The title of this post "Better Sleep with Noise" just might invoke a "Wait, What?" response from you. For all of my sleep irregularities, there is certainly one thing that has always helped me to fall asleep, and stay asleep compared to not using it, and that is: white noise. What is white noise? Well for our purposes, white noise is just background noise that your brain doesn't really focus on. The easiest way to get this is to just use a fan!
The sound of the fan blowing produces a static, background noise. You're brain (well, at least MY brain) doesn't focus on this, compared to say listening to music or the television. The fan also masks outside noises, so say that garbage truck in the morning, or someone else in the house making breakfast, or anything else that might wake you up if there was NO noise, the white noise lessens the sound of the other noise. This, in turn, helps me to fall asleep better by the background noise that it makes when I am trying to fall asleep, and it helps to give me better sleep by being able to STAY asleep when a noise might have woken me up otherwise.
So, I really recommend getting one of those "box" fans, or something very similar. If the temperature is cold, you can just point the fan in a way that it doesn't really move air around, it's just making the noise.
That said, if you remember my last post about Better Sleep with Exercise that night I slept really, really well! So well in fact, that I slept for about 9 hours! Now, that may have had something to do with the fact that I hadn't gotten hardly any sleep at all the previous night, but still I slept really good.
The following day I didn't go for a walk, but I was out at a backyard BBQ most of the day. I ended up not being tired until roughly 4am again, and woke up tired today. Take that for whatever it's worth!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Exercise: Something I've Used to get Better Sleep in the Past
Well it should be of no surprise, after my post last night, that I didn't get that much sleep. I ended up falling asleep sometime after 4am, and then getting up early meant I didn't rest much. The day was a drag, but thanks to my friend caffeine, I persevered.
As I laid in bed last night wondering "why can't I fall asleep?" I started thinking of some of the things I've done in the past to help myself get some much needed rest. The first thing that came to mind was: Exercise. Hey, it's that other thing I don't really do much of, but need! Yes it's true, I don't exercise much nowadays, which is funny because I used to be so heavily into it just a few short years ago.
I do remember that when I got regular, moderate exercise, it certainly improved my sleeping patterns. So, the first of my sleep tips is: Exercise. You definitely don't want to go overboard right when starting out, but just getting active, get moving, and you'll not only feel good and feel like you have more energy during the day, when it comes time for bed, you'll get a good nights sleep and sleep better than you have been!
That in mind, I went for a long walk today. Hey, I say not to go overboard right when you start out! A good long walk was appropriate for me, being that I haven't done much physical activity at all lately, and it felt great! Hopefully, I won't have any trouble sleeping tonight. :)
As I laid in bed last night wondering "why can't I fall asleep?" I started thinking of some of the things I've done in the past to help myself get some much needed rest. The first thing that came to mind was: Exercise. Hey, it's that other thing I don't really do much of, but need! Yes it's true, I don't exercise much nowadays, which is funny because I used to be so heavily into it just a few short years ago.
I do remember that when I got regular, moderate exercise, it certainly improved my sleeping patterns. So, the first of my sleep tips is: Exercise. You definitely don't want to go overboard right when starting out, but just getting active, get moving, and you'll not only feel good and feel like you have more energy during the day, when it comes time for bed, you'll get a good nights sleep and sleep better than you have been!
That in mind, I went for a long walk today. Hey, I say not to go overboard right when you start out! A good long walk was appropriate for me, being that I haven't done much physical activity at all lately, and it felt great! Hopefully, I won't have any trouble sleeping tonight. :)
Did I Just Sabotage Myself?
So it seems that my whatever governs my sleep must have found out that I'm complaining about it. Relatively soon after my first post, I started getting very tired... It must have been all that talk about sleep! I ended up taking a nap for about an hour.
Here it is, hours later, a bit after 3am... and I'm still awake. It makes sense, I slept earlier so I wouldn't be tired now, so maybe that's the first sleep tip, don't take naps! lol. I know, what can you do when you just feel so run down, you can't focus or concentrate on anything.. a nap just seems perfect. Let's hope I can still get a good nights rest sometime soon...
