9 ms·

My biggest struggle with sleep is that I'm always excited to do stuff, and always feel like I'm not done with my day. Exceptions are when something happens and

My biggest struggle with sleep is that I'm always excited to do stuff, and always feel like I'm not done with my day. Exceptions are when something happens and I end up feeling very depressed during the day, and simply want to shut down and do nothing. Usually, I get so infatuated with a script I'm writing, a new program I discovered, a bug that I need to resolve, a book that I'm reading, some concept that I'm thinking of, that my mind just keeps on being active, and wants to keep working. It's the worst when I'm working on my computer, due to the blue light (I've started wearing yellow sunglasses to minimize the effect), while it's a bit better when I'm reading or listening to music or thinking. In any case, this is a great article. I feel like small amounts of sleep has been the greatest inhibitor of my performance in... anything really. Being dumb and young I felt like I could still function correctly, but I really started noticing that I had better tournament results when actually sleeping 8 hours, while my results on all other days were lackluster. I read up on a lot of things and convinced myself that sleeping enough is essential. I still slip up and don't even go on my bed at the right times, my sleep schedule goes all over the place for a lot of different reasons, but I'm really trying. I feel like I might need to seek some professional help on this, but I'll still take it as far as possible before that.

problems 9y ago
I'm in the same boat here actually. If I actually feel like going to sleep at the correct time I feel like I'm just not getting any value out of my life unless there's something that interests me at all times. I just keep pounding caffeine and it really doesn't bug me. I'm sure my performance in just about everything has dropped significantly, but eh, I'm in a fairly secure situation now, so I feel like value out of my life vs performance in tasks I don't really like that much... I'll take the value usually.
- teekert 9y ago
  I feel the same, and I always seem to be able to drop that rushed feeling after about 3-4 days of holiday. Just being in nature first make me feel I should be doing something useful but after a couple of days the more relaxed mindset kicks in. I become a nicer person to be around, I'm better at handling my kids (I'm less emotional, more calm) and I start to live more slowly. The relationship with my wife also flourishes under such circumstances. That feeling we create, of urgency, of pressure to perform, of setting the bar so high we almost always fail our own big plans, is really damaging I think. It's very healthy to feel content with oneself, to be proud and calm, to feel like you are doing well.
tuwtuwtuwtuw 9y ago
I have the same issue. My workaround is to lie in bed, count 1, 2, 3, 4 over and over again (in my mind) and try to focus on these numbers. My mind wanders away all the time but then I just try to get back to counting. Might sound stupid but I guess after a while of thought-speeding my brain gets bored and calm down. Works for me at least. Also no coffee after 4PM.
- CoC_CRUSHER 9y ago
  audiobook player w/ sleep timer
- unicornporn 9y ago
  That's actually what we do in some schools of zen when we do zazen. We begin to steady and stabilize the mind by counting the breath. We practice by counting each inhalation and each exhalation, beginning with one and counting up to ten. Inhale — at the end of the inhalation, count one. Exhale — at the end of the exhalation, count two. When you get to ten, come back to one and start all over. The only agreement that you make with yourself in this process is that if your mind begins to wander — if you become aware that what you’re doing is chasing thoughts – you will look at the thought, acknowledge it, and then deliberately and consciously let it go and begin the count again at one. It eventually stills the mind and will help you, or at least me (the few times I have trouble falling asleep), to wander into zzzzz land.
  - icc97 9y ago
    Yes - I've come across the same breathing suggestions via Headspace.
  - babuskov 9y ago
    > It eventually stills the mind and will help you I does still the mind, but I have a problem that it makes me even more awake. A couple of times I tried that I ended up going back to my laptop and working through the night because I felt like I gained so much energy.
    - 9y ago
shostack 9y ago
For me it is sometimes "excited to do stuff" but it also is often "life got in the way and I never got a chance to unwind." I really need to unwind before bed, and if I don't get that time to turn off my brain, I'll be up all night. So I stay up late until I feel ready for bed, but I'm screwed either way at that point.
- teolandon 9y ago
  Yeah seems like I'm still on the good boat where I'm not actually forced to be concentrated on something all the time, I just do it because I'm like that, and have free time to focus and obsess over the stuff that I like. Getting life in your way often seems to be way worse.
thirdsun 9y ago
I know what you mean - Luckily I usually feel this kind of energy and urge to do stuff in the morning while preferring to wind down in the evening (which, admittedly, may still involve screens). Maybe you could try to shift your tasks to fit a similar schedule. Use the evenings for thinking, reflecting, planning and theoretic concepts, preferably with some music, while executing those thoughts and ideas in the morning.
