Healthy work/life balance

How to sleep:

Step 1. No phone/TV/screens in the bedroom
Step 2. No screens 30 min before going to bed
Step 3. Go to bed at the same time each night
Step 4. Set yourself up to actually get enough sleep

Try this for 6 weeks and then if you seriously still cant sleep discuss with a doctor.

You're missing the only one that actually works for me. Get up at roughly the same time every morning. I won't do it, but I should.
- There are alarm apps that can be set up to require taking a picture of a specific thing to turn the alarm off. I used one in college, where I had to take a picture of my toilet. Ten years later I still wake up around 6am every day with no alarm.
- my body forces me up around 6-7 for some reason and i wake up periodically throughout the night
  its a blessing when i want to be productive early because of things i didnt do the night before
  but its a curse when i just want some sleep for once.
  sometimes i sleep the whole night no problems and feel NICE in the morning but im usually ludicrously baked (more than usual) when that happens.
- I've always found that point odd because for me I can't sleep when hungry often my body's wake up alarm is getting hungry so all eating dinner hours before sleep just makes me wake up starved in the middle of the night so I usually eat as late as possible so I can have my more consistent alarm clock wake me up instead of my stomach
It seems obvious but also: don't drink anything with caffeine before bed and don't eat a good couple of hours before sleep too.
I've had many friends who'd have a tea before going to sleep to 'calm' them without realising most have quite a lot still. Or guzzling down a soda too.
- My mom at 9:30pm having a cup of coffee, complaining that she can't sleep without her pills.
- You shouldn't have caffeine within 10 hours of sleep actually.
Exercise more
- Lawyer up
- Invest in a decent mattress.
  They say that there's two things you don't skimp on: shoes, and your bed. You're gonna spend half of your life in one, and the other half laying on the other.
  I bought a nice mattress a couple of years ago during a clearance sale, and I would've paid full price for it even now. Best investment I've ever made, and I've had zero sleep issues since then.
I don't even need to do the no screens part. I try to read on my tablet before bed and end up passing out 15 minutes into it. It takes me months to finish books.
- Someone gave me the advice of actually not reading before bed, because your body will associate reading with sleep and make it more difficult at other times.
  I don't exactly follow it, but reading is definitely effective at putting me to sleep
Consistent sleep is the #1 sleep-related correlate of academic performance, even more so than duration or quality! Sleeping at the same time every night is incredibly important.
- I sleep from 12-5:30 every night and feel so much better than a solid but inconsistent 8 hours.
Moderate exercise for 20 minutes daily is also important for sleep regulation.
Although I will preface all this advice with the fact that if your natural circadian rhythm does not line up with the time you sleep your quality of sleep will always remain degraded.
How to sleep:
Go to bed when tired.
Masturbate.
thing is, this is basically just saying "just sleep bro", i can't do any of these things.
if i go without screens i will go mad from boredom, if i go to bed the same time each night i will lie awake in bed until i go mad with boredom or get up because fuck that noise, and what does "set yourself up to get enough sleep" even mean? that's terribly vague.
i have yet to find anything that lets me get even vaguely consistently good sleep, i've tried all the things people say to do and it does NOTHING if it's even feasible in the first place.
- Dude if you can't go without screens for 30 min you might have other problems.
  But try reading books instead. Should be enough to stop you going mad (hopefully) without messing with your sleep.
- Screens give off blue light, which your body uses to measure "daytime." If you cant do screen free activities before bed, install a color corrector that shifts your devices outputs to red dominant light ~1-2 hours before you would like to sleep.
  Break the habit of doing non sleep things in the afternoon in your bed. If the only thing you do in bed is sleep, it trains your brain to start internal sleep processes when you get into the sleep spot.
  If you havent tried it before, try exercising 1-3 hours before you want to sleep. Can be simple like a walk or jog, or quick and short reps of jumping jacks, crunches, and stretches. Whatever works. The workout helps burn off energy and other hormones that keep you up, tuckers you out a bit, and very very lightly damages muscles which gives your body a "reason" to sleep. You do most of your healing asleep.
  Sleepless rest is better than no rest at all. Lying awake for 2 hours and then sleeping for 4 does more for your body than just sleeping for 4 hours. Sleep is king, but even if you arent asleep, resting still helps your body recover. If you cannot sleep, try not to stress about not sleeping, because at least you are getting rest.
  On your off days and free time, there is no shame in midday napping. Often, people try not to nap out of fear it will spoil their sleep. Sometimes, those naps help you catch up on sleep to get you back into a healthy sleep schedule. And, again, any rest is better than none.
- What's happening with you when you get bored we tell people to stop using screens and coffee specifically because boredom is the goal you might need some medical attention if you can't sleep when bord
- I was about 45 when I found this:
  Sleep with Me Podcast
  Bedtime stories that bore you to sleep. It doesn't work for everyone, but it changed my life.
- Get sick and put on a shitload of meds, half of which are literal poison.
I can't drink coffee after like 2pm either. Sugar or other carbs before bed can also impact my sleep quality
- Same here on the carbs. I notice when I eat after 6pm it's going to affect me with either a not great sleep and the need for bathroom break(s) through the night. Low intake of sugar throughout the day I sleep much better and more soundly.
  When I did Atkins many years ago, it was some of the best sleep I ever had. It was like I was a teenager again that could sleep all day and night.
- I slept fine when working a flip schedule. I programmed my into body that we will be going to sleep after we get home from work regardless of the time of day.

