50 Tips for Insomniacs Like Me (1-10)
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Do you have problems falling asleep at night? I do. Ever since I was about eight years old, I have spent countless hours of the 
night tossing and turning in bed, pacing the floor, and staring up at the black-cloaked ceiling in silent frustration. Sometimes it seems like you just can't sleep!
Well, as a ten year veteran of severe insomnia, I would like to offer you some friendly tips of overcoming this frustrating disorder. Some will work better than others. Some nights, nothing will work. Perhaps some of these will help you so much that you won't be able to stop thanking me.
Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be listing ten tips for insomniacs with each article, so be sure to stay tuned. Here are the first ten tips:
Slowly and boringly begin to think about the next day. Literally go minute-by-minute. For example, "I will wake up, stay in bed for five minutes, yawn, get up, stretch, put on my shorts, put on a shirt..." Make things slow and boring. Occasionally, this will work and you will drift off without even realizing it. This will not work, however, when you have an exciting day ahead. Then your anxiety will only increase.
No matter what happens, do not look at your clock. Can you recall long nights of staring at the clock, counting down
every hour of sleep lost? When you don't look at the clock, you won't have the same level of worry and anxiety about not getting enough rest because you won't know what time it is.
Keep the room cool. Hot and stuffy rooms make it difficult to fall asleep, even if you're a cold-natured person like I am. Even if you have to wrap yourself in warm, fluffy blankets, keep the outside room cool, around a comfortable temperature of seventy degrees or so.
Make sure you're comfortable. Don't let your blankets be too constricting. Make sure your mattress is soft, but firm. If your pillow is too firm or too fluffy, get a new one. If you have insomnia, comfort matters. You want to be comfortable when you go to bed. If your feet are cold, wear socks. If your arms are cold, wear a long-sleeved shirt. You know what your body wants in terms of comfort.
Turn off all lights. A dark room is often key to curbing insomnia. One of the most irritating little lights that insomniacs don't think about is the light coming from a digital clock. Consider purchasing a digital clock with an option to dim the lights at night. If you have a television or computer in your room, tape over the little green and red lights. Make sure your curtains and blinds keep out unwanted street and traffic lights.
Make the room quiet... or have a steady noise. I prefer to sleep in silence. I don't like fans or any kind of sound in my room. However, some people sleep best with some white noise in the background. Turn on a fan or your air conditioner. You might even want to keep the low static of a radio. White noise will block out the sounds of snoring, traffic, and barking dogs.
Read a super boring book with low light. Reading can help you become tired. However, if you're in the middle of an interesting book, it will not help you fall asleep. It will keep you awake. Keep a dictionary, a quantum physics, or a calculus book by your bed. If you're preparing for an SAT, put that nearby. When you can't sleep, take out one of these boring books and read with a flashlight or a very low setting of a lamp until you begin to doze off. This trick doesn't often work for me because any kind of reading makes my mind begin to spin, but if you dislike reading, this trick often will work.
Do not consume caffeine for at least three hours before you go to bed. As an insomniac, caffeine kills me. I avoid consuming any amount of caffeine before five o'clock in the afternoon. Otherwise, it leaves me wide awake at bedtime. There is no avoiding this tip. If you have insomnia, caffeine will help to keep you awake.
Go to bed far earlier than you normally would. This sometimes works for me. A lot of my insomnia is caused by basic anxiety, worrying that I won't be able to sleep and will be exhausted the next day. An example of this tip would be if you usually go to bed around eleven, try going to bed at eight or nine. You can tell yourself then that it won't matter if you can't sleep for a couple of hours because you have time to stay awake in bed. On the offhand, the longer you lie in bed could mean the more you begin to worry about not sleeping, so this trick only works for some.
Wait until you're exhausted before you go to bed. Sometimes I wait until after midnight to hit the hay because I know I'll be so tired that I won't even bother worrying about my insomnia. If you try this exercise and tend to stay up till four waiting until you're exhausted, this tip is not for you.
Stay tuned for Monday's next ten tips for overcoming insomnia!
night tossing and turning in bed, pacing the floor, and staring up at the black-cloaked ceiling in silent frustration. Sometimes it seems like you just can't sleep! Well, as a ten year veteran of severe insomnia, I would like to offer you some friendly tips of overcoming this frustrating disorder. Some will work better than others. Some nights, nothing will work. Perhaps some of these will help you so much that you won't be able to stop thanking me.
Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be listing ten tips for insomniacs with each article, so be sure to stay tuned. Here are the first ten tips:
Slowly and boringly begin to think about the next day. Literally go minute-by-minute. For example, "I will wake up, stay in bed for five minutes, yawn, get up, stretch, put on my shorts, put on a shirt..." Make things slow and boring. Occasionally, this will work and you will drift off without even realizing it. This will not work, however, when you have an exciting day ahead. Then your anxiety will only increase.
No matter what happens, do not look at your clock. Can you recall long nights of staring at the clock, counting down
every hour of sleep lost? When you don't look at the clock, you won't have the same level of worry and anxiety about not getting enough rest because you won't know what time it is.Keep the room cool. Hot and stuffy rooms make it difficult to fall asleep, even if you're a cold-natured person like I am. Even if you have to wrap yourself in warm, fluffy blankets, keep the outside room cool, around a comfortable temperature of seventy degrees or so.
Make sure you're comfortable. Don't let your blankets be too constricting. Make sure your mattress is soft, but firm. If your pillow is too firm or too fluffy, get a new one. If you have insomnia, comfort matters. You want to be comfortable when you go to bed. If your feet are cold, wear socks. If your arms are cold, wear a long-sleeved shirt. You know what your body wants in terms of comfort.
Turn off all lights. A dark room is often key to curbing insomnia. One of the most irritating little lights that insomniacs don't think about is the light coming from a digital clock. Consider purchasing a digital clock with an option to dim the lights at night. If you have a television or computer in your room, tape over the little green and red lights. Make sure your curtains and blinds keep out unwanted street and traffic lights.
Make the room quiet... or have a steady noise. I prefer to sleep in silence. I don't like fans or any kind of sound in my room. However, some people sleep best with some white noise in the background. Turn on a fan or your air conditioner. You might even want to keep the low static of a radio. White noise will block out the sounds of snoring, traffic, and barking dogs.
Read a super boring book with low light. Reading can help you become tired. However, if you're in the middle of an interesting book, it will not help you fall asleep. It will keep you awake. Keep a dictionary, a quantum physics, or a calculus book by your bed. If you're preparing for an SAT, put that nearby. When you can't sleep, take out one of these boring books and read with a flashlight or a very low setting of a lamp until you begin to doze off. This trick doesn't often work for me because any kind of reading makes my mind begin to spin, but if you dislike reading, this trick often will work.Do not consume caffeine for at least three hours before you go to bed. As an insomniac, caffeine kills me. I avoid consuming any amount of caffeine before five o'clock in the afternoon. Otherwise, it leaves me wide awake at bedtime. There is no avoiding this tip. If you have insomnia, caffeine will help to keep you awake.
Go to bed far earlier than you normally would. This sometimes works for me. A lot of my insomnia is caused by basic anxiety, worrying that I won't be able to sleep and will be exhausted the next day. An example of this tip would be if you usually go to bed around eleven, try going to bed at eight or nine. You can tell yourself then that it won't matter if you can't sleep for a couple of hours because you have time to stay awake in bed. On the offhand, the longer you lie in bed could mean the more you begin to worry about not sleeping, so this trick only works for some.
Wait until you're exhausted before you go to bed. Sometimes I wait until after midnight to hit the hay because I know I'll be so tired that I won't even bother worrying about my insomnia. If you try this exercise and tend to stay up till four waiting until you're exhausted, this tip is not for you.
Stay tuned for Monday's next ten tips for overcoming insomnia!
Tags: bedtime, comfortable mattress, cool rooms, dictionary, digital clocks, exhaustion, insomnia, insomniac, overcoming insomnia, quantum physics, white noise
1. If you don't like high school at first, give yourself a few weeks. High school is different, new, and a little scary at first. You might not like it right away. Don't close your mind after the first day. Approach high school with an open mind, even after the first day is over. You're going to develop and mature as your freshman year progresses and you make the transition from middle school brain to high school brain. You might not believe me, but you're going to change a lot your freshman year. Don't believe me? To the left is a picture of me in the July before my freshman year. To the right is a picture of me in May of my freshman year. Do you see a difference? In less than a year, I look older, a little more mature and sure of myself. You'll change too. Give high school a chance.
will most likely dress, talk, and act like your friends, not because you're copying them, but because you naturally grow to be like the people you're around the most. Having a godly, encouraging, supportive, happy group of friends is essential to making the right choices and having a good time while you're in high school.
