How do you get around having trouble sleeping?

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

iamskew

Senior member
Aug 17, 2004
538
0
0
I swear to you that this is an honest answer and not a joke. I'm in college, so I'm quite virile still, so this doesn't take much work. When I can't sleep (stressing over a test or something else) I masturbate. Get into bed, put a sock over your you know what and go to town. Do it in bed so you don't have to move around after. Sometimes I don't make it long enough to take the sock off, I just pass out. Best sleep method ever.
 

shilala

Lifer
Oct 5, 2004
11,437
1
76
Originally posted by: Brutuskend
Originally posted by: shilala
I stop thinking.
I'm in control of what goes on up there and can change it whenever I like.
It's taken some practice and perseverance, but I can just simply stop thinking now.

Judging from some of your posts, I say you do a EXCELLENT job! ;)

(sorry I couldn't resist, and you should have seen THIS coming! :p )

Et, tu Brute?
Check out this brilliant shyt I laid down.
 

sourceninja

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2005
8,805
65
91
I do a Ki breathing technique to put me to sleep.

Step 1, sit in seiza or indian style with a good relaxed straight back.
Step 2, breathe in really deep and lift your shoulders and drop them as you exhale to relax.
Step 3, Breathe out completly until you can not breathe out anymore.
Step 4, Wait 5 seconds without breathing
Step 5, Breathe in slowly for 10 seconds filling your lungs as far as they can go, make sure you breathe into your belly.
Step 6, Pretend to breathe in for 5 more seconds while holding your breath
Step 7, Exhale slowly (sometimes it helps to make a slight noise) for 15 seconds until you are out of breath.
Step 8, Pretend to exhale for 5 more seconds
Step 9, Repeat as much as you can stand, but for at least 10 minutes.


It helps to think of your hara (one point) while you do this and imagine a silver string being drawn into your mouth and around your one point and back out your mouth. (For those who don't know, your one point is about 2 fingers below your belly button, it is the center of human balance.)
 

Dacalo

Diamond Member
Mar 31, 2000
8,778
4
76
Originally posted by: iamskew
I swear to you that this is an honest answer and not a joke. I'm in college, so I'm quite virile still, so this doesn't take much work. When I can't sleep (stressing over a test or something else) I masturbate. Get into bed, put a sock over your you know what and go to town. Do it in bed so you don't have to move around after. Sometimes I don't make it long enough to take the sock off, I just pass out. Best sleep method ever.

LMAO!
 

Saint Nick

Lifer
Jan 21, 2005
17,722
6
81
this is what i do when i can't sleep:

i think of a grey box in a dark alley and just focus on the box.

i get to sleep really fast.
 

Slew Foot

Lifer
Sep 22, 2005
12,379
96
86
Originally posted by: rh71
Originally posted by: meltdown75
the only time i can't sleep is right after hockey.
same here... it takes me at least 2 hours after a game to even feel tired again... must be adrenaline or something... it sucks when you get home at 1130pm from a game.

Anyway, if you're a guy, I'm thinking the answer is obvious... it starts with master. Biologically proven to make you feel sleepy afterward. :D

That odd beacuse Im almost completely opposite. I collapse in bed when my games are over.
 

enyce2k9

Golden Member
Mar 21, 2005
1,611
0
0
Originally posted by: Dacalo
Originally posted by: iamskew
I swear to you that this is an honest answer and not a joke. I'm in college, so I'm quite virile still, so this doesn't take much work. When I can't sleep (stressing over a test or something else) I masturbate. Get into bed, put a sock over your you know what and go to town. Do it in bed so you don't have to move around after. Sometimes I don't make it long enough to take the sock off, I just pass out. Best sleep method ever.

LMAO!

hah im sure thats a "traditional ancient technique"
 

aplefka

Lifer
Feb 29, 2004
12,014
2
0
Originally posted by: KarenMarie
Originally posted by: LolaWiz
i have the sam problem. I have found that focusing on clearing your mind helps me. How i do that is how an old therapist taught me.

Pick your favorite color, and view it in your mind, like it is taking over all you other thoughts. really focus your mind on keeping that color there. then start counting numbers and actually view the numbers passing from left to right in your mind. keep focused on the number crossing the color. only count to 5 though. so count, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and then repeat.
The hardest thing is focusing on the numbers.

This works (for me anyways) because i make myself only think about the numbers and color and not the issues that were on my mind previously.