closeparen 9y ago
Ritual helps me shut down. Power off the computer, make tea, curl up on the couch and read, brush teeth, etc. Going from 60 to 0 instantly is never realistic.
- bigbugbag 9y ago
  Tea has caffeine, IIANM regular caffeine intake has long term effects on sleep.
  - petropolisful 9y ago
    Herbal teas often consumed at night don't normally contain caffeine.
sleepeejoe 9y ago
Save the game! I had the same issue because I was terrified of forgetting things...so I've started taking notes and reminders for the following day(s) in order to resume the mental processes. Even a to-do list using todoist would free you some CPU cycles and will make you sleep better.
- hawski 9y ago
  But the game plays further in my head even after I shutdown the computer or write down the last note. I often find myself above a piece of paper that I wanted to scribble on, but my mind jumped and run around much faster than I could even start to write anything.
  - trajektorijus 9y ago
    I just count my breaths to 10 to stop the endless thoughts from coming up. 1 while breathing-in, 1 while breathing out, 2 - in, 2 - out, 3, 3, 4, 4, and so on until I reach 10, then I start over from 1 again. If you do this for long enough, at some point your brain will learn to do this automatically. If that's the case. Increase the difficulty. Count to to 10 then back to 1 then back to 10, etc... Or count in multiple languages. This helps me to put myself to sleep (to stop endless train of thoughts) all the time. Of course, sometimes, you need to think things through. You need to learn to recognise when this need is present and give yourself into the reflection. What's so good about this technique, is that even when I reflect on stuff, I know that whenever I notice that the reflection is no longer meaningful, I can just switch the thinking off anytime by using the technique... Hope this helps.
  - Cthulhu_ 9y ago
    Take up less things at once, or, try and focus on one thing, preferably finishing it at the end of the work day. Divide your tasks up into smaller, achievable subtasks, check it off, save the rest. It's okay to not do everything, you can't.
suneilp 9y ago
I find getting rest, along with better diet and exercise, makes it easier to learn and do additional stuff outside of work. Flux is great for the blue light issue and cheaper than sunglasses. I've found music that makes thinking and relaxing at the same time before bed much easier.
kutkloon7 9y ago
After I noted that I start making errors when I work late at night, I have learned to stop working at a reasonable time. For the times that I do work late, a red-light filter and adjusting the brightness of my screen to the minimum do wonders.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
tintor 9y ago
You can use F.lux program to automatically remove blue light from the screen in the evening / at night.
sundvor 9y ago
I'm right there with you on not feeling like I'm done with the day. After my son goes to sleep I a precious few hours to myself, of which chores takes a fair chunk - so I might have only one hour of "me time" if I go to bed when I should. So often, that 1 hour is pushed out a wee bit. Brain works much better on at least 7 hours though, but that time at the end of the night is really my sweet spot and I savour it like nothing else. At any rate, I find reading using the Kindle app on my OLED device (S8+ or S2 tab) with bluelight filter enabled (native filter on S8, app on S2 tab) with lowest brightness (white text/black background) to be great. I'll start off with a bit of sci-fi, and if it gets too exciting I'll then switch to something less exciting - e.g. continue my work on the blue book (DDD) or something like that. ;) Lifting weights in the gym also helps (e.g. 5x5 stronglifts), and not just for sleep either.
laughfactory 9y ago
This is me, too. My wife complains that it's like I'm trying to have two or three lives instead of just the one. But I know I need the sleep I'm not getting, but I have a really hard time, once the kids are finally asleep, just going to bed myself. When everyone but me is asleep it's so peaceful and quiet, and I can read, slay work dragons, learn stuff, or just veg. Unfortunately this usually results in maybe six low quality hours of sleep. And I pay for it in distractibility, moodiness, not as smart as I am when well rested, etc. But overcoming the size of deficit I've got isn't pleasant either. I actually feel worse much of the time. More tired, speak less clearly, slow thought... It sucks. I probably just need to stick with it until my brain and body adjust and recover, but just haven't gotten to that point yet. My growing concern is that not enough sleep and poor quality of sleep can literally, indirectly, kill you (via things related or compounded by lack of sleep). Yikes! I'd like to grow old with my wife, and see our kids grow up. So... Gotta beat this problem somehow!
- therein 9y ago
  > When everyone but me is asleep it's so peaceful and quiet, and I can read, slay work dragons, learn stuff, or just veg. Unfortunately this usually results in maybe six low quality hours of sleep. And I pay for it in distractibility, moodiness, not as smart as I am when well rested, etc. ...I actually feel worse much of the time. More tired, speak less clearly, slow thought... It sucks. Are you me?
  - annnnd 9y ago
    No, he is me. :)
  - tertius 9y ago
    I feel this way about getting up really early. It's a great feeling. And by around 9 I've made a LOT of progress. That feels even better...
    - voidz 9y ago
