Trick Yourself to Sleep

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Hi Warriors, have you ever been on the verge of sleeping. You feel tired and you get into bed, then right when you get into bed, you start become awake again?

You say to yourself, "Oh no...no...no... I don't want to stay awake for another 2 hours! Body fall to sleep now!"

But the more you try to force yourself to sleep, the more you mind powers up, and you panic and start to become more restless...

If this is the case, maybe this tip will help you get more sleep for the next working day. It's something that I do when I'm on the verge on going to sleep immediately or laying in bed for the next 1 to 2 hours wasting time.

When my body is feeling tired and needs its sleep, but more mind wants to stay up, what I do is pretend that instead of having 8 more hours of sleep, I only have 10 more minutes of sleep before I need to get back to working again for hours (no break).

No break? My body says, "No! I must have my sleep now!" Then magically, I start drifting back to tiredness again. That's how I kind of use reverse psychology to trick myself to sleep sometimes.

I'm sure you've also had those days where the alarm clock rings 10 minutes before it should and you immediately press the snooze button or your parent or spouse tells you to get up and you tell them 10 more minutes!

What you are really doing is savoring these 10 minutes of precious sleep before you go into a full day's of work again, so you shut your eyelids and roll back in bed.

That's what we're trying to do here - to trick the mind to using scarcity, or a scarce amount of time left before getting back to work. If you really believe in it right before you're body starts to become active again, you'll start to appreciate just lying there and letting your body rest.

So I hope this random tip helps. Try it out when you come across times where your body is tired and wants its usual 6 to 8 hours of sleep, but your mind wants to suck out an extra 1 to 2 hours of sleep from you by staying restless.
#mind warriors #sleep #trick
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    This reverse psychology to induce your self to sleep seems to be interesting.i always face this problem.whenever i try to sleep it becomes difficult.I have tried every thing from counting numbers to relaxing my body.I will surely give it a shot
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    • I always find that listening to some soothing music is enough to get me to sleep.
      If I am really wound up I will grab a boring book while listenin to the music.
      Seems to work all the time.
      Cheers
  • Hi, great tips guys. Different methods apply and work for different people. Thanks for sharing these going to sleep methods. To anyone else: feel free to post your "tricks" for people who have trouble falling asleep.
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    • I defo need help sleeping. I've ytied everything
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  • Reverse psychology that is a great trick to be playing on your own mind!
  • I use a self hypnosis technique where I imagine myself sinking deeper and deeper into the ground. It helps to relax my muscles and stop general anxious mental chatter.
  • lately I just cant sleep , even my fish tank wont work , I cant shut my mind down what so ever and keep tossing and turning. I am going to go buy that melatonin stuff and try that supplement. If that fails I am going to buy some wine and drink a bunch to make me sleepy.
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  • this sounds like something I'll really need to try out, I can't keep my mind quiet.
    Really annoying, constantly thinking of new ideas and stuff to try out (even when I'm talking to people lately :-s) meh I hope it'll be a "phase" or something haah

