help with sleep
I'm starting uni again soon and I have to get up early and Do Things so I need help... how do you all get your sleeping schedule back to normal after holidays?
At the moment I go to bed at like 10, but dont fall asleep till around 12-1. And then I sleep for half the day, and end up really tired after doing one or two things, like barely-keep-my-eyes-open tired. My psychologist said that pulling an all nighter to reset is a bad idea so im here looking for other advice ^^
Comments
@ivory I definitely relate to you about sleep problems. People here have already made some pretty good suggestions so I'm just going to pitch in with some of the things I try to do that I haven't seen mentioned:
- Taking deep breaths and concentrating on your breathing. This sounds silly but on nights when I can get my mind to focus this activity really does relax you. You just place your hands on your belly and take these long, deep breaths. Instead of thinking about worrying things, you focus on how your breath moves from your nose to your belly and the movement of your stomach, how the breath feels going in and out of you etc.
- Progressive muscle relaxation: basically you start from the toes and you clench and hold each muscle for 5 seconds. e.g. you clench your toes, hold, then release them and work your way up the body.
- Obviously this isn't ideal but sometimes when I have to get up for uni and I can't sleep, I try to just suck it up with around 2 -3 hours of sleep and then stay awake during the day (that's when I knock back a coffee if i have to!) Generally you're tired enough the following evening to sleep at a good time, the hardest part is staying awake.
Hi everyone! Thank you soo much for all your suggestions!! My sleeping has improved, and I have a script for a sleeping tablet from my psych in case it gets bad again come university. I've started getting up at 5.30 and doing running and pilates so that's cool!!! but then i feel so dead tired come 8am I need a nap. I think I'm going to forgo tradition advice of don't nap in the day and have a power nap in the mornings. I try to power through with caffiene but powernapping I find to be best so
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
hey @ivory, I'm so glad to hear that your sleep has improved! I'd say if a nap during the day works for you, then go for it! Different things work for different people, and that's totally okay. 
Hey there,
One thing I remember reading somewhere ages ago was that if you lay still with your eyes closed for a certain period of time you just naturally fall asleep. I honestly don't know how true this is but I have tried it and at least for me it works. So if I need to get my sleep pattern right and get an early night I go to bed early, make sure it's as quiet as possible and dark and just lay there in a comfortable position, let my mind go blank and not think of anything and the majority of the time I fall asleep pretty easily. Hope this is of some help 🙂
@Jamesc96 I heard that too and honestly it does not work on me. I've spent entire nights (I'm not even joking, like up till dawn) keeping my eyes closed and relaxing and meditating and at best falling into a half sleep. I wonder what the science behind that is/maybe I'm not doing it right?
@N1ghtW1ng I do hve my phone near me and on mute and turned face down so I can't see the blinky lights. I try (and fail) to avoid technology before bed but I've started watching shows and that usually helps me unwind a bit and like.. de-socialise? If that makes sense. I might try drawing and getting back into reading though. I've also started fingerknitting so maybe that will also help. Thank you ^^
What things do you do when you're in your bed? By this, I mean do you have your phone or laptop near you or on, do you read or draw or something like that at all? Reading a book in low light (light enough to read of course) might help slow your brain down so when you're droopy-eyed you can close the book and sleep. Of course, if it's really good you might never put it down 😛
hey @ivory some of the things I do are to get into bed quite early, like 9pm and not do anything else in bed other than sleep/rest. So no eating, watching stuff on my laptop etc.
I make sure the room is as dark and quiet as possible by shutting my door and curtains.
What helps the most is not thinking about the fact that I'm trying to sleep. I often plan stories in my head, fanfiction or original ideas, and by doing that I can generally eventually fall asleep at a reasonable time.
What do you think about giving yourself a mental distraction like that?
I do that! Sometimes it helps but also sometimes i get a bit lost and sometimes get upset by thinking about not nice things ahaha but yes thank you ^^