"Literally everyone"

You keep saying that. I do not think it means what you think it means.

I don't get why it grinds everyone gears. Isn't it just an hyperbole? (y'know like for the hypersoups ¯(ツ)_/¯ )
- What bothered me about it was that they're stating it's everyone doing these things, but I think it's probably a small minority.
- It is hyperbole, but the problem is that it's using a word that was supposed to specify that something was not hyperbole as hyperbole, rendering it useless.
- I think because it's a pretty gross mischaracterization of the demographic? Usually hyperbole is used for effect to more emphatically illustrate a generally true or accepted point.
  The number of Americans who use nightly sleep aids is extremely low. Like, a vast vast majority of people never take them. I don't know anyone who regularly takes them, and honestly I don't know many who take them even occasionally.
  So this meme uses hyperbole to drive home the idea that Americans have a pill problem regarding sleep aids and no one in Europe does. I have no idea how the numbers shake out in Europe but I can say in America it is not as characterized. So it's less hyperbole (exaggeration of a fact) and more like a lie.
- Is that a LinksTheSun reference
Not literally literally, figuratively literally.
Figuratively everyone.
Hyperbole: A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in I could sleep for a year or This book weighs a ton.

Has no one in this thread never considered the root cause with these:

Anxiety. Americans are an anxious society. And that is with good cause, no social safety net, work 2 jobs to get ahead and a mass shooting every goddamn day.

Hey man, an entire society of people in survival mode is how a degree of essentialism is maintained
But what about all of the freedom?!? And bravery!?!

American here: I don't have any problems sleeping, nor does my wife typically, and I can't say that I know of anyone that takes a sleep supplement every single night.

I take meds to help me sleep at night. My crippling ADHD keeps my mind from resting without help. I'm on stimulants, but my last dose is at noon. Any later than that, and they'll just cancel out my sleeping meds.
- I set an alarm and wake up an hour before I wake up to take my stimulants. I take them then sleep for another hour. That's the only way they don't worsen my insomnia. And I'm in the smallest dose and I take it before the sun rises.
  I had severe insomnia before I got my stimulants and as long as I keep that very early regimen they don't worsen my insomnia.
- I have the opposite issue as I'm unmedicated for my ADHD, I can drink coffee at around noon and it'll quiet down my brain enough that it can help me sleep
Hi, I take Ambien nightly, and have for over a decade, now you know someone :).
Anxiety, stress, and modern blueish, bright lighting/screens are a huge part of the problem. Humans didn't evolve to deal with overstimulation in the evening.
I had insomnia and stress issues for years to the point I had a panic attack -- I thought I was having a heart attack or stroke. Dealing with the stress and light were major steps towards resolving the problem.
I cut way back on the news and doomscrolling to no more than an hour a day before noon. I set my house lights to dim down with the sun, and no TV, phone, or computer screens for at least an hour before bed. If it's unavoidable: dimming them and a blue light filter help.

