Hacker News Reader

Hacker News

Comment by jmspring | Hacker News Reader

Full thread

jmspring

Interesting. I may need to add some sensors.

I spend time in two places. San Juan Islands WA and Santa Cruz, CA.

On island, nights are too quiet. During the day, a float plane a mile away sounds like it is next door.

In Santa Cruz, the house is on a major street. Busses, ambulances all sorts of yahoos.

I sleep better quiet. But I sleep even better when settled - mind not going, etc.

I generally don’t sleep well at all. The biggest factor is - has my brain settled. Background and noise don’t matter.

View on HN

I find if I work out consistently I am always getting great sleep and getting really tired in the evening, but if I don't I might not ever feel tired then I look up and it's 3am. I never made the connection between heavy exercise and sleep before, but it seems obvious in hindsight. Got to do what we are built to do not what modern life insists we do.

I think being active, especially evenings, is helpful. When in Santa Cruz, my wife ensures via threat (joking) that I attend her evening pilates classes. It does help with sleep.

> The biggest factor is - has my brain settled. Background and noise don’t matter.

I'm there too on this. Something I've found helps is listening to certain types of audio. Some audio books can work, but if they're too engaging or interesting it's counter-productive.

My current solution for this is a particular YouTuber; I noticed a long time ago that watching his videos in bed (when I already given up on trying to sleep immediately because my brain was too alert) seemed to help me relax and feel drowsy. Now it's almost a switch - start a video, phone face down, and I rarely need a second one.

“Has my brain settled” I feel this.

I started meditating recently (~10mins per day) and have found it to be surprisingly effective. It’s a combination of body scanning & mindfulness meditation.

It doesn’t always help, but tends to.

I used to do yoga and meditation. I let that slip while life transitions. I have some meds from my doctor (seroquel) which is knock me out, but getting back to being active and disconnecting is a better approach than pills.

I recently had (and then lost/left on a plane!) a Lumenate Nova[1] and found it was very helpful at quickly getting me away from the mind going state. I work very late to overlap with distant timezones and would often find it difficult to get to sleep once I went to bed given I've been staring at screens and on calls only minutes before hitting the pillow. This was great.

[1] https://lumenate.co/lumenate-nova/

I find my mind goes straight to settled if my phone and all configurable electronics are in a completely separate room. Its like I give up seeking more stimulation.

An off topic addendum - those are 2 very nice places to be. Maybe someday.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com