Insomnia hits us all to some extent at some point in time. Maybe it is the night before a big presentation. Or Christmas Eve 
. Sometimes it is a longer term problem – a month, a year, or something you just live with.
I’m not going to give you a list of ways to help you sleep better – you have your own Google, and if I really knew the answer I wouldn’t have such red-eyes. Sleep ‘cures’ are ten-a-penny, and work like chocolate fireguards.
No, what I offer you is things to do whilst you lie awake. You see, there are two problems I find with being awake all night. Firstly, if I am left to my own thoughts in the dark for that long then I get myself wound up and a bit loopy; and secondly, getting up and doing something just means I risk missing those precious moments when I might have drifted off. So next time you can’t sleep, rather than wallowing in self-pity or raiding the fridge, try one of the following:
- Count down from 300 in 3s. Counting down is ingrained in our heads so we can usually do it without needing to focus, but try knocking 3 of each time – 300, 297, 294, 291 etc. Every time your mind wanders, or you get the sum wrong, then you have to start from 300 again.
- Driving to your parents. Or work. Or the beach. Imagine yourself behind the wheel and try and drive somewhere in real time – keep to the speed limit and try and spot everything you see on the journey normally. Again, go back to the beginning if your mind drifts off.
- Test yourself. During the day, learn a list of things – sequential US Presidents, British Kings and Queens, the birthdays of all your friends, the titles of all the James Bond films. Now try and remember them. Sequential lists are best as you know when you are right, and when you are missing one – don’t pretend that lying in the dark having got to 49 States, you can honestly say you haven’t had Kansas already…
- Feel every muscle in your body. This is sometime cited as a relaxation technique to help you get to sleep – never worked for me, but passes the time quite nicely! Start at the top of your head and be aware of, then relax, every muscle in your body, one-by-one. Work your way down to your feet.
- Tactical operations. Okay, so I am not quite 10 years-old anymore so playing soldiers is a bit daft. But take a building you know well – your house, or your office – and work out how you could creep up on it, enter it, and ‘clear’ the rooms without being ‘caught’. Think where people might be able to hide then sneak past. All this does is allow you to walk around a building without being tempted to ‘skim’ around in 2 minutes.
- Plan everything. How many times do you say to yourself “I need to plan where we are going on vacation” or “I need to decide on who is going to my birthday party”. Well, now you have time, peace, and focus to get it done! Just make sure you keep a pad of paper by your bed for those really great ideas.
So have a good night – whether awake or asleep!
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Hello. These are some interesting things to think of when we can’t sleep. I would say that I’m an insomniac so I might try some of these things out. However, much of the time when I think, it just makes me more awake so I try not to go to sleep until I’m really, really tired. Nevertheless, these are some pretty cool tips that you pointed out. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Hulbert,
I agree with you about not going to bed until you are actually tired! However, I have a habit of waking up and seeing 2am on the clock and being unable to get back off again! For some people this is an occasional inconvenience – for other people I know, this is something which make life pretty hard work.
Rich
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