    thanks for the new idea,
    greetz,
    jobic
  • Have you ever had those moments where you're getting ready to sleep; part of your body feels sleepy and you're actually relieved that after an entire day of work, you will finally get some sleep? Then as you turn off the lights (perhaps you have a small light on in the room), roll into bed, and put the blankets on top of you, you wait for yourself to fall asleep...
    You look up at the ceiling and realize that the tiredness you had, the sleepiness you had, is in fact wearing out and now you are slowly becoming restless! "Oh no," you think to yourself, "What do I do?"
    This happens to me often and sometimes I get frustrated. The entire day I wanted to sleep but when the moment comes, I end up not wanting to sleep. Sometimes what I do is trick myself to sleep.
    What I do is, instead of turning off all the lights, I turn back all the lights on. I lie in bed and look at the lights. They are annoying but that's the point. It's to say that instead of lights turning off and the darkness representing sleepy time, the lights are turned back on and the light represents getting back up, when my part of my body is still tired. Then I pretend that the day is not over; that in fact, I only have ten minutes to rest instead of the next 8 hours before I get back to an entire days of work again.
    When I do this, my mind goes into an irritated mode. "I only get 10 minutes of sleep - what?" "I don't want to get up..." I go into a whiny phase and close my eyes, saying to myself, "I only get ten minutes of sleep, better make the best use of it." I find myself suddenly getting sleepier, as if how I would feel if I really only got ten minutes of sleep before going back to work. I wouldn't waste of minute of it.
    This mode is similar to one when waking up 10 minutes before school starts and realizing you have woken up 10 minutes before you usually wake up. You go immediately back to bed; no questions asked.
    It's also similar when you were younger and your mom or dad says, "Wake up!" You tell them ten more minutes... ten more minutes... and they say okay. You keep repeating that process with them five or six times. You're afraid of the ten minutes being over and you don't want it to be over, thus you make the best use of it going back to sleep, and each minute that goes by before you have to wake up feels so good.
    By doing this, you're sort of like tricking the mind using reverse psychology (but you got to really believe in it or it won't work!). You'll start to either look at the lights so long that consciously your eyes might start to close themselves naturally because of light irritation and subconsciously, you'll start daydreaming about random thoughts you had during the day.
    If this happens, you're body will follow up and soon you'll regain your tiredness again, falling back asleep. So that's it. That's my trick to tricking yourself to falling asleep and I hope it find it useful for those times where you're on the verge of sleeping, but your body wants to stall for another 2 to 3 hours being awake in bed.
  • Meditation exercises and yoga are good ways of falling asleep right away. This not only make the body feel at ease but also frees the mind of worries and stress that were experienced throughout the day.
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    • A gratitude meditation at the end of the day will relieve any stress and anxiety that will keep you awake. If you find yourself drifting off and then waking up, stay there, lie in bed and start naming things to be grateful for. Do it stream-of-consciousness, but without any urgency to name everyone/everything. Nice and easy, gently, thoughtfully... and be sure to focus on things that annoyed you, irritated you, hurt you, frustrated you, challenged you and stopped your progress. These are so, so valuable in terms of self-awareness, lessons and guidance. Remember, nice and slow, name off things you're grateful for and why. This will release any stress you feel about 'bad' situations and as your mind relaxes, so will your brain and body.

      Sweet dreams!
  • Hi Tristan Lee, you are on to something here! For many years now research has been under way on treating sleep disorders with something very similar to what you describe. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a relatively new therapy for insomniacs. Rest well!
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    • The trick is a great idea to trick our mind to sleep. I have not thought of this before and it is something that is worth trying. I wrote an article on 10 tips to help you sleep better and maybe fellow warriors who are suffering from bad sleeping habits will be interested in it.

      How to have good sleeping habits
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  • So difficult to sleep when you are reading internet marketing forums
  • I just use sex to fall into a deep careless sleep

    Igor
  • Thanks you guys for your thoughts. Everybody, except one person who managed to copy the original post as a reply, has pointed out some great sleeping methods here. I've enjoyed reading your different ways to going falling asleep before bedtime. I've offered one way, but different methods apply to different people. Feel free to share your method.
  • Lol, when i read on the bed, it makes me sleep. I guess I have some kind of book syndrome.
  • I have tried the reverse psychology trick and it works sometime Though I think I'm destined to be an insomniac, I never fall asleep before 1am. It's sad really.

    There are some great tips here however, so I think I'll give a few of them a try and see how it goes.

    Angel
  • I usually read before go to bed and drink a glass of warm milk can help
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    • whats been working for me is to lie down in bed with my ipod... i then close my eyes and listen to an audiobook - any audiobook... the lights are closed and i just listen to my audiobook. I fall asleep fast using this technique every single time... its amazing. highly recommended
  • good trick. For some reason I have a harder time falling asleep in the weekdays vs. the weekends.
  • I don't have problem with sleeping. When I want to sleep, In just minutes I can sleep already.
  • Clear your deck(brain) by writing everything on your mind down on a piece of paper, then lay down, and close your eyes. Always works for me.

  • Wow, I've used exactly the same method before. I once did an 18 hour work day of physical labor. I don't think I've ever been as tired as I was after that.

    Often when I can't sleep I try to remember how I felt then and drift off to sleep.

