Can't keep your eyes open? (Writing and Sleep Discussion)

Have you tried melatonin supplements? I had the same problem here a while back, and one before bedtime helped regulate my sleep pattern again. It's inexpensive too.

Bartholomew said:

On a similar note, I've found that if you need a shot of "Wake-The-Hell-Up".... Eat two or three jalapeños and water your tongue to keep the fire blazing.

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Ai-ai-ai!!!

Do you have any tongue left???

Have you checked your bedtime routine? I didn't sleep well for a good year until we got a rocking chair (for the baby). My problem was that I would sit with my laptop in my bed right before bed and my unconscious mind came to associate the bed with work, instead of sleep, no matter how tired I was.

I switched to working in the rocking chair and within a week, the bed became the place for sleep again.

I also started a regular workout regime to get my body back into shape (gained almost 45 lbs. during the last pregnancy--yay! down to the last two pounds now and my size 4's fit ) That made a huge difference too in relieving stress.

It's been said that the bedroom should be used for no more than sleeping. You will associate this room with other things, work play etc. and it will effect your sleeping habbits.

When I was writing (I'm on a break...) I found liquor to really help me think and produce, however the later it got the more I'd drink and the heavier my eyelids became. Being a contact lense wearer, I had two battles to overcome...dry eyes and a drunken state of mind lol.

No, liquor shouldn't be necessary to get writing done, but it helps sometimes.

I'm currently dealing with insomnia myself, and going through "The Highly Sensitive Person's Survival Guide" which has a whole chapter on insomnia. Most of the advice was stuff I already knew--consistent bedtimes, time to wind down, etc.--but one thing that I hadn't heard before is that meditation is the equivalent of light sleep.

I have found if I meditate before I go to bed, it can help. (In fact, it reached the point where I associate meditation with going to sleep, which means afternoon meditation just makes me want to take a nap.) Lately, I've been trying to just focus on my breath when I wake up in the middle of the night. If I don't immediately fall back asleep, at least the time spent in meditation is more restful than tossing and turning.

Sarashay said:

I have found if I meditate before I go to bed, it can help. (In fact, it reached the point where I associate meditation with going to sleep, which means afternoon meditation just makes me want to take a nap.) Lately, I've been trying to just focus on my breath when I wake up in the middle of the night. If I don't immediately fall back asleep, at least the time spent in meditation is more restful than tossing and turning.

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I've found meditation to work well, too. And usually you'll wake up feeling even better than you would have otherwise. Just get yourself a good pattern (as in sequence of thoughts or an actual technique) and you'll begin associating it with sleep no matter where you're doing it or what else the room might be used for.

I had two hours of sleep last night. Went to bed as it was getting light. I hope it isn't the start of another bout of insomnia, because I've found nothing works for me if it is. (But I got loads of writing done - yippee!)

I'm going through a particularly rough patch of insomnia right now myself. I'm not sure why. I usually always have a touch of it, where it takes me forever to fall asleep, but now, it's taking me forever to go to sleep and when I finally do, I'm waking up every hour. My doctor says melatonin works well, but you aren't supposed to take it if you have a history of depression, which I do.

This makes me wonder if a lot of writers suffer from insomnia?

Southern_girl29 said:

This makes me wonder if a lot of writers suffer from insomnia?

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Not me, although I've got a headache today from lack of sleep. I just had to stay up and watch the last of a movie last night. And by all accounts, I ought to have nightly insomnia since currently my bed is the sleeper sofa in my living room and I do everything there from eat to play video games (because the computer's right by the bed). I even finally got a real bed and put it upstairs and painted the bedroom and everything--but I'm still sleeping on the old saggy hideabed. I'm just used to it, I guess.

I have had bouts of insomnia in the past, when I was stressed out from grad school and money problems, and I found that a rough-and-ready meditation (more like counting sheep than actual meditation) seemed to help. It gave me something to focus my restless thoughts on instead of going over and over the same worries.

I've been reading The Highly Sensitive Person, and one of the traits of high sensitivity is a tendency towards insomnia.

I suspect that many writers also have high sensitivity. Who knows--maybe that's the "it" that you need to be a good writer, as people have been debating.

I tried every insomnia remedy under the sun, then two years ago gave up and started taking half a Tylenol PM every night. And since then, I've been absolutely fine. I don't care if I'm dependent or not -- I went almost a decade of my life without good regular sleep, and it's just not worth it. I feel like a half-dose is sufficient to get me to sleep without making me stupefied the next morning.

Sarashay said:

I've been reading The Highly Sensitive Person, and one of the traits of high sensitivity is a tendency towards insomnia.

I suspect that many writers also have high sensitivity. Who knows--maybe that's the "it" that you need to be a good writer, as people have been debating.

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What do you mean by 'highly sensitive'? Like can't stand criticism, like sensitive to other people's feelings, like crying over everything? (This had better not be "it" because I can't think of any definition of sensitive that would apply to me.)

As for sleeping, I have no advice. I'm still trying to figure out how writing about a fantasy world with a 26 hour day put ME on a 26 hour sleeping schedule. (Stupid Earth needs to turn slower!)

A couple of nights of insomnia can set up a vicious circle; you can;t sleep, and then you start to worry about not sleeping, and that keeps you awake, and on it goes.

I've learned just to ride with the occasional bad night and use it as an excuse to be naughty and read until 2:00 a.m. on a work night, or maybe do some writing. That keeps me from getting freaked out. My bouts of insomnia are much shorter now.

The worst thing you can do is lie in bed in the dark, tossing and turning. Get up and do something else.

aadams73 said:

Have you tried melatonin supplements? I had the same problem here a while back, and one before bedtime helped regulate my sleep pattern again. It's inexpensive too.

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This worked for me as well. I was on third shift for about five years...I have really noisy neighbors during the day! Melatonin did the trick for me. I only need a half a pill though...seems like more than that and it has reverse effect for me.

Hope To The Horizon said:

What do you mean by 'highly sensitive'? Like can't stand criticism, like sensitive to other people's feelings, like crying over everything? (This had better not be "it" because I can't think of any definition of sensitive that would apply to me.)

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High sensitivity to stimuli. I'm not saying it IS the it, but some have pondered that it might be. At the very least, that many artistic types show signs of it.

http://www.hsperson.com/pages/test.htm