Sleep routines?

This is not strictly a tech-post/question. In fact, one should try and keep tech out of the bedroom. But still, it’s quite important and the right gear/tech can be a help.

How do you wind down at night?
What are your sleep routines?
Any cool routines/tech/gear that really works for you?

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I will jump in on this one :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye::tada::sunglasses:.

I read this forum FIRST, then a couple other ones, CSS, MySQL, and maybe, if I haven’t fallen a sleep yet, sharpen my skills on php. By then, lights out. :upside_down_face:

If my mind is still spinning, I use a white noise app of birds singing.

Yea, I am a simple feller, but it workers for me!

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  1. Set timer
  2. Start a favorite audio book (one I’ve heard before)
  3. Sleep
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I normally listen to spoken word to distract me from the day’s events. Sometimes a podcast, sometimes an audible book.

If it’s a book, I normally bookmark the starting position, then set a 30 minute timer.

@RichardC is wise to use books he’s read before. I’ve been known to reset the timer, when listening to a new book, multiple times :slight_smile:

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We used to live in a noisy area and purchased this Marpac White Noise machine. We had tried a few other and this was the best by far. When our son was small we purchased one for his room. We still use them today, highly recommended.

I used this sleep mask to block out light. I have read about people who travel with duct tape in their luggage to tape hotel room curtains to keep the light out. This is a much easier solution.

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Most important is going to bed and waking at the same time.

I keep all electronics far from the bedroom as the temptation at 3 AM is too much. Once your mind learns that “I can wake in the middle of the night and get entertained,” it will make waking a habit. Your mind has, um, a mind of its own. And unfortunately, that mind is that of an eight year old.

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I would have great trouble sleeping without a ceiling fan set on low or medium. I also occasionally make use of a podcast where the hosts have nice voices and ramble for two hours about a game I 30% care about. I also make sure the sheet’s not going to wrap in a weird way and wake me up at 3am. :slight_smile: That’s about it!

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Haha. Completely true. It’s like an unleashed dog going every which way.

If your electronics is not in the room with you, how do you wake up? A good old standard alarm clock? :scream:

Thanks for sharing!

As in the previous comment I would like to keep electronics out of the bedroom. But I use the Calm app on my iPhone to play white noise scenes to drift off to.

Thanks. I’m also contemplating a sleep mask actually

Yes, I’d like to get there too. Thankfully I don’t feel the need to use audio too often. Usually it’s when I have a chance to get slightly more than eight hours of sleep and I didn’t stay up late the night before. I really have to be proactive to make myself just lay there. :slight_smile:

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I like to wake up with a start with a leg cramp at 4 in the morning and then, after hobbling around the room and swearing softly so as not to wake my wife, I lay in bed worrying for a while.

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Well that doesn’t sound too nice. I hope you’re alright :slightly_smiling_face:

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Living in a country where at this time of the year its in the high twenties at night and high thirties during the day I find working while sweating profusely during the day tends to make me so tired sleep is never a problem.

To be honest to me a lot of “sleep solutions” tend to be just something looking for a problem. A good days work, a clear conscience (or a lack of one) and you will sleep.

Simple really if you’re tired you sleep, if you’re not you don’t so do something useful instead, and don’t worry about it otherwise it just becomes self fulfilling. Listen to your body and the natural rhythms not go looking for a tech solution or this weeks trendy regime.

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Science says you’re wrong, Old Designer. Sure, a lot of sleep aids are gimmicks, but they exist because there is a real problem. Noisy environments, bright lights, screen time before bedtime and stress can all make it hard to sleep. Other people have aches and pains and illness.

Getting to bed and waking up at the same time every day is a huge help, but that’s extremely difficult for many people. Me included: I’m by nature a night person but my job happens early in the morning, so I sleep in on weekends and every Monday morning is like jetlag crossing three to five timezones for me. I’m sleep-deprived Monday and never really catch up all week, then on Friday night I crash and sleep in on Saturday and the cycle starts again.

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I’m also a night owl who has had to accommodate myself to rising early. The only way I’ve ever been able to make this work without being miserable in the ways you describe is to keep to that same schedule on the weekends (and even on vacations). No matter how nice it would feel to sleep in on weekends, it’ll be far more miserable come Monday morning.

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I know that all too well

So true. How did you manage to create that change? Because I have a really hard time getting up early in the weekends.

I don’t have the willpower. Getting better though.

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The only thing that can get me up at 3 AM is drinking too much water before bedtime. :wink:

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