      I'd love to get a 9-5 sleep pattern. Sleep at 9pm, wake at 5am.
hvidgaard 9y ago
One of the things I believe people like you have great success with, is routine and wind down. Set a bed time, and 1 hour before that you stop everything that'll keep you awake. Put on some quite music, e.g. easy listen or classic, and do something benign. Some people draw, some knit trivial stuff like blanket patches, others meditate. The important thing is that it is something your mind will not continue to work on after you put it down. This really helps myself, and my children wind down and get ready to sleep, and my day improved 10 fold when I got this procedure down.
- leastfixedpoint 9y ago
  Well, I would die of boredom not doing anything interesting for a whole hour.
  - hvidgaard 9y ago
    That is kinda the point.
- Omnius 9y ago
  I had huge issues falling asleep. I was unable to fall asleep before 1am and had to get up at 6am. So Monday - Friday was a downward spiral of sleep debt and all of stresses that come with that. I eliminated blue light (mostly) after 8:00 and it help slightly but within the margin of error. I then added 15 minutes of mindfulness meditation everyday at lunch. Nothing wooy just mindfulness. Within 2 weeks i was naturally getting tired around 10:00 and able to fall asleep in less than five minutes. Quit meditating (because its a pia to find the time, it shouldnt' be but it is) and sleep problems returned. I didn't even attribute my sleep improvement to the daily practice until i noticed my sleep was all messed up again. It works and its just 15 minutes. People's millage may very but it was life changing for me.
  - hvidgaard 9y ago
    Good work, and pretty nice that something as seemingly simple as 15 minutes of mindfulness yielded great results. Are you fast paced in general? It is my experience that mindfulness enables the brain to put things away easier throughout the day, but it is really difficult the first week or so, because you actively have to let thoughts fly away.
jaggederest 9y ago
> I feel like I might need to seek some professional help on this, but I'll still take it as far as possible before that. Please don't wait. It took me years to get help, and sleep is very easy to fix with such a tiny amount of medical care. The doctor literally gave me a look like "You've tried to live with this for a decade instead of spending $40 and a couple hours to fix it at any point during that time?", gave me a prescription for a simple sleep aid, and told me to call him if that didn't work within a week or two. It could be that in your case, as in mine also, sleep schedule problems are masking something more important, like apnea, mood disorders, ADHD, or other issues. There's really no reason to suffer needlessly out of some misplaced sense of heroism.
- driverdan 9y ago
  Except that's not solving the problem, that's temporarily addressing the symptom. Hypnotics should not be taken lightly or for extended periods of time. Drugs may help at first but they're not the solution for sleep issues. You need to address the underlying problem.
  - jaggederest 9y ago
    Seeking medical attention is the first step to addressing the underlying problem though. You need to get the rest you need in order to work on deeper issues.
Rotareti 9y ago
> It's the worst when I'm working on my computer, due to the blue light (I've started wearing yellow sunglasses to minimize the effect) If you are on Linux you should have a look at Redshift[0]. It allows you to adjust color temperature and brightness via command line. During daytime I put more blue and brightness into the screen, depending on the weather outside (5000K-6500K, 70%-100% brightness). I do this once when I start working. When it gets dark outside I turn the values down to something like 3000K-4000K and 50%-70% brightness, depending on the amount of light inside the room. This relaxes your eyes and puts you in a better (less tensive) mood, especially at night. Redshift really became essential to me. [0]:http://jonls.dk/redshift/ http://jonls.dk/redshift/
- castis 9y ago
  Also, if iOS, Night Shift: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207570 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207570 Almost everything else, Flux: https://justgetflux.com/ https://justgetflux.com/
  - Rotareti 9y ago
    Flux looks interesting, but it doesn't seem to support brightness adjustment. I think it's important to sync the brightness of your monitor with the brightness of its surrounding.
    - Cthulhu_ 9y ago
      The Macbook and (I'm pretty sure) most modern laptops will also adjust backlight according to environment though.
      - Rotareti 9y ago
        But if you are using a workstation/external monitors you still gonna need it.
- Philomath 9y ago
  If you are on mac, you should check 'f.lux'. It will adjust the colors of the screen automatically to minify the effects of blue light.
lphnull 9y ago
My biggest struggle with sleep is existential anxiety. I'm not ready to "close" down the day and fast forward to the next day, so I "borrow" a lot of hours off my lifespan at a high interest rate just for the sake of making the "now" last a little bit longer. I'm not afraid to die. I just hate the mandatory fast forwarding of time.
kneel 9y ago
I've taken to excessive exercise to combat this. Really knocks me out at the end of the day and I wake up refreshed the next day.
taneq 9y ago
> It's the worst when I'm working on my computer, due to the blue light (I've started wearing yellow sunglasses to minimize the effect) F.lux?

