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I always have a hard time going to sleep at a consistent time; it's much easier for me to stay up a couple of hours later than it is to go to bed even a half ho

I always have a hard time going to sleep at a consistent time; it's much easier for me to stay up a couple of hours later than it is to go to bed even a half hour earlier. The two easiest ways for me to lose track of time and end up amped up at bedtime are programming and gaming, so I set an alarm 2 hours before bedtime to remind myself to stop either of those activities for the night. Then I veg out watching something stupid on Netflix or reading. It works but is definitely frustrating that I have to dedicate such a big chunk of time to winding down.

sfilargi 9y ago
Try a drinking a chamomile tea 30mins before bedtime.
Broken_Hippo 9y ago
I have the same issue if I'm working a "normal" person's day, but not so much if I can wake later in the day (10-noon). The poster mentioning the tea was on track - it doesn't have to be tea, just get a routine at night, starting half an hour or something before bed. It can be showering or whatever, just something relaxing. Boring television shows - nothing that gets you too interested - after that until you sleep. Or reading or whatever, so long as it doesn't engross you. Also helpful is to keep some sleep hygeine - not sleeping in much on weekends. It sucks doing this, but it does produce results.
- wanderr 9y ago
  Same here actually, except a bit later if I'm not waking up to an alarm, I will drift towards waking up at 1-2pm and don't have as much trouble getting to sleep. Even then I can easily make myself stay up later than usual, and would take advantage of that fact to "flip" my schedule when needed over the course of a week by just going to bed "later" and getting up "later" every day until it was early instead of late. Good enough for making it to some important early as hell meeting or flight or whatever, but my schedule would quickly fall forward back to my normal preferred time. Unfortunately for me, just 30 minutes or pre sleep routine isn't really enough, any time I allow myself to encroach on that 2 hour wind down period too much, I have a much harder time falling asleep. Things like chamomile tea and melatonin do help with falling asleep, but not with staying asleep, if I use them to fall asleep early I'll just wake back up 20 minutes later. Ambien works wonders but I try to only use it when I'm really desperate, a few times a year.
  - Broken_Hippo 9y ago
    Oh, I'd never go without an alarm if I'm expected to be awake before noon or 1pm. Without an alarm, I generally wake up between 11 and 1, depending on time of year. I also have a weird quirk of occasionaly sleeping through alarm clocks and phone calls, which increases the earlier I have to be at work. I quit one job when I was younger because I couldn't physically handle the work hours: They started at 5am. Midnights? Yeah, those are glorious, though 2nd shift tends to be my favorite. Your experience with Ambien mirrors my experience with melatonin. It works for me, but I have to allow extra time to sleep.I wake rested but groggier than normal.

sfilargi 9y ago

Try a drinking a chamomile tea 30mins before bedtime.

Broken_Hippo 9y ago

I have the same issue if I'm working a "normal" person's day, but not so much if I can wake later in the day (10-noon). The poster mentioning the tea was on track - it doesn't have to be tea, just get a routine at night, starting half an hour or something before bed. It can be showering or whatever, just something relaxing. Boring television shows - nothing that gets you too interested - after that until you sleep. Or reading or whatever, so long as it doesn't engross you. Also helpful is to keep some sleep hygeine - not sleeping in much on weekends. It sucks doing this, but it does produce results.

wanderr 9y ago
Same here actually, except a bit later if I'm not waking up to an alarm, I will drift towards waking up at 1-2pm and don't have as much trouble getting to sleep. Even then I can easily make myself stay up later than usual, and would take advantage of that fact to "flip" my schedule when needed over the course of a week by just going to bed "later" and getting up "later" every day until it was early instead of late. Good enough for making it to some important early as hell meeting or flight or whatever, but my schedule would quickly fall forward back to my normal preferred time. Unfortunately for me, just 30 minutes or pre sleep routine isn't really enough, any time I allow myself to encroach on that 2 hour wind down period too much, I have a much harder time falling asleep. Things like chamomile tea and melatonin do help with falling asleep, but not with staying asleep, if I use them to fall asleep early I'll just wake back up 20 minutes later. Ambien works wonders but I try to only use it when I'm really desperate, a few times a year.
- Broken_Hippo 9y ago
  Oh, I'd never go without an alarm if I'm expected to be awake before noon or 1pm. Without an alarm, I generally wake up between 11 and 1, depending on time of year. I also have a weird quirk of occasionaly sleeping through alarm clocks and phone calls, which increases the earlier I have to be at work. I quit one job when I was younger because I couldn't physically handle the work hours: They started at 5am. Midnights? Yeah, those are glorious, though 2nd shift tends to be my favorite. Your experience with Ambien mirrors my experience with melatonin. It works for me, but I have to allow extra time to sleep.I wake rested but groggier than normal.