Don't take NyQuil for sleep. There's an increased risk of dementia.

https://www.themedicalcareblog.com/anticholinergic-drugs-and-dementia-risk/

Boy do I have shitty news for you.

No caffeine or stimulants after noon. A considerable percentage shouldn't have it after 10 am frankly.

Try this: 1 week of no caffeine and no chocolate At least 20 minutes of exercise - can be split upper day Finish eating dinner and snacks by 7pm No gaming or stimulating entertainment 30-60 minutes before bed. Manage noise, light and other triggers.

Smart watches or similar are good for watching your sleep quality.

To the people downvoting this: why?
It seems like pretty common sense advice to me.
- Because they drink caffeine all day, snack all night, and browse on their phone for 2 hours in bed every day
- Because it puts some responsibility back on the individual and makes it harder for people to blame "modern society" or capitalism or something for their problems.

I don't need any sleeping aid to go to sleep at night. My secret is that I'm always tired.

Having a very physical job is my secret. Constant running around to grab stuff, lots of math in my head, running a saw for hours. My fiance says I fall asleep within 5 minutes
Ahh yes, a kindred soul.

An old timer saying is "The best sleep medicine is hard days work and a clean conscience".

Yep, maybe 3 pills tonight then
- Which are you skimping on? The hard work or the clean conscience? Although, old timers also took medicinal heroin and drank bourbon all day long
I have what Misty would consider to be an honest profession. But I get yelled at externally and internally all day every day for the most infinitely small matters all day every day. Even with a clear conscious, that hard day's work messes with my sleep.
I'm reassessing my life this fall. I'm pretty old, so new marketable skills aren't really an option. Not sure what the next step is.
(It's not where I work or who I work for. It's the industry in and of itself. When you've got direct influence over other people's personal finances, the darkest sides of humanity consistently emerge)
My job is all mental, and I mostly enjoy it, so working more makes me sleep worse. Lol

European here, we can't sleep either.

What troubles me is not the fact more and more people are requiring medication to sleep is the normalization of advertising sleep medication/supplements.

It's a serious disorder. Taken to extremes, it can kill. It's not something to be trivially dealt with.

I'm in Europe and I see melatonin gummy bears being advertised on cartoon channels. Straight to kids. Where are the toys commercials? Need to start hooking children to medication as early as possible?

It gets worse, further down that path of advertising meds direct to consumers. Your doctors will stop working with you and prescribing drugs they think you need in favor of waiting for you to tell them what popular drugs you want to try
- That doesn't happen in my country, as real medications are completely prohibited to be advertised; only over the counter and nutritional supplements are allowed. We have a very harsh and punitive supervisor on that front. Fines are high and hurt.
  This late laxing on allowing the melatonin gummies and similars airing to children is worrisome but it can be put down at any moment. Nonetheless, it should never had begun.

Yeah, I don’t know anyone who takes sleep aids every night. I take them when I want to knock myself out and have a day off the next day, but otherwise no one I know even seems to be aware of Zquil/etc
- I went through a brief period in college when I was taking a full load and working 30 hours a week. I needed to carefully plan my sleep schedule. I was taking sleeping pills to go to sleep right away and caffeine pills to get going, with coffee/soda throughout the day. Was it healthy? Absolutely not.
  On the plus side, I developed a new drink at the cafe I was working at, The Opener; for those 5am shifts.
  walk by coffee pots, start all of the machines.
  walk to espresso machine, pull an espresso shot into a regular coffee mug.
  set down all of my 'stuff'
  at this point espresso has finished
  take espresso mug back to coffee makers. At this point they are hot and flowing. Replace coffee pot with my mug.
  Once mug is topped off with coffee, replace coffee pot.
  Sip drink while turning on the lights and computers
or anybody in my friend group
I think that's the problem. People think their friend groups are representative, but they're not.

