UKC

Switching my head off...

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 Ridge 27 Dec 2013
Prompted by laying awake listening to the house creak and make funny knocking noises, and the tinkle of the greenhouse door being blown off, and finally sitting in the dark waiting for the power to come on.

How do people switch their heads off at night? I used to lie there thinking about work, but I've made a resolution not to as that would probably put me on less than minimum wage when I add up the hours put in. So last night it was listing the potential causes of the noises in the loft and what might be needed to fix them, which led onto how I'm going to make a new set of garage doors as my next job, and how best to measure them up, how much wood I need, the best way to cut 4.8m lengths to maximise how much wood I can use.. and roll over, fluff the pillow.

I'm certain that was the greenhouse door, so assuming I can find it what's the best way to re-hang it? It's obviously been pulled off the runners, so maybe I can cut some lengths of steel, or maybe aluminium as it's an aluminium greenhouse, and hook it over the track, and maybe drill the frame to fit a bolt to lock it in place, and do I have spare glass in the shed or should I cut some plywood...but now I'm thinking about an argument I had with the previous Mrs Ridge 20 years ago and how I could have handled it better...

But now it's daylight and the power's back on, and I've a list of jobs to do, so all's well. But what about tonight? If I was more focused I'd have cracked cold fusion or cured Alzheimers in all those hours in bed with my brain running faster than it does when I'm up and about. But I'm not focused, it's just mental babbling. So, UKC ponderers and insomniacs, how do you deal with the internal monologue in the night?
 Dauphin 27 Dec 2013
In reply to Ridge:

Couple of snifters, knocking one out, or ninja sleep breathing technique. Breath in for a count of 4, hold the breath for a count of twelve, exhale for a count of 4. Repeat. You won't last ten minutes before your up for the roost.

Schlafgut.

D
 chris fox 27 Dec 2013
In reply to Ridge:

I'm a shiftworker so my sleeping pattern is all over the place, i've tried everything, I've even tried with my eyes closed picturing the place to be dark. Your eyes still see specks even when you think it's back (that didnt work).

Try to think of a scene that calming and relaxing (hence why the counting sheep scenario - not only do you see sheep but they are in a green field and blue skies ! if that fails then Like Ridge says, "Take Captain Picard to warp speed"
J1234 27 Dec 2013
In reply to Ridge:

I listen to Podcasts, the best for sending to sleep for me are Melvyn Bragg and In our time, they usually take such ostensibly interesting subjects and suck all the joy out of them. 5 mins of Melvyn and I`m sleeping like a log.
 sbc_10 27 Dec 2013
In reply to sjc:

> I listen to Podcasts

Second that idea.

I really do want to listen to them. There is an absolute wealth of information out there being broadcast. Usual case is that after 5 minutes ...zzzzzzzzzzgghhhh.
I wake up with the ipod out of charge and the headphones garoting me.
Try "Moneybox live" for petrifying banality.
Try "Something Understood" for a bit of metaphysical dreaminess. Thats maybe what you need.
Jim C 27 Dec 2013
In reply to Ridge:
Easy
I go to bed generally between 2:00 am and 4:00 am and get up between 6:am and 6:30am workdays.

Weekends , I go to bed later and get up a little later, but I have a bad back, so generally, minimise the time lying in bed, as it makes it worse. ( I am a good Napper though)

But otherwise I sympathise, if I lie around, my mind races.

llechwedd 27 Dec 2013
In reply to Ridge:

Re: the 'mental babbling'.
Both the TV and my brain used to stop transmitting at a sensible hour in the olden days.
In the small hours these days my brain's tuning into all sorts of babble.
Some of it's due no doubt to middle aged aches and pains- rather than think about them, there's always a problem or plan to tune into as a kind of distraction therapy.
It's the purposeful thoughts that get in the way of sleep- complex projects- and trying to assuage worries etc so that you can sleep has the opposite effect.
Assuming all the so called 'sleep hygiene' stuff has been attended to, and the anti inflammatories etc, then it's often that trying to re imagine in detail a random day out alone on the hills from start to finish gets me off to sleep eventually.
Failing that, a half or whole temazepam.

 mp3ferret 27 Dec 2013
In reply to Ridge:

I'm another late night mental babbler. Unless I'm physically exhausted i have to fall back on tamazepam - but that's a rocky road to be heading down.
In reply to mp3ferret:

Does no one fall back on reading?
Sarah G 27 Dec 2013
In reply to Gordon Stainforth et al;

I read.....a huge amount! Over the years it has got to the point that I have to leave the light on overnight becuase I wake up lots, so I need to read again to stop the Voices.....and after reading for a bit and I feel dopey, turning to put the light out wakens me again.... When I go away to stay, I ensure I have a torch with me in case there is no handy reading light.

And this has been a recent discovery- it really is a brilliant but simple idea- I can read comfortably while on my back or side, now!

http://www.houseofbath.co.uk/shop/book-rest-cushion/cy692/product/details/s...

The plus side is that I know a lot of shit about of a lot of stuff.....the down side is that I have to be careful what I read because it often ends up in my dreams.

I'm currently onto Michael Woods' "In Search of Troy" again....and some railway-related books. Of course.

My loft is pretty much my "library"; I must have hundreds of books if not thousands. Every now and then I go up there and see what I haven't read recently, and bring it down, and take a couple of crates of books back up.

Thank God for books, say I.

