What are some productive things to do when you wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep for a few hours?
I’m looking for suggestions that zombie-me could follow through with. The problem is I can barely bring myself to get out of bed, let alone do a useful task. It just wastes typically 2–5 hours of my life as I wait for tiredness to finally (re)take hold.
Watching tool restoration videos used to cut my insomnia significantly, usually after one half an hour video I’d have a hard time keeping my eyes open.
Truth is I stopped having insomnia when I left the call center and turned my life around, so the real advice here is get help because it’s most likely a psychological thing
Save up a stash of Interesting audiobooks, podcasts for times you’re feeling like it’ll take an hour or more. (Not -too-interesting.) Boring ones once you feel like keeping your eyes closed.
I’ve found that listening to material I already know works best. If it’s new, then I pay attention, if I’ve already heard the story multiple times I zone right out.
30 min sleep timer and hardcore history of the Mongols works every time.
I did cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia years ago, and at the time had the same issue with waking up and then laying in bed for hours trying to get back to sleep. It led to a horrible cycle of anxiety about whether I’d be able to sleep, which of course made it harder to sleep. The most important rules are to try to go to bed and get up at the same time every day. If you’re awake in the middle of the night and can’t fall back asleep after ten minutes, get out of bed and do something quiet with no screens. I recommend hand washing dishes, dusting, or folding laundry. This is productive, calm and quiet, and boring enough that you will be happy to go back to bed when your body says you’re ready. When you start doing this, you’re going to be even more tired during the day. Just suffer through it, don’t take a nap and don’t try to counteract it with caffeine or other stimulants! That will only exacerbate the cycle of insomnia. I also recommend keeping a journal of when you go to bed, every time you wake up, and when you’re finally up for the day. You might find that you naturally wake up less if you give yourself a different bed time window.
Yin yoga is good for this exact situation. I do it without getting out of bed usually (husband is a heavy sleeper). I read somewhere “vigilance is the enemy of sleep” and that makes sense. Yin yoga is designed to calm your nervous system and I find it does help knock me back out. Try to let go of unhelpful thoughts, if you think you need to remember something for the morning place a rubberband around your wrist to make you notice and remember in the morning then let it go.
If it’s so late (early?) that you might as well get up, a morning run, jog, or walk as the sun is rising is a very encouraging activity. It feels so happy to see the new day born, and vigorous exercise in particular (so if you can run instead of walk, do it) is invigorating.
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