Melatonin is fine from time to time when my sleep schedule is fucked in all directions and I want to regulate.

NyQuil front time to time when I feel a cold coming on.

Nothing wrong with that. If you find that you need them to sleep that's likely not correct. They don't typically work fast enough to put you to sleep. They only ensure your sleep is better if there are extenuating circumstances

Does crying yourself to sleep every night count as "taking something?"

Yes. It's an endorphin release.

browsing supplements isle at Target. marketing designer gummies

https://www.target.com/p/olly-happy-hoo-ha-probiotic-capsules-for-women-supports-vaginal-health-and-ph-balance-25ct/-/A-81804784
- Ensuring the hooiest of has
That's so much
Ah yes, the placebo section. Like magic, the more it costs, the better it works.
- actually like one I've tried. bought some caps off amazon based on ingredients.
  L-theanine and GABA is good for my anxiety. placebo or not. have to read labels/fine print. They are asking about $20/jar at Target

What are you supposed to do? The noise and distractions are constant. Besides the only time I can get any household work done is after the kids go to bed.

People really underestimate the amount of time kids take. You may think you know, but it's a whole other thing to live it. Wake up to kids, get kids situated for the day, work, get the kids, feed the kids, play with the kids and take them to activities, bathe the kids, put the kids to sleep. Any time for anything for you/your spouse/the house happens after they're asleep. Sure, you can take them to the store but that causes headache. Sure, you can do housework with them around but if you're home alone with them they're more likely to be actively undoing anything you just did the next room over than to anything else.
Kids are a lot of fun, but they're also a lot of work.

I sleep without any of that idk what you're on about

Agreed. Don't need any meds to get me through my day. Man I can't imagine having to stretch my already tight budget even further for a regular perscription.
- Exactly I don't have the money to pay a subscription fee for sleeping

The trick is to force yourself to go to sleep at a reasonable time every night. Some people have actual problems that this won't solve, but it does wonders for most.

my body refuses to feel well rested unless i sleep until 11 at least. no matter what time i go to bed
- Just change the time on your watch back a few hours so what used to be 11am is now 7am (to you at least).
- I've heard that forcing yourself to wake up in the entire afternoon (from 5am!) do wonders to make you desperately want to sleep at 9pm.
Force yourself to go to sleep? How do I learn this power? I mean I can go to bed at the same time every night, if that's what you mean, but sleep is a different story lol
- Sleep every other day for a month like what I had to do when I switched from college to a 8-5 full time job.

I found an amazing cure for my insomnia. It's called 'being in your late 40s.'

Ironically, I developed insomnia right after turning 40... Went on a 6 straight days of no sleep couple of weeks ago. Thank goodness I'm also laid off...
- F
My forties have brought night sweats. If I don't set the AC to 63° I wake up just absolutely drenched in sweat, it's awful.
- Please talk of this to your physician, if you are healthy and have night sweats it could hide something bad. Happened recently with a friend. Could be nothing at all but better safe than sorry. Take care ;)
Like seriously my forties have been the worst I've ever slept. Thirties definitely my best sleeping decade so far from a restfulness perspective. Glad you're rocking it though. Gives me hope.
- Once I hit 45, I started going to bed at 8.

Weed puts me right to sleep, but I can sleep just fine without it

I'd recommend not using it too often for sleep. Weed tends to disrupt REM sleep. Rem is extremely beneficial as it plays a role in memory consolidation, emotional processing, brain development, and dreaming.
- No way! I've been using it daily for years, I haven't had issues with... What were we talking about again?
- But REM sleep gives me night terrors an I wake up screaming and thrashing. I use a glass of whiskey to keep the NT's away and I realize that isn't terribly healthy, but it keeps my fiance from being woken up/ bruised
- Yeah I don't smoke too often, really just weekends

All I usually need is a random YouTube video essay.

