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[unicornduke]

 I've hit the point in fixing my sleep schedule where I'm very tired all of the time. But! I went to bed a little after 9 and was asleep within 20 mins or so since I don't remember much past the 15 minutes mark of the podcast episode I listen to (Sleep With Me, one of the older episodes). 

I only woke up once in the night that I remember, which was around 4am to pee and also to listen to something making some very weird noises outside. Either a cat being angry or something being eaten. Or something. It happened a second time so I'm guessing cat or maybe fox doing animal stuff. 

And I'm waking up between 5 and 5:30 which is the goal. I switched my BC and vitamin d pills to the morning, which I also think is helping.

Just tired. 

Comments

[elisse]

RE: Sleep pattern, that sounds pretty amazing! Being able to fall asleep quickly and just waking up once is my goal, maybe I should try your method!

[unicornduke]

Well, I've almost always been an easy sleeper, it's just been this last year or so that I haven't. It's nice to just fall right asleep, you know?

So I've been doing many things for my sleep to get it fixed. And I do these things somewhat normally.

1. Get up at normal time or earlier, now matter how late I fell asleep. This makes me tired already the next night so I'm more likely to just sleep as long as I don't accidentally take a nap on the couch.

2. Eat later in the evening - one issue I have is being hungry late in the evening, primarily from not eating things that I absolutely need to have in my diet to not feel hungry. But also I've been eating around 6:30 to 7 with my bedtime being 9 to 9:30 and I am still full around bedtime so I'm more tired. I've also been eating a more filling lunch.

3. take vitamin d in the morning. When I first started taking it, I tried taking it at normal pill time of 7:30 pm. Bad mistake. It doesn't affect me in the morning.

4. Go and lay in bed in the dark or low light only even if it sucks.

5. No screens after a certain time/restricted use. This one is so dang hard. I don't allow myself to watch tv, and generally no fanfiction reading after 8pm or so. Book reading is fine as it makes me tired. I can use my phone to check on things that are giving me anxiety as I lay there in bed but no checking social media or ao3.

6. Podcast as distraction. I used to listen to music but eventually I just started thinking too much so now I listen to the Sleep With Me podcast where a dude talks in a mostly monotone voice about various subjects. I have one episode saved on my phone that is him taking a walk through the woods with birds sounds included. Very soothing.

7. Do something physical during the day. This is actually the hardest for me. I walk my dog but I need to do something else. Often my work does this (agriculture based, today I was sorting potatoes!), but if I'm at the computer all day, I will take a walk during work hours or do a little stretching and stuff at home in the evening as my fall asleep routine.

8. Keep my sleep schedule even on weekends. Or close to it. I'm awake within an hour of my normal wakeup time on the weekend. The dog makes this easier since she will bug me to get up, but it really helps to keep my falling asleep at the same time.

So that's that. It's a whole thing to get my sleep schedule back on track. Once I get it set and I'm sleeping a decent amount, I can start doing some things again, like using my phone in bed or reading fanfics before bed.

[graydon]

That all sounds prudent and useful.

I found that getting into a controlled breathing habit -- it may not matter which kind; I was always doing what a Daoist would call 'natural breathing' -- helped get the head-weasels to not gallop off in all directions. Took considerable practice to become useful, but it did eventually so become.

[unicornduke]

Hmm, I'll have to try that more. I'm usually pretty good at distracting myself into sleeping but haven't been able to lately so this is a good idea!