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Here's a trick my coworker invented that helps me fall asleep: Spell the name of an author you like forwards, and then backwards, and then forwards again, and

• kzrdude 6y ago
  Why does this work? :)
  • faeyanpiraat 6y ago
    Three reasons: - it gets your mind off from the problems it would work on instead of sleeping - it is boring, so it will eventually escape the boredom by falling asleep - the time it takes to fall asleep gets shorter and shorter as it becomes a routine
  • Swenrekcah 6y ago
    If I were to pull an explanation out of my behind: I’d say this is a complicated enough exercise to keep you focused on it and not drift to other topics, yet so utterly boring as to not keep you awake in anticipation of what happens next. Then perhaps after using this technique for a few days your brain might start to recognize these neuron patterns as the shutdown sequence.
  • gwd 6y ago
    Sometimes the reason I can't fall asleep is that my mental engines are just too active. I'm not worried per se, there are just too many interesting things to think about. Sometimes in response I'll do prime factorization of numbers in my head. It requires focused attention, and is interesting enough that I can actually focus on it, excluding all the other things I was thinking about, but not so interesting that I'll fight sleep to do it. Sometimes listening to Chinese does the same thing: it's interesting enough to focus on (and exclude whatever else was keeping the "engine" going), but not so interesting that I'll fight sleep to pay attention.