Got some channel recommendations? I'm about scraping the bottom of the barrel, even the home feed is only recommending videos I've already watched
- The really good ones you actually don't want, because it will keep you awake.
- SEA is my go to. It's all astronomy documentaries and are amazing while also being a snooze fest. He has an entire video of just videos to sleep too!
- Here are some I enjoy. All have a good voice, not overly expressively and no sudden change in background tracks. No sudden screaming/explosions/anything that will wake you.
  John Michael Godier Science/Speculative Scifi, Low Soothing voice, even has a sleep playlist.
  Issac Arthur Sci-Fi, Calm voice, Good background track, Long Videos
  Darth Gandalf Fantasy, Soothing Voice
  Forgotten Weapons Firearms, Historical and Mechanical overviews and indepth discussions. I recommend you skip the shooting range stuff if you're trying to sleep.
  Cool Worlds Science & Astronomy. Great Narrative Voice, Calm background tracks.
  North02 Science, Anthropology & Natural history. Soothing Voice, nice selection of long videos.
  Natural World Facts Deep Sea biology, excellent soothing narrations, very good soothing background tracks.
- Posy
  Not many videos but good
- EmpLemon is always great, Alt Shift X has some fun ones on sci fi too, but Id guess u know both already, still might as well mention them on the low chance u dont

- are you overclocking your fucking bed??
- You ever drink baileys out of a shoe?

You're likely reading this on a device that absolutely isn't helping the situation.

Dawg I haven't been sleeping my whole life. Like I'm only 20 and I can't remember the last time I laid in bed and just fell asleep easily. It's always tossing and turning since I was probably around 9

That was me before my adhd diagnosis, have you tried to look into why you toss and turn?
- Oh yeah I'm ADHD and that's why for sure but being diagnosed and medicated hasn't helped my sleep. Weed helps but I don't want to smoke every night
40 here. My whole life
- I was about 45 when I found this:
  Sleep with Me Podcast
  Bedtime stories that bore you to sleep. It doesn't work for everyone, but it changed my life.
I was about 45 when I found this:
Sleep with Me Podcast
Bedtime stories that bore you to sleep. It doesn't work for everyone, but it changed my life.

We are addicted to coffee. But not good coffee. Shitty Starbucks or Peet's coffee. Only a few of us truly live and drink small shop ethically sourced but we know that's for rich folks!

I really don't understand people who get coffee shop coffee every day. That's so expensive. Just make it at home.
- Just don't drink coffee.
- A simple cup of filter coffee is easy enough to make at home with cheap equipment, sure, but espresso/milk drinks are a different story, and some people prefer milk drinks to filter coffee. A decent home espresso machine that can also steam milk is gonna run you around $150 at the low end. Some people don't have that much laying around at once, but can afford the $3 cappuccino a couple times a week.
I do not drink coffee
Equator Coffee for life!
Got any coffee bean brand recommendations?
- Tim Hortons
  no joke, can't find a suitable alternative. I buy it by the box.
  I'm not even Canadian

Just gonna throw this out here:

Sleep with Me Podcast

Bedtime stories that bore you to sleep. It doesn't work for everyone, but it changed my life.

Some of you are city dwellers and it shows

Aw see this is the kinda love we need. Thanks Europe! Can you help us? 😭

It's gonna be OK, friend. It's gonna be OK.
There, there...
Mmm brains Mmm
I took a poll of indigenous cultures around the world and judging by my results no, the Europeans are not interested in helping

I think it's the traffic tbh.

I'm European yet still have insomnia

I'm American and use exercise to regulate my mental health and sleep and that makes people online hate me
- Nope, not that
- Good for you mate. I have no problem sleeping when I can go to sleep around 4am and wake around 12. Guess how well that works for me with a job and a family.
They sell melatonin and passion flower extract next to the fish oil and multivitamins in the supermarket over here where I live - not sure why people think this is just an American thing
- Melatonin is prescription only in a lot of Europe. In my country it is, but I got some for emergencies in Poland where it's not.

