22 Comments
User's avatar
Peter Williams's avatar

So very true . I have lived that 3am cycle for many years . Cold water helped me so much to break it . My latest article dives into that .

Great article !

Karun Pal's avatar

Thank you

Jonny Levy Therapy's avatar

Physical tiredness is definitely one of the biggest levers to getting a good nights sleep. I know the days I move the least are the days I have a harder time winding down. But the other thing I have found as helpful is having a routine that no matter what I do before sleep that lets my body know it’s time to wind down. And I don’t rush going to bed. I actually try not to think about being perfect cause the more my mind thinks about getting the best sleep the worse off my sleep is not matter how tired I am. Letting the mind know that it’s safe and ok to shut down has been equally as helpful for me. I’m wondering if you’ve had a similar experience?

Karun Pal's avatar

That's a deep reflection. And I would agree 100%. Letting the mind know it's safe, calms down the nervous to a degree where sleep comes very easily and naturally.

La Base del Sueño's avatar

Yo también he experimentado esto. Soy una persona muy activa físicamente, hago fuerza, salgo a correr, caminatas, nadar .. me apunto a todo y sino en casa invento cosas que hacer.

He aprendido a que cuando llega la noche está prohibido pensar en resolver el mundo, eso es tarea para mañana. Leo un libro que inunda mis pensamientos y me quedo dormida.

Jonny Levy Therapy's avatar

Leer un libro antes de dormir, especialmente uno de ficción, ha sido una de las mejores cosas para mí, y básicamente decirle a mi mente y cuerpo que todo está bien y que pueden apagarse, casi como darles permiso — sé que suena raro, pero me ha ayudado mucho.

La Base del Sueño's avatar

A mi igual, lo mejor para la mente un novela de ficción. Que estás leyendo ahora mismo? Yo estoy leyendo La Escritora que a veces me deja enganchada para dormir profundamente ajajaj

Jonny Levy Therapy's avatar

Ahorita estoy leyendo varios libros de no ficción por trabajo, pero también estoy releyendo Harry Potter y voy a empezar o Diary of an Oxygen Thief o Super Sad True Love Story. Pero necesito más horas en el día para poder leer más jajajaja

Gerry Gonzalez's avatar

💯🙏🏼😭💜🔥😍🤩✈️

Nick's avatar

Good advice

A Horseman in Shangri-La's avatar

Ok I'm gonna test this

Sincerely,

A Horseman in Shangri-La

✨ℳ's avatar

I think there’s more than one way to be tired. For me, it’s not always possible to exhaust myself physically so much that I just pass out - though I do have some very physical jobs. I do agree that on the days I am physically spent sleep does come quicker though the brain doesn’t always shut down. Mental and emotional fatigue are also a tiredness. And these days with how much we do mentally - it’s just as important to cultivate calming of the mind for true restorative sleep - in my opinion.

Karun Pal's avatar

I respect your opinion.

Yvette Marie Johnson's avatar

Once again, you nailed it. Hard work pays off in good sleep. But I keep forgetting, or life gets too busy behind my keyboard. So now, I'm going to get up and go for a hike, because I want to sleep well tonight. Thank you!

Karun Pal's avatar

Thank you. And good luck for your hiking adventure.

Alan Schnoll's avatar

Wow

LC's avatar

going to the gym and weightlifting always makes me sleep better

Bharath Bhat's avatar

While I agree with the core message, physical exhaustion doesn't always guarantee sleep for me. Plenty of times I've gone to bed exhausted after a workout, expecting to crash instantly, only to find my mind racing.

What helps most is distracting my brain with a podcast or audiobook. It anchors my focus on one thing, keeping my thoughts from wandering. The content has to be carefully chosen - nothing triggering, and ideally something novel enough to prevent boredom or lighthearted enough to de-stress.

Books and videos can work for distraction too, but they're far less practical. As soon as I start dozing off, I have to physically move to put them away and get into a sleeping position, which often wakes me back up. Audio avoids that completely since I'm already set up in the dark, and a sleep timer takes care of turning it off so it won't disturb my sleep later.

Traditional methods like breath focus or counting backward technically serve the same purpose, but they quickly get repetitive, making them far less effective for me. I used to worry relying on audio distractions is a bad dependency but I've made peace with it now - hey, whatever works.

Gajendra Bhushan sharma's avatar

Sleep is more important obviously my sleep timing 6 hours and always wake up 5 o'clock but nowadays I am get up 7.30 o'clock or 8 o'clock. But 6 hours good for serenity.

Irina Kikinadze's avatar

I could not agree more. Have been trying pretty much everything in the last decade of sleeplessness and only 2 things worked: getting really tired and dimming the lights with sunset.

Simba B. Mahaja's avatar

I hear you pal, I have been lacking physical tiredness since committing myself to software work. Hence I’m up now, trying to get some sleep.

Prince Freddie's avatar

Freddie knows the three a.m. argument well, the reply you never sent, replayed anyway. The mind opens tabs the body never asked for.