So tonight at 10:30 I should have been tired. I'd been sleeping on the floor at my parent's house for the last 3 days with my 3 year old son (long story) and I was worn out. My own bed awaited me. An hour later all I could do was think about music and things I needed to do. So up I got and went out into "the studio" to rearrange furniture and prepare for a hole I'll be punching in the wall where we'll have some new construction coming through.

I know that a lot of you insomniacs post here when you're insomniating...but do you do anything else?

Wondering as I try to conjure up some sweet sleep.

np~
muzzle of bees
by wilco
from a ghost is born

work on a puzzle
job search
listen to music
strum my guitar
curse the sleep gods

peace,
zayne

np: 88's by the 77's

Mazzy Star and headphones

SportsCenter ... knocks me right out.

yoga and/or read. Doesn't knock me out, but gets me relaxed and less "thinky." If I'm super desperate for zzz's I'll break out the Tylenol PM.
~m

Um, last night I was originally going to go watch a movie with a certain married couple from the Orchard. Around 4:30 I realized I was tired from the whole weekend so I thought it'd be best to take a nap instead... Woke up around 2am and couldn't get back to sleep. Watched Vanilla Sky for the first time (not a bad movie, dunno why everyone dogged it so bad) then got to bed again around 4:30 for another 3 hour leg of sleep..

I've had crappy sleep for many years now. I used to sleep through anything, but since kids I am awake at all funky times.

What works best for me is melatonin. 1 to 3 mg is all it takes and it works like a charm.

zzzzzzz.

You know Steve, if you really have a hard time sleeping, you can always listen to some Hank Williams or Merle Haggard.

Benadryl works for me.

Ambien.

I also use a technique whereby I allow myself to fantasize about something I really want, but am afraid to hope for or expect. It could be anything from a dream job to a perfect relationship. Usually once I'm fully in the reverie of it, I usually slip right over.

Audiobooks with headphones.
Rain sound effects CD with headphones.
Antihistamines.

we're a buncha druggies.
`m

b_lachey@hotmail.com:

I agree (even though I'm no fan of Tom Cruise -- his smile really creeps me out sometimes). Although I thought it would have been utterly brilliant if it had ended about 10 minutes earlier when he was yelling for tech support.

Plus, I hear it was a total like, rip off of some other movie called Close Your Eyes...



As for what I do when I can't sleep; surf the net, watch movies, listen to music, and my favorite, read.

I tend to swing inbetween times where I can't sleep and times when I sleep too much. It's terribly annoying.

coldteablues:



I tried this once and it just didn't seem to do anything -- I didn't get to sleep for another 2 1/2 hours. Of course, the next day I was miserable, I had to fight all day to stay awake.

Sit down at the keyboard and write songs. But then I finally fall asleep and when I wake up I can't remember what it is I wrote/played. So many lost hits.... lol

Occasionally I do the same thing...but I learned my lesson and bought a cheap Radioshack tape recorder so I could catch that hit song before it floated away...

The sad part is, when I'm well rested and listen to it again, it doesn't sound so "hit" after all.

Yeah. I'm one too. Drug of choice is occasionally Nyquil...but only when I'm sick. Ok, once or twice when I wasn't sick...but I can stop anytime. I don't NEED it. Look, I'm not taking Nyquil right now...I don't have a problem...

put on a cd, and follow the lyrics in my head. It's kind of like counting sheep.

Another one I used this summer, and which was really fun and pleasant, was translating stuff into Spanish. Just random stuff. Cool.

xanax or benedryl when I must sleep. reading, movies, painting (even though I'm not very good at it), cleaning, knitting, going for a drive, or whatever strikes my fancy at the time when it doesn't matter if I get up in the morning or not. I really am a night owl, insomnic, whatever.

Turner Classic Movie channel is my drug of choice if I'm up late and can't sleep (like... uh, now!) They usually have some excellent movies on and they really know their stuff. Also- everything is undedited and there's no commercials. Too cool.

I like old movies... yeah.

cuss - i'm cussing at insomnia...

Don't take this the wrong way, but I listen to Over the Rhine CDs.

I won't take it in the wrong way if you won't.

I put a small amount of very high quality lavender oil on the backs of my hands, lay down to sleep in the dark, and think about having a nice conversation with someone

There's always the old standby - go outside and act like you're crazy. If the police are anything like they are here, one should shoot you with a tranquelizer within five minutes. Just don't act too crazy, or you'll be sleeping for the rest of eternity.

Herman Melville usually does it for me.

Seriously, if some deep breathing or dull reading doesn't put me to sleep, I'm usually screwed. It sometimes also helps to prepare an outfit or compile necessary take-alongs for the next day, and even when that doesn't work, I know I'm doing my exhausted next-morning self a big favor.

Good question!

Answer: Exactly what I'm doing right now. ;-)

I put on Hem's Eveningland, Beth Orton's Central Reservation, or Good Dog Bad Dog...sometimes I'm so crazy I still can't sleep through all of that, but at least I get some good music.

when i can't sleep i get a cup of tea, then find a book to read and if I'm lucky I'll fall alseep soon otherwize I'm up all night reading cause I can't put the book down.