Here it is, hours later, a bit after 3am... and I'm still awake. It makes sense, I slept earlier so I wouldn't be tired now, so maybe that's the first sleep tip, don't take naps! lol. I know, what can you do when you just feel so run down, you can't focus or concentrate on anything.. a nap just seems perfect. Let's hope I can still get a good nights rest sometime soon...
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Why Don't I Sleep Better? or, My Misadventures with Sleep
Ahhh, sleep. That thing we're supposed to do about one third of our lives. I say "supposed" to do, because it's seems like it's always been a struggle for me to get a good nights rest. There are times when I just absolutely can not fall to sleep at night, and then there are times where during the majority of the day that's all I want to DO is sleep! I'm often left wondering what is wrong with me, and why I can't get better sleep.
When I was young I had a friend that would sleep for what seemed like 12 hours every night. He never watched Saturday morning cartoons, because he was still sleeping. I, on the other hand, would only get a few hours of sleep, and be up early and then just veg out in front of the tv. It's not that I really wanted to watch all the those cartoons (hey, I was young, I wanted to watch SOME of them) but it was really just the by product of being awake too early, and there was nothing else going on.
As I got older, my sleep patterns changed a bit, but there was always a reoccurring theme: I just didn't get a good night's sleep on a regular schedule. Sure there where times where I DID get good sleep, but it wasn't regular. I didn't think much of it till later in life when speaking with friends and girlfriends that they never really much had problems with sleeping.
Now, don't get me wrong, It's not like I have horrible sleep, or a medical problem. (yes I saw a couple of doctors and they did tests and said there's nothing wrong with me) It's just that I can not seem to consistently get a good 8 hours of sleep, on a regular schedule. Sometimes I'll be awake for 20 to 24+ hours, just because I can not fall asleep. I'll lay in bed, with a fan on for some white noise, totally dark, and just LAY there, never sleeping. I'll eventually get bored with just laying there and get up to do something. Hours later, I'll get tired, and then only sleep for about 6 hours! It just doesn't make sense!
I've searched high and low for sleep tips on how to get better sleep. Some have worked pretty good for me, some haven't. I decided to write this blog just to talk about them, share them, discuss them with others, and to just talk about my weird sleep patterns in general. I know I can't be the only one out there like this!
When I was young I had a friend that would sleep for what seemed like 12 hours every night. He never watched Saturday morning cartoons, because he was still sleeping. I, on the other hand, would only get a few hours of sleep, and be up early and then just veg out in front of the tv. It's not that I really wanted to watch all the those cartoons (hey, I was young, I wanted to watch SOME of them) but it was really just the by product of being awake too early, and there was nothing else going on.
As I got older, my sleep patterns changed a bit, but there was always a reoccurring theme: I just didn't get a good night's sleep on a regular schedule. Sure there where times where I DID get good sleep, but it wasn't regular. I didn't think much of it till later in life when speaking with friends and girlfriends that they never really much had problems with sleeping.
Now, don't get me wrong, It's not like I have horrible sleep, or a medical problem. (yes I saw a couple of doctors and they did tests and said there's nothing wrong with me) It's just that I can not seem to consistently get a good 8 hours of sleep, on a regular schedule. Sometimes I'll be awake for 20 to 24+ hours, just because I can not fall asleep. I'll lay in bed, with a fan on for some white noise, totally dark, and just LAY there, never sleeping. I'll eventually get bored with just laying there and get up to do something. Hours later, I'll get tired, and then only sleep for about 6 hours! It just doesn't make sense!
I've searched high and low for sleep tips on how to get better sleep. Some have worked pretty good for me, some haven't. I decided to write this blog just to talk about them, share them, discuss them with others, and to just talk about my weird sleep patterns in general. I know I can't be the only one out there like this!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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