    Another trick is to picture the words 'IN' and 'OUT' and breathe in and out while you see them in your mind. This takes some practice because your mind starts to wonder off but that's ok...just say to yourself "Ok, my mind is wondering", and then return to 'IN' and 'OUT'.
  • I like that reverse psychology Tristan, will give it a go!

    I need to resolve matters in my mind before sleeping. If I have a concern about work, or my partner etc. I need to talk about it calmly with partner or friend, and that helps me clear my head. Then once I have talked, I can put it in an imaginary box which I will deal with tomorrow, and forget it.

    I also like yoga movements to help me wind down. Forward bends, just easy cross legs, going forward on several cushions, quietening the mind helps. And also, legs up the wall. Put your buttocks on a pillow with legs up the wall. If your hamstrings are tight, come away from the wall a bit with the pillow, keep pelvis flat.
    Relax your arms, and body. This pose is relaxing and might help to unwind.

    Also, avoid too much exciting TV before bed!
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    • I will also give this a go.
      Another technique that works quite well for me (when I remember to use it!) is one from my Mother.

      She always said that just lying there with my eyes shut was getting good rest, so not to worry about not falling asleep. That in itself helps to take away the pressure to fall asleep, which makes falling asleep creep up on you!
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  • I always have had problems with sleeping and trying to sleep. I think this will work for me because I have observed that when I don't plan to sleep I am able to sleep right away. So maybe I could trick myself that I am not yet sleeping. Hope you get my point. Anyway, great idea!
  • I don't want to have a deep sleep because I don't like to have an Inception kind of dream.
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    • Tristan, I agree that it really does work! I just did that this morning, in fact. Funny how, when you know (or *think*) you only have 10 minutes left to sleep, your body really cherishes those 10 minutes.

      Now, if I can just get over this problem: when I know I absolutely have to get up at a certain time, and I wake up throughout the night, afraid I'm going to oversleep.
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  • i have no problem going to sleep at all. But, if I wake up in the middle of the night, then I'm awake and there is a problem.
    One of my tricks, and you may find it very weird but it works for me:
    In my mind I start taking inventory of my kitchen cabinets. Start on a top shelf and think of everything that is there. It bores me so badly, that I fall asleep nearly before i finish the first cabinet!
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    • That's a good one. My friend tries to sleep by thinking he's playing basketball and just shooting hoops.
  • What I do is imagine myself on a peaceful warm beach and I hear the rhythm of the waves on the shore and I slowly drift off. Works every time.
  • If I cannot fall asleep at once, i start reading some book. That helps)
  • i think about my old memories and it works gr8,but i will try your trick too
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  • If i feel so then i read some books or i do meditation and for me that is like bliss and i will get sleep. but now a days i get so tired working and playing with my kid i don't need to do anything.
  • Well it used to happen most of the time to me earlier that the moment i used to hit bed , my sleep would vanish , but then off lately i have started reading while in bed and thus when i fell asleep , even i do not come to know about it
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    • I learnt a lot from Kacper M. Postawski. He has an ebook on the subject. It quickly helped me recognise why I was now sleeping for around 8 hours when 5 hours used to be enough (HINT: Sunlight exposure, exercise and going to bed/getting up at the same time every day). One technique he teaches for falling asleep when your mind is racing I find really effective. Instead of trying to resist the thoughts popping up in your mind try to let them come, and then just slow them down and repeat them slower and slower. Like if you are thinking "I really need to sleep now" just repeat it but now think "Iiiiiiii reeeeeeeeaaaaaaallllllllyyyyyyyyyy neeeeeeeed...". For me it never takes more than 1 or 2 repetitions before I'm off to dreamworld

      Does this happen when you know you have an alarm clock set as well? I used to have this sometimes but only cause I didn't set an alarm or didn't thrust it to wake me.
  • I also know some "Effective" method if you'r having insomnia.

