How I doubled my sleeping hours (5 short tips)
My sleep anxiety has pestered me for as long as I remember.
There have been times when I thought I was going insane, and that I wouldn’t be able to sleep ever again.
When I went to sleep late, knowing that I had to wake up early, my anxiety went up to the ceiling. These were the worst days…
As you can imagine, it’s not easy to keep a regular job when you are not able to sleep well.
I’d had it with weird shifts and night jobs.
I wanted to be normal and meet people, during the daytime, without being too tired to even care about anything.
I wanted to be alive.
So I tried a bunch of things. And I’m happy to tell you that they worked, and now I wake up at 7 am feeling refreshed to go to my 9 to 5 office job.
I even got myself a girlfriend!
Life’s great, and I want it to be great for you as well, so let me share what worked with me so you can improve your life as well!
1. Meditation
What causes my anxiety is probably different to what causes yours, but they all come from the same source…
Your thoughts.
I always replayed in my mind everything that I had done wrong during the day,
Of course I also thought a lot about not being able to sleep, which is the dumbest thing to do...
But it's your mind, and you cannot make it stop it on demand... or can you?
Well, apparently that's what meditation is for!
I thought it was some hipster thing to reach a higher plane of existence or some other bullshit like that, but I was wrong.
Meditation is about managing your attention.
I'm not qualified to teach you about it, but I suggest checking out many apps that incorporate guided meditation.
Put on some comfortable headphones and let the app calm you down in bed.
2. Writing down thoughts
This is another very helpful thing to take invasive thoughts out of your mind. It's very related to meditation but slightly different.
Got something that's bothering you in your mind?
Just get it out. Write it down.
It doesn't solve the problem, but it takes it out of your immediate conscience, so it won't bother you as much for a while.
The funny thing is that, most of the time, when you read the next day what you wrote...
You won't care about it anymore!
We get hung up in small details that don't matter at all, and this is a great way to get rid of them.
3. Exercise
This is a no-brainer. If you are tired, you'll sleep better.
The only disclaimer is not to do it right before going to sleep, unless it's extremely low intensity, like some light stretching.
So find something fun to do, like playing baseball with friends, running, or going to the gym, and do a little of it every day.
Just get tired and you'll be fine. You don't need to do CrossFit or anything too crazy.
As an added benefit, if you've never exercised before, it'll help you feel (and look) better than ever!
4. Social media before bed!
This is harder than it should, but our electronic devices + the internet have turned us into distraction-seeking machines.
So turn down your phone, get a little bored, and feel the sleepiness creep in.
If you are sooo bored that you can't even sleep (sometimes it happens!) try reading a book instead!
Netflix didn't invent entertainment, you know? Pick a novel and get sucked up into a new world.
But don't get too sucked up or you'll stay 'til late to find out what happens next!
Pick something fun, but slow pace. Your progressively closing eyelids will thank you.
5. Weighted blanket
Didn't know these even existed. I thank the internet for bringing them to me.
All the other stuff is fine and necessary, but this gave me the biggest boost.
I don't know about the science of feeling hugged or all that, but I can tell you that when I tried this, I thought I was dreaming.
I fell asleep so quickly and deeply that when I woke up I was a bit confused.
I hadn't realized that I'd fallen asleep until I looked at the time on my phone.
This is the brand that I used, in case you want to try them. Highly recommended.
This is really an amazing invention, and if you pair it with the rest of the tips, I guarantee you will finally start sleeping for 7 or even 8 hours in a row.
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