Falling Asleep At Night

robertbanking

Hello you very wonderful and intelligent individuals that make up these forums. I sincerely hope you are doing well.

I really struggle with tiredness at night, i sometimes am falling asleep on the sofa at around 9pm, then i often wake up about 2am, then it takes me a while to get back to sleep again. I kindly wondered how i could overcome this tiredness please, such as any exercises, maybe drinking more water? If anyone had any thoughts on this i would be forever grateful and thankful, it would be highly appreciated.

Sending you lots of good wishes and i truly hope you have a wonderful life and everything continues to go well for you. All the very best and take care. 

thegentleway

Matthew Walker has good tips on sleep hygiene. Andrew Huberman is a big fan of sun light first thing in the morning to help circadian rhythm.  

tacpot12

Drinking more water during the day is supposed to help, as is eating at a regular time, but keep the portion size of your last meal to a sensible size.

I would recommend going to bed at 9pm if that is the time you are falling asleep. If you then wake at 2am, I have found that focusing on the sound of my own breathing helps me get back to sleep quickly. I do have to be strict with myself not to pick up my phone until I have tried this a few times.  

If you find you have difficult thoughts running through your mind, and it is these that are keeping you awake, allow yourself no more than a second to think each thought so that you realise what it is that is bothering you. I do this by counting down from 10 to zero and on each count I think about the difficult thought just long enough to understand why I am bothered by it. I then repeat this. Some of the thoughts disappear in the next attempt because I've realised that I know how to deal with the problem. The others that remain might also be solved in the second attempt just because you've given them a little more time. If they won't go away, I will  write them down either on paper or on my phone, but I'm careful to close my phone before I get sidetracked into FaceGramTok or whatever.  Doing this allows me to know that I will deal with them the following day when I know I will be better rested and able to deal with them. Then I repeat the process of focusing on my breathing. 

elsien

Stay off technology at night. If you’ve got a TV in your bedroom, take it out. Go for a half-hour walk every morning before work because that resets your body clock with the melatonin.
and if you know you fall asleep at nine, then get off the settee and start doing things to keep you awake - I normally start doing things like the dishes then. On my feet but unstimulating.

Brie

I find that having something to concentrate on in the evenings helps me stay awake until a later time.  So reading a book, watching a movie that's complicated (murder mysteries are good) or has subtitles.  Otherwise I tend to fall asleep immediately after (a much too late) dinner, half way through bake off or just when some boring law drama starts.  I also fall asleep much too early if I've had more than 1 small drink before dinner....

When I do manage things correctly I'm ok til about 11 but ensure that I have a sleepy tea before going to bed.  Pukka night time for instance or just chamomile - otherwise I tend to wake again about 3 and not be able to get back to sleep for an hour or two.

MikeJXE

It might be due to your age ?

I'm 83 and don't sleep for long anytime but when I'm tired I go to bed be it 10pm or 4pm I don't care.

I have a very active mind, whenever I go to bed I read my kindle, sometimes less than a page sometimes a few pages 

I normally wake within a couple of hours of falling asleep 

My body tells me how much sleep I need, I went to bed last night at 7pm, woke at 11.30 for the toilet and got up this morning at 7.10 am 

It's 4.30 pm now and I'm tired again so I guess I will be in bed about 5

XzavierWalnut

I have lived like that for decades. I normally go to bed about 9.00pm and wake up at 2.00a.m like yourself.
I used to get up and watch TV or surf the internet, but found I was exhausted the rest of the day.
My solution is to listen to podcasts. Sometimes I fall asleep within 10 minutes, sometimes it is 3 hours.
But at least I am resting in the dark with my eyes closed.

pollypenny

Hasn't there been a thread just like this a few months ago?  

twopenny

You've established a routein so that's what you body will continue to do.

You need to break this by trying one of the suggestions so you don't fall asleep at 9 but perhaps manage until 10 and then go to bed. Just something small like make a drink about a quater to 9 and take it back to the settee then get ready for bed.

Make it a new routein.

It's really tough to start with but simple things like that can tell your body it's time to sleep.

I have a small one, just going to boil the kettle, clean teeth and go to the loo then fill hot water bottle and bed with a book. Simple but I've got back to a good sleep pattern again and it's lovely.

If I wake middle of the night and can't sleep I get up, make a fried egg or cheese sandwich and milk maybe then take it back to bed with my book. Works a treat and seems more like a treat than a problem

Bazzalona13295

I struggle with this too, I really have difficulties switching off, but then I remembered something my Mom did for me as a little boy. Always had a couple of drinks of milk before bed, still helps now. Admittedly I put a bit of flavour in now but it still works more often than not.

Lorian

I find the best way to go back to sleep in the middle of the night is to listen to the shipping forecast, although their deliveries are sometimes not as lulling as they used to be.