    1) Masturbate yourself until you are tired.
    2) Inject Heroin into your butt

    Cheers
  • Haha. This is funny. I don't think this will work for me, but may give it a try. Deep breath works pretty well for me.
  • Dr Hew's ho'oponopono practice of reconciliation and forgiveness is useful when you have alot on your mind to put you in a more spiritual place to relax, Also I find counting back from 100 can help unwind my brain after a heavy day of thinking, I very rarely make it
  • Aww man this is something I have struggled with a lot since going full time in IM. There is always a project, always an e-mail, always a list of things that could be done right then and there.

    One habit I need to break is having my phone and laptop in the bedroom with me...my girlfreind will be sounds asleep as I continue working into the night until I feel tired...and that just doesn't work.

    So far today I've been working 11 hours, but when your in the right mindset the fatigue doesn't set in like it should.....

    I will try this technique tonight....and maybe a nice glass of wine will help as well. =)

    Thanks for the post though...you've given me hope!
  • Yoga is one of the reasons why I slept well, because it lets me stay away from stress. but when I go to sleep, I imagine myself that I'm in a open field with fresh air, lying in the grass and watch the beautiful sky above, which also makes me sleep well without any troubles.
  • Just think you are the boss of this world . You have no boss, no obligations, no assignments. It makes you tension free. This makes you tricks to fall asleep.
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  • nice idea JakeRhodes
  • I have heard about it.infact if u say yourself that i am not going to sleep tonight them you are dragging yourself to sleep.
  • Wonderful tip Tristan, I will most probably have to apply it tonight
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  • A tick I use that helps me is that I "pretend" to sleep. I simply imagine that I am in a dream, any type of dream, and that it is a lucid dream that I can control somewhat. As I am experiencing adventures in this dream world I end up falling asleep for real.
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    • I often do the same thing -- sometimes if I imagine myself walking around a particular area or talking to someone I know, that becomes the subject of my dream. It's pretty neat
  • I just lay in bed and start watching TV, puts me to sleep almost everytime.
  • I'm still having trouble....went to bed at 12 last night....up by 4:30am with no sleep in sight.

    Been a productive morning though so far!
  • I read books to get myself to sleep. I love reading. It's just that I will become calm and relax after reading book.
  • Great post Thanks. For me A hot cup of chamomile works great.
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    my trick is, do not think how to fall asleep just enjoy your pillow, the smell and the softness.. the silent.. you will fall asleep without you notice
  • Hey,does it really works?I am thinking to try it out.
  • Good tips in this thread. Very informative.
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  • nice trick,,
    I like to play some kitaro instrumen like koi..
    it help clear my mind and help me in sleep well!!
  • will surely try this next time if in the same condition but i don't think will help everytime...
  • Good to know another trick. I find telling myself it really doesn't matter if I sleep or not, after spending time tossing and turning, also works. Again a form of reverse psychology. Plus I often find my best ideas come when I am just about to fall asleep, the old trick of writing them down seems to work for me.
  • Lolol. That is a great way to approach sleep. Nice.
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  • What I have found that this thread is one of the Top-10 threads watched in this category within the Warrior forum....Certainly Sleep disorder is one of the common issues, IMers are facing day in day out....
    But I really liked the trick...will try to follow the trick to myself.
  • Reading in your bed is always good
  • Just faced the issue after a full night of work. I went to bed at 12 AM exhausted but too excited to sleep. I end up moving for 2 hours in my bed and then sleep for 3 hours and wake up. Feel like i lost quite a bunch of time.
  • Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts on sleep disorder. Will try the reverse psychology tip and after a week..
  • This seems very interesting, it would definitely explain why you seem to fall asleep quick with a 10 minute snooze before work. I would love to give this a try.
  • When i was a kid my dad have had always told me that when i want to sleep just count the numbers from 1 till you fell asleep, till now I can't remember whats numbers I end up with when i fell asleep.
  • Relaxing is the only key. Don't think of anything else. Keep your mind from any thought and close your eyes. Before you know it, it's morning or your'e late for work or school. Treat your body some sleep.
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    Trick Yourself to Sleep

    Hi Warriors, have you ever been on the verge of sleeping. You feel tired and you get into bed, then right when you get into bed, you start become awake again? You say to yourself, "Oh no...no...no... I don't want to stay awake for another 2 hours! Body fall to sleep now!"