Battling Onset Insomnia
March 25th, 2009 | Published in Life, Productivity, Thoughts | 6 Comments
I have onset insomnia. I lie awake at night for a couple hours thinking about all the things I’m going to do or what I did that day. I think about new ideas. I think about new businesses I could start, projects I should do, essays I should write. It’s ridiculous, but I’ve done it ever since I can remember.
I was browsing Tim Ferris’s blog and found out he has the same thing. Here is what he does about it:
I have — as do most males in my family — what is called “onset insomnia.” I don’t have trouble staying asleep, but I have a difficult time falling asleep, sometime laying awake in bed for 1-2 hours.
There are two approaches that I’ve used with good effect without medications to address this: 1) Determine and set a top priorities to-do list that afternoon for the following day to avoid late-night planning, 2) Do not read non-fiction prior to bed, which encourages projection into the future and preoccupation/planning. Read fiction that engages the imagination and demands present-state attention.
I’m often guilty of reading non-fiction before bed. The worst is if I read something about business or entrepreneurship or new ideas. I’ll end up thinking about it for hours while I stare at the ceiling.
Writing a to-do list the day before is a great idea. I’ve been trying to do that simply because it helps to have a focus as soon as I start my day. But this gives me another reason to do it.
March 25th, 2009 at 11:35 am (#)
Hi Josh,
What I find productive, and inducive of a really good night’s sleep is meditating before bed. It’s a little exotic for some, but it’ll clear your mind of the thoughts that are running around and keeping you up.
The solutions you’ve listed above are coping mechanisms, they are not solutions to the problem.
As someone who used to spend at least 3 hours a night trying to sleep, meditation transformed my life…
Peace,
Wade
March 25th, 2009 at 3:38 pm (#)
Wade: Thanks for the advice. I’m sure it would be helpful to use a relaxing technique.
However, I don’t see how that is not just another coping mechanism. Meditation doesn’t solve the problem — it’s a way to relax. Just like making your todo list the day before causes you to empty your mind a little more so you can relax.
March 26th, 2009 at 12:07 pm (#)
I grew up with a mild case of that. Perhaps taking 45 minutes to get to sleep. It got longer in college. Then in seminary it got to where it was near 3 hours at the end of the second year. I thought maybe it was stress. The year ended. I continued to ruminate. But I took a trip to Virginia to celebrate graduation and was back to 45 minutes or an hour. Back at seminary it was up to 3 hours again, and this with no course load. Back home it went back down. I figured out that it was the uncomfortable excuse for a mattress they gave us. I grew up on a ridiculously soft mattress. Funny thing is, I can sleep in a car or an airplane seat or even the floor of a bus (did that in Europe when I was 18). If my body knows it’s making do, it can handle it. But when it expects to be comfortable, there is no substitute.
Currently I have no problem with insomnia of any sort. I think I get to sleep faster now even than I did in late childhood.
This may be of no help. But if it should turn out to be the real problem, any other solution is a waste of time.
March 30th, 2009 at 12:30 pm (#)
Josh,
Great post! I had this happen to me Saturday night. It’s funny when you can’t go to sleep and your laying in bed, all of the reasons you formulate that you can’t go to sleep. Saturday night I had this happen to me, I think I tried all the tricks:
1. Turn a fan on. (Failed)
2. Turn on Planet Earth DVDS (failed)
3. Prayed (this was more productive than the first two)
4. At 4am, I took a Bennadryl.
I finally fell asleep at 4am, waking at 8:30 in time to go to church and teach students about God’s reign in Psalm 93. I had that kind of thickheaded demension to my personality on Sunday of responding to questions slowly with delayed reactions that come from lack of sleep.
Yet all of this could probably be attributed to my 3 hour nap on Saturday afternoon. I don’t think I’ve ever been satisfied with results of naps, as attractive and fun as they may seem. So, for me, no naps.
I really like the advice of fiction and afternoon planning. I think I will try these for better sleeping. I am continually reminded that sleep heavily affects the way your day goes, and I’d like to correct these problems.
I’m a youth pastor and spend alot of time in an office sitting. I excercise regularly which helps me sleep, but I don’t there is an substitute for being completely tired when you lay down to go to bed. even after excercising, those thoughts of “What potential accomplishment can I achieve the next day!?” distracts my mind from sleeping.
Thanks,
Nate
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:10 am (#)
I have insomnia couple years ago, it didn’t help me at all.Just make plans for tomorrow, do your best, forget everything what you have done today, fix your mistake, work out and pray to God.That’s all
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:05 am (#)
I may have a mild case of OCD, plus I work nights M-F and on the weekends i switch to a day schedule (I do not recommend this). So falling asleep and staying asleep is an issue for me regularly. Since you first posted this I have been experimenting with the “Read fiction that engages the imagination and demands present-state attention” idea. But rather than necessarily reading some fiction (I am reading through LOTR right now), I’ll imagine myself in some fictional setting or story as I try to sleep. It’s been quite effective so far. I’m thinking people with OCD tendencies tend to struggle with insomnia.