To ask how you fall asleep

[WindowWonder]

I can’t switch off. My mind races with everything I’ve done that day/need to do the next day.
I’m knackered all day, go to bed and PING wide awake!!!
Please give me some pointers before I go nuts!

Guided meditations can help or sift music. Reading a book instead of looking at your phone. If specific things are bothering you, jobs for the next day for example, write them down so you know you’ll remember them and can get them out of your head.

ASMR does the trick for me.

Before that if I was going through a stressful period then I would keep a pad & pen by the bed. If I was stressing about something I needed to remember then I would write it down on the pad. I found this stopped the cyclical thinking. Also once written down most of what I was writing was quite trivial.

I read. Fairly mindless romance. Absolutely nothing heavy or remotely challenging.

Ideally no screen up to 30-45 minutes before I put off the lights. I stop caffeine around 6pm and have a decaf tea in bed.

Years ago, I did CBT and it worked really well for me to imagine a box inside your head where you can put all your worries, then close the lid on it.

I didn't get on with a lot of it to be fair, but that trick really helped me.

Sleepwithme podcast

I tend to read before bedtime and this helps.

Have a wank. No really. Very relaxing

I read a book. I cannot, frustratingly, read a book in bed without falling asleep even if I think I'm not tired. Don't know what it is but it gets me every time.

Drugs. Only half joking!
I sleep like the dead 99% of the time but for maybe a week a year I can't sleep at all. GP gives me sleeping tablets, she always looks at my notes and goes "ahh. That time again? Here you go" I get 5-7 tablets and it seems to reset me and I'm fine for another year. Weird!

I downloaded the app headspace - the anxiety meditation - totally chilled me out.
Also nighttime meditation on YouTube

One trick I use sometimes is you take a word e.g. bedtime or whatever and list as many animals beginning with b as you can then e then d and so on. I saw it somewhere and it works for me. Based on that you know you're thinking about non important things your brain can relax and let you sleep.

I either read or listen to something on audible. It really helps usually.

Thanks for the podcast idea @userplusnumbers !

i do sudokus...something about the mindless 1-9 checking for each square is very engaging, but unstimulating

although on a rare occasion if it keeps going wring i might get a bit riled and then I HAVE to complete the troublesome square.

I do use my kindle, but on minimum brightness and if i remember i do the no blue light setting!

I like quiet audiobooks. Ones I've listened to over and over - not new exciting ones! Also I always turn over the iPad/iPhone if I'm listening on YouTube, the light is distracting otherwise.

@Gardai - you're welcome, it's just a man who tells these rambling boring stories in a very relaxing voice. The stories aren't so engaging that you concentrate on them, but the words stop my mind racing!

I have a cup of Twinings (I think!) sleep tea before bed and listen to an audio book. I can't sleep without my audio book and I have to make sure I really concentrate on it or my mind wanders off. The sleep tea makes a huge difference for me.

I fall asleep to an audio book on sleep headphones every night. I put it on a 30 min timer. Working my way through Game of Thrones ahead of the new series as I never read the books! Shuts my brain up as I'm forced to listen and that puts me out very quickly.

Try going through the alphabet thinking of a girl's name beginning with every letter. Then go back and do boys names. Then people you know. Then a food etc etc... it's so boring you do fall asleep but it also stops you worrying as your brain does have to focus

Count down from 300.

It sounds odd but often if I actively fight to stay awake then I fall asleep! Not sure if it’s reverse psychology but if I can’t drop off I make an active point of trying to stay up and suddenly it’s like my brain reversed itself and I’m out like a light.

ASMR on a bad day but most nights either telling myself a story in my head or audiobook if DH isn’t in bed yet

I imagine grooming my childhood pony...if I think I am extra stressed I will go to the gate and rattle a bucket of pony nuts then slip on his head collar, walk him into the yard and start grooming him. I remember how he felt and smelt and by the time I have got to his tail I am usually asleep.

ASMR videos on Youtube.

I use daydreaming. I have several very long running and detailed narratives. I will enter the one I have been using the most recently and spend time refining the dialogue/events of the most recent scene I left off at. That usually sends me to sleep relaxed.

Otherwise, a wank usually works well.