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Comment by hntrader | Hacker News Reader

You're blessed to be able to get to sleep so rapidly. For me, the stress of that type of job + coffee would kill that ability. Even without these two antagonists I would have no hope of being able to do that.

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I don't know if there's definitive research saying this, but this ability to fall asleep quickly may be due to sleep deprivation. However, polyphasic sleep is linked to lower academic performance and increased daytime sleepiness. [0] That makes me think that the "benefit" is possibly an illusion due to the antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation.

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[0]: Studies linked here: https://www.verywellhealth.com/pros-and-cons-of-a-polyphasic...

Coffee is the killer here. I never ever used to nap. I quit caffeine almost a year ago, and within a month of quitting, I started enjoying the occassional mid afternoon nap. Not everyday, just when I was tired. It's nice to know when I'm tired actually.

Have you ever tried? Coffee is easy to cut. Just don't have any at home.

Yeah, it still takes me 60 minutes to sleep, because my mind is busy. I need meditation, medication, or something.

YMMV, but I would also try cutting out sugar, and adding melatonin. I cut out caffeine and sugar about 5 months ago, and consistently take 3mg of melatonin 1 hour before bed and went from 60+ minutes to fall asleep to less than 5 minutes.

Apparently insulin regulation plays a big part in sleep quality, hence the effect of sugar. Another nice side effect is I've lost about 7kg without counting any calories or making any real effort to.

Throwing in a bit more with YMMV...

Xmg of melatonin is hard to measure, because there's apparently not great accuracy in most OTC pills. And... it may take you days to confirm if a specific pill is 'working' well or not. If/when you find a combination, buy a bunch to have on hand.

I recently received the book "why we sleep" and it discussed melatonin's process. If "1 hour before bed" works for you, that's good, but it never did for me. ~3 hrs did. Or... at least 2-3 hours at this time of the year. My routine has been taking a melatonin between 6 and 7ish, and by 10 I'm typically quite 'ready' for sleep, and it's usually a fast process. It doesn't seem like it in the moment, but my wife has noticed I'm "out like a light" (which I think is more just in comparison to months ago).

You can buy liquid fast acting melatonin. I take a pipette 1 hour before bed time and by the time I got the pillow, I am so sleepy I fall asleep instantly and do not wake up during the night.

I would suggest you also look at the criticisms about the book you mentioned, Why We Sleep. I'd take the book's conclusions with caution.

Have read some - it's not a panacea for sure. It did recently renew some interest in the subject for me, but yes, take it with some caution, certainly. It did make me re-evaluate some of the things I was doing re: sleep, and I've generally had somewhat better results since making adjustments.

I bet you could quarter your melatonin dose and still get the effects. Do some reading, but 3mg (although a common OTC dosage) is pretty high.

My sleep trick is to read a book. It slows my mind and is easier to stop at any point once I’m dozing off.

I also have all phone alerts etc stop a 9pm.

For years after I graduated from college I kept my old physics textbook next to my bed for exactly this reason. Interesting enough to easily pick a topic to read, dry enough to put me to sleep in a paragraph.

I've quite successfully used Bill Clinton's autobiography for that for about year. :-)

Been the same forever but I’ve recently found 5-10 minutes of deep, slow, and focused breathing (in through nose, out through mouth) results in me falling asleep very quickly after.

If you only have 60 minutes to sleep, eventually it’ll work

Caffeine before noon or sticking to a last call at 2pm kind of help me. Medication wise I tried CBD which seem to help sleep a little better. YMMV.

Enough exercise, or physical activity of any form, will fix this. The time and motivation to do enough is the challenging part.

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