It's starting in Europe as well unfortunately :/

I just lay down. Ain't got time for all that other stuff

chemicals are all we are in varying concentrations

Those words don't make sense in that order Chinabot.
Well, unless you're trying to sound philosophical, which would make you worse than a bot.
- no you just don't have comprehension skills

me reading this at 11pm while making mac n cheese

Having just got 2-3 hours of sleep last night this hits pretty close to home

I just wanna fuckin sleep is that so much at ask ;_;

I mean….I think Americans are a tad overmedicated

I don't think CBD will do anything for their sleep

It can have a placebo effect. Like a glass of warm milk.
Cbd is the only thing that puts me to sleep reliably within 15 minutes of taking. I've tried melatonin with no effect, i've tried some other random stuff, CBD oil just works.

I'm in the picture, in the lower part. When I struggle to sleep, I put on a 15min podcast and only remember half or less when I wake up.

Fuck Europe, they pretend like they have everything figured out while racism, misogyny, homophobia and transphobia run rampant in basically every country besides, what, one Scandinavian country kind of? Italy literally has a blackface festival ffs.

Europe needs to sit the fuck down.

Blackface is a very American thing that lots of people in Europe don't give a shit about
- I'm curious what your point is, are you saying black face is only racist in the US?
We certainly have self-deprecation figured out, yes. And racism. I think we invented it. 💯👌💪
I get it, America does suck, but it becomes exhausting consistently being told how much America sucks.

Well when you have to work your entire waking existence...

My personal journey with sleep meds - I think it's a success

staying up all the time my sleep schedule keeps changing
start taking Seroquel
buy ear plugs and an eyemask
staying up all the time my sleep schedule keeps changing with weird side minor effects
get off of Seroquel
staying up all the time my sleep schedule keeps changing
more structured life and better habits
staying up sometimes and my sleep schedule changes sometimes and it's rough when it does
try melatonin - feels like it hardly does anything
covid lockdown hits - my PCP tells me about a study where ppl who took massive doses of melatonin had better immune systems
take massive amounts of melatonin
sleep schedule does better than ever!
do well on this for about 3 years
learn that melatonin likely effects your reproductive system
get off it and replace it with eating pistachios at night (which have an insanely high melatonin amount)
sleep schedule better than ever!
ween off of needing it every night
now I only need it on certain occasions, sleep schedule better than ever

Who told you to take Seroquel as a sleeping aid? I take it for mental illness reasons. Sure it knocks you out, but holy shit. I gave one to my partner who was having trouble sleeping one night, she woke me up to get me to ”make the clown go away”.
Definitely not to be used as a sleep aid.
- Who told you to take Seroquel as a sleeping aid? I take it for mental illness reasons.
  I've had two psychiatrists prescribe it as a sleep aid. I'm bi-polar. It had no effect when I was in my mid-20s. Many years later, it now knocks me out hard enough that I have a second script (halcyon generic) for when I need to drive in the morning because the seroquel leaves me hazy.
  I used to need halcyon to sleep, and a lot more of it. Bi-polar, as I understand it, becomes less-intense post 30s. I also take an antidepressant. I was off that for a few years before 2020 went to fucking shit and I'm still better off having it again.
- I don't know about seroquel specifically but low doses of multiple psiatric drugs do get used for sleep aids

Irrelevant but where's the scene depicted from? It feels so familiar I'm losing my mind.

American here.

I take delta 9 gummies every night. I ran out last month for a few days, I couldn't fall asleep. Even with, I wouldn't say it's good sleep either.

Drugging you brain isn't good sleep. Sleep is the time for a brain to clean up. Try something like meditation.
Is this normal? And if it is, why?
- It's the only time I'm not thinking about all the things. Things I failed to accomplish today, what I have to do tomorrow, what I want to do but will probably be to mentally drained to do, the constant stress of work, crippling loneliness. General just so tired.
  Once the stuff kicks in, all the noise stops. No longer burdened by it all. It's the few times I smile and feel somewhat happy. It's a lot easier to fall asleep.
- Oh, not 9 gummies. Would be more clear if I typed it as delta-9

There are also people in the other spectrum where without coffee they become super sleepy/tired, I'm one of them

Capitalism reached it's end point as profiteering and wealth extraction took over. I feel sorry for people that are renting now. It's like lose your job and you're on the street

said the pasty faced european https://www.google.com/search?q=%22pasty+faced%22+european