problems 9y ago

I'm in the same boat here actually. If I actually feel like going to sleep at the correct time I feel like I'm just not getting any value out of my life unless there's something that interests me at all times. I just keep pounding caffeine and it really doesn't bug me. I'm sure my performance in just about everything has dropped significantly, but eh, I'm in a fairly secure situation now, so I feel like value out of my life vs performance in tasks I don't really like that much... I'll take the value usually.

teekert 9y ago
I feel the same, and I always seem to be able to drop that rushed feeling after about 3-4 days of holiday. Just being in nature first make me feel I should be doing something useful but after a couple of days the more relaxed mindset kicks in. I become a nicer person to be around, I'm better at handling my kids (I'm less emotional, more calm) and I start to live more slowly. The relationship with my wife also flourishes under such circumstances. That feeling we create, of urgency, of pressure to perform, of setting the bar so high we almost always fail our own big plans, is really damaging I think. It's very healthy to feel content with oneself, to be proud and calm, to feel like you are doing well.

tuwtuwtuwtuw 9y ago

I have the same issue. My workaround is to lie in bed, count 1, 2, 3, 4 over and over again (in my mind) and try to focus on these numbers. My mind wanders away all the time but then I just try to get back to counting. Might sound stupid but I guess after a while of thought-speeding my brain gets bored and calm down. Works for me at least. Also no coffee after 4PM.

