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Comment by koheripbal | Hacker News Reader

During a stressful part of my life recently I struggled with getting to sleep. I just couldn't stop thinking about shit that was going on.

until one night I fell asleep on the couch in front of the TV, and it occurred to me that I could just modify this behaviour to bed.

So I put a handful of old Star Trek episodes on my phone. Each night I put me earphones on (so as not to disturb my wife), turn on an episode of Star Trek, and I am asleep within the first five minutes. ... I can even repeat episodes... it doesnt even matter since Im asleep within literally 5mins.

At first the earphones were annoying, but after a week you dont even notice them.

The stress at work continues, but I sleep like a baby.

I think the familiarity of Star Trek (which I watched a lot as a kid) gives me a subconsious sense of security.

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Yes, audiobooks/podcasts at night are great.

Lack of sleep ages you, makes you overweight, and susceptible to many health issues. Here's what I did to get enough sleep:

    * Make sure every monitor/portable device is using Redshift / Night Light blue light filter. 
    * Set a "sleep alarm"  After which no work on a screen. Only reading books/audiobooks
    * 0.5mg of Melatonin helps sleep naturally (more gives trippy dreams) 
    * AVOID sleeping pills (they're more addictive than crack)
    * Exercise 3-5 times a week
    * Get some natural sunlight during the day

What sort of podcasts/books?

Not properly tried this before, but I'd imagine if it was interesting I'd want to stay awake and listen to it or find out more information... if it's boring I'd just be annoyed by the noise. Maybe bore myself to sleep?

I prefer science and history, not stories or news. Interesting enough to engage you, but not too much. Science Friday or Sean Carroll's Mindscape are good examples. Anything you find that lets your mind disengage and wander around bedtime. Make sure you have a sleep timer that stops after 30-60 min and/or turn off autoplay.

0.5 mg of melatonin? or 5.0 mg? 5 to 10 mg of melatonin is the amount in most all doses sold on Amazon. I've never seen such a light dose.

0.5mg of melatonin is a perfectly good dose. For many people, anything over 1mg means sleepiness on the next day. I suggest doing some research, including how to taper it down once you no longer feel it's right for you.

It's the correct dose. See https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/12/did-a-melatonin-patent... for the sad background.

TLDR: MIT did a study and patented Melatonin usage with reasonable dosages. Manufactures just increased the dose 10x to get around the patent. The patent is expired but the damage remains.

Apparently it works as effectivley at lower doses.

Someone posted this a while back, and it goes into a lot of detail: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/E4cKD9iTWHaE7f3AJ/melatonin-...

Using melatonin properly completely changed how I sleep. I used to have trouble falling asleep and waking up in the morning, so my sleep schedule would drift back to the point where I would be late to work because I was falling asleep at 4am. I followed the advice of this article[1] and got my sleep schedule back on track. TLDR:

* I take 0.3mg at 7:00pm with the goal of falling asleep at 11:00pm

* Redshift always on at 4500k, turns to 2500k at 10:00pm

I still use a screen until the moment I fall asleep, and I probably don't get enough sunlight. However the changes listed are sufficient for me at least.

[1]: https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/10/melatonin-much-more-th...

> I think the familiarity of Star Trek (which I watched a lot as a kid) gives me a subconsious sense of security.

This. I have high anxiety and sleeping is difficult when you brain is trying to send you into a panic about all the shit you have to deal with. So I use two things, weed and TV.

I smoke some heavy indica just before bed and within an hour or two I have trouble keeping my eyes open. Though some nights it gets pretty bad so I put on MST3K or ST-TNG. It's like hanging out with old friends, especially MST3K. It's comfy with the volume on very low, screen dimmed maximum and a sleeping mask. Basically, you do your best to drown out the world and your mind.

Though the big help with weed is I don't get that extreme groggy almost vertigo feeling in the morning either. It's almost like being drunk without the intoxication or nausea. Like you are awake but your body didn't get the memo. Though I'm looking to move to making my own edibles as smoking is unhealthy in the long run.

I used to do this but with chess videos. Most commentators don’t vary their tone much which probably helps.

Since then I have been: - Trying to exercise every day - No screens after 10:30.

Seems to be making a big difference for me.

No screens was integral for me, as well as changing the type of lighting I use. I generally try to shut down my screens when f.lux starts up on my computer, as I know it's better for my brain to start getting tired them. I'll also use a redder light instead of a right LED one, which I've found helps too.

For 2 years I went to sleep with Brewster's Millions (1985 not 1945) playing just loud enough I could hear the words from my desk speakers, would never take more than 10 minutes to be out cold.

Now I've just trained myself to go to sleep. I put my ear plugs in, tell Google to turn the speakers (so my phone charging doesn't make random noise through them) and my salt lamp off and I'm out within a minute or two.

> I just couldn't stop thinking about shit that was going on.

This was the issue. I had to learn how to just shut thoughts off. Not think of nothing, just not think. Watching a television show for an hour before bed (with the monitor color adjusted, whatever Chrome OS calls their version of f.lux) let's me get my mind off of whatever and then I'm in bed within a 5 minute window Sundays-Thursdays.

lol, I'm using Star Trek Enterprise for exactly the same thing at the moment. According to my Oura ring my sleep latency (as they call it - time to fall asleep) is about 5-10mins. I just put an earbud in one ear and sleep on the other side.

I listen Bizzleberry stream League of Legends games

https://www.twitch.tv/bizzleberry

I find the standard-issue Apple EarPods as good as anything for sleeping.

And yes I also find listening to something familiar helps me get to sleep quickly if I’m overstimulated and/or anxious, which is often the case.

I also find it helpful to play binaural beats in the background, which you can do with an iOS app called BrainWave (Dream Inducer).

I cannot fall asleep unless I have Zero Punctuation playing in the background. On Youtube they have started uploading hours-long compilation videos of his, and there are quite a few comments from other people saying it helps them sleep as well. A strange phenomenon.

When I was a kid, probably from ages 13-18 or so, I always fell asleep to a Harry Potter audiobook. I owned a copy of Half Blood Prince on CD (more accurately on 20 CDs) and I wouldn't bother changing out the disc (at least not that often), it was just some background noise to help me fall asleep.

>At first the earphones were annoying, but after a week you dont even notice them.

I use the same technique. I purchased a sleep mask with mini built in speakers from Amazon, and it's been great:

https://www.amazon.com/Headphones-Bluetooth-WATOTGAFER-Adjus...

No cords and can even sleep comfortably on my side.

Thats funny; I used to do this with Tom Baker Dr. Who and ... Discovery Channel Wings (I guess I grew up near an air force base?). Seems based on comments to be a common thing; lullaby for grownup nerds!

this trick works. my twist on it is to watch people play old video games on youtube.

however, it doesn't work when i need a clear mind, especially when i am exhausted. it is frustrating that no amount of movies, songs, video games will help clear your mind -- at least not mine -- which in turn makes you stay awake...

i used to know how meditate in college, but i have somehow lost that ability it seems (yes, one can lose it lol)

Me and my wife rewatch old Family Guy and Bobs Burger episodes, knocks us straight out.

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