Sx
 mp3ferret 27 Dec 2013
In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

I love to read - unfortunately it doesn't help me sleep.
 Dauphin 27 Dec 2013
In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

Depends. Tend to read for enjoyment and edification rather than to fall asleep. I find it doesn't help me switch off and I end up pulling an alnighter if I'm hooked on the subject or style of the writer. For similar reasons phone and laptop are left outside the bedroom. Too easy to follow a train of thought. On the other hand whenever revising for exams I find 2 or 3 pages of a text book enough to switch the lights out.

D
In reply to Sarah G:

That's really nice to hear. I'm fearful that an increasing number of people think they know a lot, and then spew shit, about very little.


> In reply to Gordon Stainforth et al;

> I read.....a huge amount! Over the years it has got to the point that I have to leave the light on overnight becuase I wake up lots, so I need to read again to stop the Voices.....and after reading for a bit and I feel dopey, turning to put the light out wakens me again.... When I go away to stay, I ensure I have a torch with me in case there is no handy reading light.

...

> My loft is pretty much my "library"; I must have hundreds of books if not thousands. Every now and then I go up there and see what I haven't read recently, and bring it down, and take a couple of crates of books back up.

> Thank God for books, say I.

> Sx
In reply to mp3ferret:

> I love to read - unfortunately it doesn't help me sleep.

The main point for me is not to help me get to sleep, except very indirectly. I.e If your brain is still racing and you can't get to sleep, it's hopeless to try and fight it and *try* to get to sleep. You may as well read. That, with luck, will take your mind away from present preoccupations, and force you to do brainwork in another, isolated direction. Suddenly you'll feel genuinely tired again and put out the light. Usually works for me.
 Kemics 27 Dec 2013
In reply to Ridge:

My mind is usually wired for some reason come bed time. The best thing ive found is from yoga, where you systematically relax your body.

So I start by 'sensing' my toes, try to relax them as much a possible. And then I work up my body, legs, core, back, arms etc. Trying to feel aware of each body part and let as much tension go. The face is amazing how much background tension I carry. So I think to myself "okay relax my jaw" ... even though it feels perfectly relaxed... and I find myself actually clenching my jaw. Then I consciously relax my brow... which even though it feels relaxed...is actually piled up in furrows.

Not only does this exercise occupy my mind from endless chattering but it also makes you totally relaxed. I can never complete more than 2 - 3 laps of my body before Im asleep.

 Nic 28 Dec 2013
In reply to sbc_10:

> Try "Something Understood" for a bit of metaphysical dreaminess.

Is it just me or is that programme completely off the wall? I am convinced it's actually some form of coded message carrier for various secret agents in the field..."Agent Smith, we have had 2 minutes on Adolf Hitler followed by a learned discourse on Charlie Brown...prepare to bomb the Russian Embassy!"
 Timmd 28 Dec 2013
In reply to Nic:

> Is it just me or is that programme completely off the wall? I am convinced it's actually some form of coded message carrier for various secret agents in the field..."Agent Smith, we have had 2 minutes on Adolf Hitler followed by a learned discourse on Charlie Brown...prepare to bomb the Russian Embassy!"

I like Something Understood.

 sbc_10 28 Dec 2013
In reply to Nic:

Cannot see Mark Tulley as the new 'M'.

This is the BBC description of the programme...
"Ethical and religious discussion that examines some of the larger questions of life, taking a spiritual theme and exploring it through music, prose and poetry"

...often mistook for the MI6 instructional handbook.

James Jackson 28 Dec 2013
In reply to Ridge:

Get so absolutely, completely, totally knackered that you just collapse instantly into comatose sleep every night.
 RuthK 28 Dec 2013
In reply to James Jackson:

is that by being parent to a toddler?
king_of_gibraltar 28 Dec 2013
In reply to Ridge:

Smoke a funky cigarette about 45-60 mins before the time you'd like to be getting to bed at. Cook but don't eat before you smoke though, otherwise you'll be too lazy to cook later on and will just be eating EVERYTHING you can just grab out of the fridge/cupboard into the night.
 Mark Morris 28 Dec 2013
In reply to Nic: Used to often fall to asleep to this, getting volume right so you don't consciously listen whilst not being too loud is the key. But yes, what a strange concept for a programme - thank you BBC and World service.

In reply to sjc:

Similar to podcasts, but I use radio plays on mp3. I've lost count of the number of times I've been through the 13 hours of the BBC lord of the rings series... If I wake in the night, I stick that on for another 50 minutes, and I'm usually asleep again after 10...

And, when a new tinnitus tone appeared last year, I created a 40 minute "soft rain falling on a tent" mp3 using PureData tool, and that helped mask both tone and thoughts.
 Chris Craggs Global Crag Moderator 29 Dec 2013
In reply to Dauphin:

> Couple of snifters, knocking one out, or ninja sleep breathing technique. Breath in for a count of 4, hold the breath for a count of twelve, exhale for a count of 4. Repeat. You won't last ten minutes before your up for the roost.

> Schlafgut.

> D

I often fail to get to sleep before 3:00 - as above my mind is on a whirlwind journey. Last night it was a 4:30 which is pretty rare by even my standards.
I thought I would try the Ninja technique - but trying to hold a breath for a count of 12 didn't work, by the time I got to about 4 I was spiraling away on another tangent.

Chris (knackered)

PS The one plus is that a really shite night's sleep is usually followed by a good one!

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