March 7, 2021 11:57 AM
How to get more sleep at night
I was dealing with insomnia for about three weeks during this past month. I know quite a few people that have had trouble sleeping throughout their whole lives. But that's not me. When I go to bed, it takes me a few minutes to fall asleep, and then I usually end up sleeping more than 8 hours. I feel restless if it takes more than 5 minutes for me to fall asleep.
So you can imagine how maddening it was for me to not be able to sleep. I would wake up after a few hours of sleep and just stay awake for hours more, feeling so tired, but not being able to do anything about it. So, I did what I always do when I'm having a problem: I asked people for advice.
Just take some melatonin!
Nope, nope, nope, that's a last resort.
Try meditating.
Man, meditating is hard. I tried this over the past summer when I found myself consistently waking up way earlier than I wanted to. I don't think I ever figured it out.
Use a humidifier.
My nose gets stuffed up every night (and this is a problem I've had all my life) but it definitely makes it harder for me to fall back asleep. I think the increased humidity helps.
Take it easy.
Yeah, I know. I know this is mainly caused by increased stress. I cleared a lot of things off my plate at work. I started taking naps during the day. I took a break from most of my side projects. I think it helped.
Get more exercise. Do some yoga.
Taking long walks, helping a friend move, making my runs longer--that all was to the effect of getting more exercise. I think it helped. I thought about the yoga thing, but yoga is boring.
Turn the heat down in the bedroom and use a weighted blanket.
Okay I think this actually helped a lot. I turned off the heat completely in my room, and I started sleeping with three blankets. Thanks co-worker.
Call me at night to get your thoughts out.
"I know this is a saying, but I mean this literally. Whatever helps you sleep at night."
Thanks sister.
I don't think I feel completely normal again, but it's a lot better now. Better enough for me to write a blog post about it, and for me to make some ascii art.
.-~~-. / .", \ \ ; ; \ {`'~.,-.,',-~-. '. ; : .,_,' `'._.'`~. ! ,' ,'`'.,.' | .-~' ~' |,' .' `~-. |'-=' '. '| ,.,.,.,`='|,.,., A lot of the times when I try to make ascii art, it's a huge struggle. But this, this flower, let's call it a daisy, just kind of came together.