My guess is sleeplessness is a pretty individual thing. What keeps me up at night is different from what does the same for you. I can't bring myself to sit around trying to think good thoughts, but I am not given to worrying about the state of politics and the like. It has all just become such a mess that I really don't waste much time on it. People in politics today don't mind being seen to be incompetent, stubborn, negative, self-serving, backbiting, (Hmmm, maybe this means more to me than I have thought, seeing as how I have so many names I call them when I have the chance). Unlike some others, I am not inclined to blame one side or the other. They are equally at fault in my book, and they have earned no credibility by "standing up for what's right." None of them seem to have a corner on the answers that are right. But, I have wandered off topic again. I really want to know more about what robs me of sleep than politics.
Some of it is physiological--I am "of a certain age" and have a few issues, but it is intermittent enough to defy simple "blame it on the illness" thinking. Sometimes the only cure is time and reading/writing. Reading worked once already tonight, and I managed a couple of hours out to that. I am trying writing just now, and, in fact I am getting sleepy right now writing this TO BE CONTINUED.
Back again, didn't even waste 90 minutes, or maybe lying there was a waste of time. I'm looking for something a little off the beaten path as a remedy. I think I'll consult my friends at Google.
MUCH LATER, I have slept since then, but let me tell you, people who believe they know what you should do to help yourself get to sleep are unbelievable. As usual, Google offered an abundance in response to my query, "how can I get to sleep at night?" (883 million responses in .54 seconds). I went through a page of them and I was astonished, not only by the array of ideas and their volume, but also by the amount of advertising woven into each page of information. When your teacher caught you asleep in the classroom she probably never told you "that's OK, because sleep's a big business," but it is, see for yourself.
But that is only secondary. The responses were so extensive, it was hard to take in. No one in that field believes that "brevity is the soul of wit."
Here are the highlights of what I found in a few minutes of googling. I really didn't read any one in its entirety. What quickly drew my attention was the volume of each response. Wiki How provided twenty-four steps to better sleep, followed by thirty-five tips on better sleep. Helpguide.org provided only nine secrets to better sleep, but each secret included eight or nine tips. One interesting side light--your brain uses sleep time to clear out the waste, the process is called the glymphatic system, and lack of sleep allows the accumulation of this waste material which presumably impairs the brain's function.
The Mayo Clinic starts off slowly--they provide seven steps to improve sleep, but this is followed by eleven tips (they just couldn't help themselves). Prevention.com has eleven steps to take during your waking hours to improve sleep. However, they follow that with more tips when you actually lay down to sleep. The well.com offers 42 simple steps to help you get to sleep.
One of my favorite quotes about the need for brevity comes from Patricia Marx: "One false word, one extra word, and somebody's thinking about how they have to buy paper towels at the store. Brevity is very important. If you're going to be long winded, it should be for a purpose. Not just because you like your words."
Would that some of these helpful sources understood that. One might have somewhat obliquely--WikiHow, in step 11 of the quick fixes for falling asleep, suggests Do something dull: Read a boring book, a work paper.... here's my thought--how about reading tips and steps for falling asleep? Boring enough, methinks.
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