I hope this helps. If noy, just try taking a few spoonfuls of NyQuil


that sounds like a wonderful plan. I will try it tonight. I dont know if it will work for me because I cannot use my mind to imagine pictures. I cannot see pictures in my mind. For example.... if you were to close your eyes and imagine ... a duck. most ppl can see the pic of the duck in their mind. I cannot. I get words and ideas of duck feet, bills and feathers... etc. but the actually pic of it...i cannot.

weird, huh?

Wow, that's the craziest thing! I've always been able to relate images to my thoughts and when I was younger I wondered if all people could do this. So even if you're thinking of a movie scene or something, you can only hear the words, but not see the video? You might need to get some new RCA cables for your brain. :p
 

Xyclone

Lifer
Aug 24, 2004
10,312
0
76
Originally posted by: Dacalo
Originally posted by: iamskew
I swear to you that this is an honest answer and not a joke. I'm in college, so I'm quite virile still, so this doesn't take much work. When I can't sleep (stressing over a test or something else) I masturbate. Get into bed, put a sock over your you know what and go to town. Do it in bed so you don't have to move around after. Sometimes I don't make it long enough to take the sock off, I just pass out. Best sleep method ever.

LMAO!

:laugh::confused:
 

RaynorWolfcastle

Diamond Member
Feb 8, 2001
8,968
16
81
I read IEEE papers I'm supposed to review; works like a charm, I only get about halfway down the first page before I pass out. Highly recommended.
 

DCFife

Senior member
May 24, 2001
679
0
0
I either read a computer book or I pop my wife's copy of "Pride and Prejudice" into the DVD player - either is guaranteed to bore you to sleep instantly.
 
Aug 25, 2004
11,151
1
81
here are some options, one or more may work for you:
1. take a hot water shower
2. have a glass of warm milk before you brush your teeth and go to bed
3. listen to music, but preferably something like radio, where you have no control over the REV/FF buttons. or you could put your ipod in shuffle mode, and keep it just out of reach of your hands.
4. turn on cnn headline news at a low volume. after 15-30 min, the news starts looping, and within an hour you'll be bored to death
5. avoid medication at all costs... that's a door you don't wanna open. ever. at the most, have some nyquil, but nothing else.
6. have two to three glasses of red wine. drink it fast like medication, not slow like you would at the dinner table.
7. sourceninja's breathing exercise is good stuff, but it takes a few days before you feel any benifits. if it's too tough, here's an easier way out: sit in a meditation-like pose, breathe in deeply while counting from 1 to 5, then hold your breath as you count from 1 to 5, then release your breath as you count from 1 to 5, then hold your breath as you count from 1 to 5, breathe in ... REPEAT this ten times, all the time concentrating on the bridge of your nose, concentrating on the air you're breathing in and breathing out. if not anything else, this will definitely push your pulse rate down (and maybe your blood pressure too).
8. some people suggested fap fap fap... what the heck, give it a shot, it might tire you out.
 

kthroyer

Member
Jan 9, 2004
159
0
0
Ever since I was a little kid, I have had trouble falling asleep, if I was worried about something. When I was young, it was homework. When I hit my teens, my parents got me a television for my bedroom, and the problem went away. I have since realized that if I watch television at night, I will almost always fall asleep quickly, and I never worry about life's problems at night. I just use the sleep timer and I never have to set it beyond 30 minutes.

Hope that helps
 

MX2

Lifer
Apr 11, 2004
18,651
1
0
I use to take Melatonin. Although it worked, I needed to take 20mg a night. Now I take 3 mg Lunesta and watch the pretty green butterfly;)
 
Apr 17, 2005
13,465
3
81
i've been having sleep problems too, stressing about school...i'm going to try some of these methods. Man, i used to never worry about sleeping nor did i think i'd ever have a problem with it. Nowadays i do something till i'm dead tired so i have no choice but to sleep...but its not really good for my health tho.
 

SoulAssassin

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2001
6,135
2
0
Originally posted by: MX2times
I use to take Melatonin. Although it worked, I needed to take 20mg a night. Now I take 3 mg Lunesta and watch the pretty green butterfly;)

20mg? HFS...I was taking the 1mg ones and recently started taking the 3mg ones cause GNC was out of the 1's and the 3's put me out like a light. 20mg is crazy.

Melatonin is definitely the best...it's the only thing I can find that doesn't make me feel like a drank 20 beers in the morning.