CoC_CRUSHER 9y ago
audiobook player w/ sleep timer
unicornporn 9y ago
That's actually what we do in some schools of zen when we do zazen. We begin to steady and stabilize the mind by counting the breath. We practice by counting each inhalation and each exhalation, beginning with one and counting up to ten. Inhale — at the end of the inhalation, count one. Exhale — at the end of the exhalation, count two. When you get to ten, come back to one and start all over. The only agreement that you make with yourself in this process is that if your mind begins to wander — if you become aware that what you’re doing is chasing thoughts – you will look at the thought, acknowledge it, and then deliberately and consciously let it go and begin the count again at one. It eventually stills the mind and will help you, or at least me (the few times I have trouble falling asleep), to wander into zzzzz land.
- icc97 9y ago
  Yes - I've come across the same breathing suggestions via Headspace.
- babuskov 9y ago
  > It eventually stills the mind and will help you I does still the mind, but I have a problem that it makes me even more awake. A couple of times I tried that I ended up going back to my laptop and working through the night because I felt like I gained so much energy.
  - 9y ago

shostack 9y ago

For me it is sometimes "excited to do stuff" but it also is often "life got in the way and I never got a chance to unwind." I really need to unwind before bed, and if I don't get that time to turn off my brain, I'll be up all night. So I stay up late until I feel ready for bed, but I'm screwed either way at that point.

teolandon 9y ago
Yeah seems like I'm still on the good boat where I'm not actually forced to be concentrated on something all the time, I just do it because I'm like that, and have free time to focus and obsess over the stuff that I like. Getting life in your way often seems to be way worse.

thirdsun 9y ago

I know what you mean - Luckily I usually feel this kind of energy and urge to do stuff in the morning while preferring to wind down in the evening (which, admittedly, may still involve screens). Maybe you could try to shift your tasks to fit a similar schedule. Use the evenings for thinking, reflecting, planning and theoretic concepts, preferably with some music, while executing those thoughts and ideas in the morning.

closeparen 9y ago

Ritual helps me shut down. Power off the computer, make tea, curl up on the couch and read, brush teeth, etc. Going from 60 to 0 instantly is never realistic.

bigbugbag 9y ago
Tea has caffeine, IIANM regular caffeine intake has long term effects on sleep.
- petropolisful 9y ago
  Herbal teas often consumed at night don't normally contain caffeine.

sleepeejoe 9y ago

Save the game! I had the same issue because I was terrified of forgetting things...so I've started taking notes and reminders for the following day(s) in order to resume the mental processes. Even a to-do list using todoist would free you some CPU cycles and will make you sleep better.

hawski 9y ago
But the game plays further in my head even after I shutdown the computer or write down the last note. I often find myself above a piece of paper that I wanted to scribble on, but my mind jumped and run around much faster than I could even start to write anything.
- trajektorijus 9y ago
  I just count my breaths to 10 to stop the endless thoughts from coming up. 1 while breathing-in, 1 while breathing out, 2 - in, 2 - out, 3, 3, 4, 4, and so on until I reach 10, then I start over from 1 again. If you do this for long enough, at some point your brain will learn to do this automatically. If that's the case. Increase the difficulty. Count to to 10 then back to 1 then back to 10, etc... Or count in multiple languages. This helps me to put myself to sleep (to stop endless train of thoughts) all the time. Of course, sometimes, you need to think things through. You need to learn to recognise when this need is present and give yourself into the reflection. What's so good about this technique, is that even when I reflect on stuff, I know that whenever I notice that the reflection is no longer meaningful, I can just switch the thinking off anytime by using the technique... Hope this helps.
- Cthulhu_ 9y ago
  Take up less things at once, or, try and focus on one thing, preferably finishing it at the end of the work day. Divide your tasks up into smaller, achievable subtasks, check it off, save the rest. It's okay to not do everything, you can't.

