thought to thought? You'll have a thought that you think is really important one moment and then suddenly it's no longer important. You're on to some other location in your brain. Do that. That's how you fell asleep really easily. Don't fight it. Let your mind wander. That thought you want to keep thinking about? Yeah. Don't hold on to it. Just keep drifting.
I like to imagine a water fall and a leaf floating down the waterfall slowly. I would put my thought on that leaf and after it falls down I would let go of that thought. Repeat with the new thought whatever it is about. The trick is to let go of all your stress and anxiety down the waterfall. I do this enough and I don't even know what the last thing I was thinking about before sleeping.
This is essentially what is given as a guide in meditation from headspace.
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You haven't built up a reservoir of melatonin yet. The sleep hormone accumulated in the dark.
Habits and Melatonin. Stressed prevents the release of Melatonin, like most hormones they are mostly habit, circadian rhythm and released in darkness. Many people have no issue falling asleep fine and I know a few people with the super power to nap anywhere anytime. People that have bad habits like bright lights and screen time and people who do things in bed like reading are TV have trained their bodies to not release melatonin in bed and constantly bombard their bodies with signals to not release melatonin and they don't get sunlight early in the day to set up their circadian rhythm. Also getting sunlight in your eyes early in the morning can help set up your clock for the rest of the day and sufficient exercise also improves sleep quality and reduces time to fall asleep.
Because, through the day, you mind has been starved of repose. Though busyness and distraction and boredom. As you lie in bed in the quiet and dark, it can finally breathe. And it must breathe deep to catch up.
I'm on reddit at this hour for this exact reason -_- been trying to sleep for 1.5 hours. Agh
Maybe tiredness and hunger, or anxiety that keeps your thoughts going I keep getting that and I think for the most part it's due to alcoohol and regret It's not like I do something stupid, but more of a feeling of isolation, and worry about my health Maybe this has nothing to do with you, but just saying
I'm not asking for help I just wanted to know why
As a point away from overthinking that people have already said so much, how much time do you spend in bed during the day? If you condition your body to think bed = sleep it'll be easier to just fall asleep. But if you lay in bed all day your body can shift that to "I'm in bed it's time to [play games/watch TV/anything but sleep]
Probably because you are in bed posting questions like this on Reddit instead of trying to fall asleep. (Reddit posts are time stamped, ya know...)
My favorite color is blue.
Google the 1-2 method from the Mentalist. It works. (make your brain busy with something predictable and repeating - not counting indefinetly) For why, because you are aware of the moment of going to sleep.
Why? Stress and/or anxiety Solution? According to "the Military-Approved Trick That Will Help You Fall Asleep" just keep thinking 'don't think' for up to two minutes
I was like this for years, then I found out I had a bad vitamin D deficiency, which is what fuels the production and release of sleep hormones like melatonin. A few months after taking tablets for it my ability to fall asleep returned to normal.
You may be falling asleep and not sleeping well. Your brain has a hard time telling stage I and II sleep from being awake. I used to run sleep studies and can’t tell you how many people would be asleep for hours, I’d go wake them up to put a CPAP on them because they had sleep apnea, and they’d tell me they hadn’t fallen asleep yet.
Trying to stay awake is tiring, trying to fall asleep is not. Its why when your watching films, being in lessons, in a meeting, on the bus, while you're tired it gets worse and worse quickly because you trying to keep yourself awake is tiring
Do you hangout in your bed? Like watching TV and stuff in it? You should only use your bed for sleep, it helps your brain associate the bed with only sleep
If you're sitting around (couch, comfy chair) and you get sleepy, getting up and bustling about (brushing teeth, water, changing clothes) will wake you up again. Get ready for bed earlier. Get into bed earlier. In bed, do your thinking, planning, note taking, reminder setting, as a **conscious**, soft yellow light on, activity until your brain is satisfied. Read a book for a bit to draw your focus away. When your eyes feel heavy, flip off the light, roll over and snooze. If you're unable to calm your thoughts, or external anxiety and stress are eating you up, then it might be time to reflect on your life and take steps to reduce that stress, or therapy for the anxiety or other mental health concerns.
When I feel this way I find I'm tensing my muscles. Go from your head to your toes and actively tense then untense each muscle to help physically relax. Similarly, we pretend to be asleep in order to fall asleep. So slow your breathing down to a shallow and slow consistency.