I used to sleep 12ish-7:30ish without fail, I could actually wake up at the same time every day without an alarm clock. Very healthy sleep life.
Then I began to work shift schedule, so like maybe one day 8-4, the next day midnight to 8 and the next 4pm to 12pm. The biggest problem I had going to sleep was anxiety, it would just keep me up. I'd get out of bed, no sleep and go to work angry that my life became this way. (Past tense but I'm not out of this shit yet. No one should work shift schedule, it is AWFUL for you. You need consistency!) You think your shitty 9-5 job is bad? Try doing it at all times of the day with no sleep!!! UGH!!!
Anyway, this is what I have come to after over two years experience doing this:
PRE-SLEEP
No sunlight. I used a $7 movers blanket from Wal-Mart to block up my window.
No caffeine a few hours before sleep.
Figure out what your sleeping position is.
Try to understand what bothers when you try to sleep in advance, I like to sleep with a fan lightly on and not much clothes on. No wrestling with a tight shirt when it's already off.
No sounds or TV, phone.
Have your alarm set to give you peace of mind that youll be reminded to get out of bed.
Have your shit for the next day already put out.
I work out but not always, I'm not sure how important it really is.
Definitely use ZzzQuil but use melatonin sparingly. (my opinion)
TRYING TO SLEEP
Close your eyes duh.
Now this is going to sound weird, like lucid dreaming bullshit but I'm trying to more describe the mechanics behind "counting sheep."
Start imagining things in your head. Maybe to be clear, let your mind wander. Really try to stay away from things that make you really think (politics, family, job.) I usually like to imagine going through tunnels really fast, or look into the patterns my closed eyes will make against my eyelids.
(literally like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPZvmDngm1M&ab_channel=ChillyGooseEntertainment)
The optimal state is your mind wandering although forcing yourself to imagine things can be a gateway to your mind wandering.
You need to get the point where your mind is imagining things and you're completely focused on whatever your imaging. If you're doing it right, you'll feel yourself snap back into the reality of you being anxious and in bed. That part sucks but if you can do that "snap back," you were in my experience, actually pretty close to falling asleep, even if you knew you were awake the entire time.
Getting lost in your imagination, in my opinion, is the gateway to being taken away into sleep. I think when people say "Count Sheep" that legitimately has some water, it didn't come from nothing, but not the explanation behind how it works. I think it's because most of us learned it from cartoons or just as a pithy anecdote from people who don't understand the underlying problem. Which is "no shut the hell up brain" also the task of counting seems like the last fucking thing you'd want to do
It's okay to stay in bed for an hour or more (it feels like a really long time) trying to achieve sleep, but in my experience, it's completely normal.
edit: Just thinking about it, maybe the reason why people unintentionally fall asleep to movies and TV isn't just because they are comfortable, but because their mind is wandering and the movie is simulating what your mind does normally to fall asleep.
Double edit: People are saying "being in bed eyes closed is atleast something." I dunno if thats wrong, Ive also seen sleep experts say that if ur at a point where you know youre not sleeping just go do something else. But this is seemingly very bougie advice, what if I need to drive somewhere an hour and a half away when I "wake up"
LASTLY
Get a more comfortable bed if you can. My other problem was that I was sleeping on a mattress that was too old and too worn to really be sleeping on (big ass dip in the middle), I'd wake up with knee and back pain. I would often wake up with my arm completely asleep. I had decided that I was going to spend a lot of my life in my bed and my current job needed me to be able to get good sleep at shitty hours, so I had to invest in a better bed.
I used to sleep 12ish-7:30ish without fail, I could actually wake up at the same time every day without an alarm clock. Very healthy sleep life.
Then I began to work shift schedule, so like maybe one day 8-4, the next day midnight to 8 and the next 4pm to 12pm. The biggest problem I had going to sleep was anxiety, it would just keep me up. I'd get out of bed, no sleep and go to work angry that my life became this way. (Past tense but I'm not out of this shit yet. No one should work shift schedule, it is AWFUL for you. You need consistency!) You think your shitty 9-5 job is bad? Try doing it at all times of the day with no sleep!!! UGH!!!
Anyway, this is what I have come to after over two years experience doing this:
PRE-SLEEP
No sunlight. I used a $7 movers blanket from Wal-Mart to block up my window.
No caffeine a few hours before sleep.
Figure out what your sleeping position is.
Try to understand what bothers when you try to sleep in advance, I like to sleep with a fan lightly on and not much clothes on. No wrestling with a tight shirt when it's already off.
No sounds or TV, phone.
Have your alarm set to give you peace of mind that youll be reminded to get out of bed.
Have your shit for the next day already put out.
I work out but not always, I'm not sure how important it really is.
Definitely use ZzzQuil but use melatonin sparingly. (my opinion)
TRYING TO SLEEP
Close your eyes duh.
Now this is going to sound weird, like lucid dreaming bullshit but I'm trying to more describe the mechanics behind "counting sheep."
Start imagining things in your head. Maybe to be clear, let your mind wander. Really try to stay away from things that make you really think (politics, family, job.) I usually like to imagine going through tunnels really fast, or look into the patterns my closed eyes will make against my eyelids.
(literally like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPZvmDngm1M&ab_channel=ChillyGooseEntertainment)
(and this: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-do-i-see-patterns-when-i-close-my-eyes_b_7597438?guccounter=1)
The optimal state is your mind wandering although forcing yourself to imagine things can be a gateway to your mind wandering.
You need to get the point where your mind is imagining things and you're completely focused on whatever your imaging. If you're doing it right, you'll feel yourself snap back into the reality of you being anxious and in bed. That part sucks but if you can do that "snap back," you were in my experience, actually pretty close to falling asleep, even if you knew you were awake the entire time.
Getting lost in your imagination, in my opinion, is the gateway to being taken away into sleep. I think when people say "Count Sheep" that legitimately has some water, it didn't come from nothing, but not the explanation behind how it works. I think it's because most of us learned it from cartoons or just as a pithy anecdote from people who don't understand the underlying problem. Which is "no shut the hell up brain" also the task of counting seems like the last fucking thing you'd want to do
It's okay to stay in bed for an hour or more (it feels like a really long time) trying to achieve sleep, but in my experience, it's completely normal.
edit: Just thinking about it, maybe the reason why people unintentionally fall asleep to movies and TV isn't just because they are comfortable, but because their mind is wandering and the movie is simulating what your mind does normally to fall asleep.
Double edit: People are saying "being in bed eyes closed is atleast something." I dunno if thats wrong, Ive also seen sleep experts say that if ur at a point where you know youre not sleeping just go do something else. But this is seemingly very bougie advice, what if I need to drive somewhere an hour and a half away when I "wake up"
LASTLY
Get a more comfortable bed if you can. My other problem was that I was sleeping on a mattress that was too old and too worn to really be sleeping on (big ass dip in the middle), I'd wake up with knee and back pain. I would often wake up with my arm completely asleep. I had decided that I was going to spend a lot of my life in my bed and my current job needed me to be able to get good sleep at shitty hours, so I had to invest in a better bed.