suneilp 9y ago

I find getting rest, along with better diet and exercise, makes it easier to learn and do additional stuff outside of work. Flux is great for the blue light issue and cheaper than sunglasses. I've found music that makes thinking and relaxing at the same time before bed much easier.

kutkloon7 9y ago

After I noted that I start making errors when I work late at night, I have learned to stop working at a reasonable time. For the times that I do work late, a red-light filter and adjusting the brightness of my screen to the minimum do wonders.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

tintor 9y ago

You can use F.lux program to automatically remove blue light from the screen in the evening / at night.

sundvor 9y ago

I'm right there with you on not feeling like I'm done with the day. After my son goes to sleep I a precious few hours to myself, of which chores takes a fair chunk - so I might have only one hour of "me time" if I go to bed when I should. So often, that 1 hour is pushed out a wee bit. Brain works much better on at least 7 hours though, but that time at the end of the night is really my sweet spot and I savour it like nothing else. At any rate, I find reading using the Kindle app on my OLED device (S8+ or S2 tab) with bluelight filter enabled (native filter on S8, app on S2 tab) with lowest brightness (white text/black background) to be great. I'll start off with a bit of sci-fi, and if it gets too exciting I'll then switch to something less exciting - e.g. continue my work on the blue book (DDD) or something like that. ;) Lifting weights in the gym also helps (e.g. 5x5 stronglifts), and not just for sleep either.

laughfactory 9y ago

This is me, too. My wife complains that it's like I'm trying to have two or three lives instead of just the one. But I know I need the sleep I'm not getting, but I have a really hard time, once the kids are finally asleep, just going to bed myself. When everyone but me is asleep it's so peaceful and quiet, and I can read, slay work dragons, learn stuff, or just veg. Unfortunately this usually results in maybe six low quality hours of sleep. And I pay for it in distractibility, moodiness, not as smart as I am when well rested, etc. But overcoming the size of deficit I've got isn't pleasant either. I actually feel worse much of the time. More tired, speak less clearly, slow thought... It sucks. I probably just need to stick with it until my brain and body adjust and recover, but just haven't gotten to that point yet. My growing concern is that not enough sleep and poor quality of sleep can literally, indirectly, kill you (via things related or compounded by lack of sleep). Yikes! I'd like to grow old with my wife, and see our kids grow up. So... Gotta beat this problem somehow!

therein 9y ago
> When everyone but me is asleep it's so peaceful and quiet, and I can read, slay work dragons, learn stuff, or just veg. Unfortunately this usually results in maybe six low quality hours of sleep. And I pay for it in distractibility, moodiness, not as smart as I am when well rested, etc. ...I actually feel worse much of the time. More tired, speak less clearly, slow thought... It sucks. Are you me?
- annnnd 9y ago
  No, he is me. :)
- tertius 9y ago
  I feel this way about getting up really early. It's a great feeling. And by around 9 I've made a LOT of progress. That feels even better...
  - voidz 9y ago
    I'd love to get a 9-5 sleep pattern. Sleep at 9pm, wake at 5am.

hvidgaard 9y ago

One of the things I believe people like you have great success with, is routine and wind down. Set a bed time, and 1 hour before that you stop everything that'll keep you awake. Put on some quite music, e.g. easy listen or classic, and do something benign. Some people draw, some knit trivial stuff like blanket patches, others meditate. The important thing is that it is something your mind will not continue to work on after you put it down. This really helps myself, and my children wind down and get ready to sleep, and my day improved 10 fold when I got this procedure down.

