Overcoming Insomnia
Combat insomnia with relaxation, mental voice tone, and visualization.
Today’s topic is sleep, and how to get there faster.
Denise writes:
Hi, Stever,
Love your website and podcasts…My main problem these days is insomnia. Got any tips for getting a good night’s sleep. How do you turn off your brain and prepare your body for sleep?
Hi, Denise. We’ll cover several techniques in this episode. The quick and dirty summary? Get your busy thoughts onto paper, then orient your mind to slow, drifty, sleepiness. By the way, if you’re listening to this while driving or operating heavy machinery, pause it and listen later. You need to stay alert and awake. Otherwise you could miss that road-runner that zipped by, chased by a coyote holding a box of ACME Road-Runner food. If you’re not driving, keep listening.
I used to try what most people do: worry. Talk to myself. I’d say things like, “I didn’t get my taxes done today. I really should do them tomorrow. And what about that proposal I’m late for? And you know, that Safeway checkout clerk was a real jerk. Hey, clerk and jerk, that rhymes. I wonder what rhymes with ‘checkout’?” Gee, that’s a real recipe for going down to happy-safe-sleep land.
To stop worrying, keep a pad and pencil next to your bed. Before your head hits the pillow for a good night’s sleep, jot down all the things you have to worry about on the pad. Let the pad worry for you. Tomorrow morning, you can start the day by re-reading your list and worrying again. Or you can do like I do and “accidentally” light the pad on fire with a blowtorch. Either way, your head is now clear and ready for sleep.
The time-honored way of getting to dreamland is by counting sheep. To us, sheep are boring, so that puts us to sleep. But to other sheep? It’s like us counting Zac Efron, Angelina Jolie, Matt Damon, Demi Moore, Liz Taylor… Since I was a sheep in a past life, this doesn’t put me to sleep; it’s more like reading Sheepul magazine.
So instead, I tried counting politicians. One … two … no, I disagree. NO! NAFTA never … Oh. I’m not asleep. Ok, that doesn’t work either. There has to be a better way to fall asleep. And there is.
Don’t count sheep, count body parts. Yours. If you count someone else’s, it will wake you back up. And while you’re counting, relax… Start with your head. Notice your scalp. Imagine what it looks like. Notice how it feels. Tighten your scalp just a bit so you can feel the muscles. Then relax it. Do that for you face, jaw, neck, shoulders, arms, chest, and so on down your body. By the time you get to your toes, your body will be like a big tub of melted buttah. Bliss!
Now, close your eyes and start to watch your thoughts. If you talk to yourself in that old worry voice, slow the voice down. T-a-l-k s-l-o-w-l-y t-o y-o-u-r-s-e-l-f. You can even *yawn* mentally.
Hey! Are you driving? I told you not to listen while driving! Snap out of it. Wake up! Listen later. Sheesh. Some people.
Now that you’re *yawn* thinking slowly, start paying really close attention to the colors behind your eyes. Watch the pretty patterns. You’ll see *yawn* swirls, and colors … and dots … When you see a darker dot–for me, it’s usually the black ones–imagine you’re falling into it and it’s getting bigger and bigger. Relax your neck and really feel like you’re falling backwards into … long pause … nyum nyum nyum … *snore* oh! hello! Sorry about that.
A couple of other tricks will help, too. A sleep researcher I met at a youth hostel shared this one. Only use your bed for sleeping, and sleep in a customary position. You’ll literally train your body and mind that when your head hits the pillow, it’s a signal for your body to prepare for sleep. Just in case you do, er, other activities, in bed, start thinking more creatively. There’s a reason kitchen counters are covered with linoleum.
And my final tip combines sleep, weight loss, and studliness in one happy package: hire an Evil Trainer to help you work out so you’re so physically exhausted you just can’t stay awake. Sweet dreams!
This is Stever Robbins. If you have a question about how to Work Less and Do More, e-mail getitdone@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email or leave voicemail at 866-WRK-LESS. You can also follow me on twitter at GETITDONEGUY, and contribute to discussions that are leading to my new book at blog.steverrobbins.com/getitdoneguy.
Work Less, Do More, and have a Great Life!
Insomnia image courtesy of Shutterstock
About the Author
Stever Robbins was the host of the podcast Get-it-Done Guy from 2007 to 2019. He is a graduate of W. Edward Deming’s Total Quality Management training program and a Certified Master Trainer Elite of NLP. He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BS in Computer Sciences from MIT.