leastfixedpoint 9y ago
Well, I would die of boredom not doing anything interesting for a whole hour.
- hvidgaard 9y ago
  That is kinda the point.
Omnius 9y ago
I had huge issues falling asleep. I was unable to fall asleep before 1am and had to get up at 6am. So Monday - Friday was a downward spiral of sleep debt and all of stresses that come with that. I eliminated blue light (mostly) after 8:00 and it help slightly but within the margin of error. I then added 15 minutes of mindfulness meditation everyday at lunch. Nothing wooy just mindfulness. Within 2 weeks i was naturally getting tired around 10:00 and able to fall asleep in less than five minutes. Quit meditating (because its a pia to find the time, it shouldnt' be but it is) and sleep problems returned. I didn't even attribute my sleep improvement to the daily practice until i noticed my sleep was all messed up again. It works and its just 15 minutes. People's millage may very but it was life changing for me.
- hvidgaard 9y ago
  Good work, and pretty nice that something as seemingly simple as 15 minutes of mindfulness yielded great results. Are you fast paced in general? It is my experience that mindfulness enables the brain to put things away easier throughout the day, but it is really difficult the first week or so, because you actively have to let thoughts fly away.

jaggederest 9y ago

> I feel like I might need to seek some professional help on this, but I'll still take it as far as possible before that. Please don't wait. It took me years to get help, and sleep is very easy to fix with such a tiny amount of medical care. The doctor literally gave me a look like "You've tried to live with this for a decade instead of spending $40 and a couple hours to fix it at any point during that time?", gave me a prescription for a simple sleep aid, and told me to call him if that didn't work within a week or two. It could be that in your case, as in mine also, sleep schedule problems are masking something more important, like apnea, mood disorders, ADHD, or other issues. There's really no reason to suffer needlessly out of some misplaced sense of heroism.

driverdan 9y ago
Except that's not solving the problem, that's temporarily addressing the symptom. Hypnotics should not be taken lightly or for extended periods of time. Drugs may help at first but they're not the solution for sleep issues. You need to address the underlying problem.
- jaggederest 9y ago
  Seeking medical attention is the first step to addressing the underlying problem though. You need to get the rest you need in order to work on deeper issues.

Rotareti 9y ago

> It's the worst when I'm working on my computer, due to the blue light (I've started wearing yellow sunglasses to minimize the effect) If you are on Linux you should have a look at Redshift[0]. It allows you to adjust color temperature and brightness via command line. During daytime I put more blue and brightness into the screen, depending on the weather outside (5000K-6500K, 70%-100% brightness). I do this once when I start working. When it gets dark outside I turn the values down to something like 3000K-4000K and 50%-70% brightness, depending on the amount of light inside the room. This relaxes your eyes and puts you in a better (less tensive) mood, especially at night. Redshift really became essential to me. [0]:http://jonls.dk/redshift/ http://jonls.dk/redshift/

castis 9y ago
Also, if iOS, Night Shift: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207570 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207570 Almost everything else, Flux: https://justgetflux.com/ https://justgetflux.com/
- Rotareti 9y ago
  Flux looks interesting, but it doesn't seem to support brightness adjustment. I think it's important to sync the brightness of your monitor with the brightness of its surrounding.
  - Cthulhu_ 9y ago
    The Macbook and (I'm pretty sure) most modern laptops will also adjust backlight according to environment though.
    - Rotareti 9y ago
      But if you are using a workstation/external monitors you still gonna need it.
Philomath 9y ago
If you are on mac, you should check 'f.lux'. It will adjust the colors of the screen automatically to minify the effects of blue light.

lphnull 9y ago

My biggest struggle with sleep is existential anxiety. I'm not ready to "close" down the day and fast forward to the next day, so I "borrow" a lot of hours off my lifespan at a high interest rate just for the sake of making the "now" last a little bit longer. I'm not afraid to die. I just hate the mandatory fast forwarding of time.

kneel 9y ago

I've taken to excessive exercise to combat this. Really knocks me out at the end of the day and I wake up refreshed the next day.

taneq 9y ago

> It's the worst when I'm working on my computer, due to the blue light (I've started wearing yellow sunglasses to minimize the effect) F.lux?