One Clever Method to Drift Back into Sleep: Not Just Another Article
Written on
Chapter 1: The Struggle with Sleep
Do you find yourself awake well before your alarm? That frustrating feeling of not having enough rest can be infuriating. What should you do?
Typically, when I wake up early, I just get up, relieve myself, and fall back asleep almost instantly, vowing not to sip that last drop of water again. However, for the past few weeks, I’ve been waking up for no reason and lying awake for an hour until my alarm finally goes off.
At first, I experimented with meditating in bed, thinking that since I often drift off during meditation, it should be easier to do while lying down. Unfortunately, that didn’t yield any results. If my mind was alert, no amount of grogginess would help; I was wide awake.
Then I decided to try a technique I used successfully in my younger years. I recalled how counting sheep bored me, so I began to name a country for each letter of the alphabet. I skipped 'W' and 'X' since they posed challenges, but when I reached Zanzibar, I thought, why not aim for two countries per letter to compensate for the skipped ones?
After a restart, I was surprised to find that I fell asleep before I knew it, and suddenly my alarm was ringing seven hours later. This strategy worked like a charm for months; I even researched a country that began with W to extend my game. However, as I got quicker at naming countries, it lost its effectiveness, prompting me to switch to cities. A is for Albany, B is for Boston… and off I went! I was so engaged that I fell asleep before reaching my nemesis, W.
The crux of the matter, I believe, lies in the fact that while I mentally cataloged the countries, my focus would sometimes drift away from the task. Questions like, “Did I lock the garage?” or “Why does my dog sleep there?” would surface. My thoughts would wander, especially when I hit a tricky letter. Eventually, I’d find myself daydreaming and then refocus on the task, like remembering a city starting with S. Sacramento!
To keep things interesting and avoid getting stuck, I allowed myself some free letters like X and Q, sometimes even Z. It typically took just a couple of distractions before I would doze off. The challenge itself seemed to trigger my brain to shut down rather than pursue the pointless task. I’m not sure why, but I know it works.
The toughest time I had was when I tried to list clothing items. I struggled with ‘E’ for earrings and then got stuck on ‘I’ but finally settled on ice skates. I frequently fell asleep while trying to recall my last answer. After all, I was aiming to sleep, not compete in a trivia game.
This technique lasted for years until I realized that reading in bed was just as effective, provided I closed my eyes whenever my focus waned. Too often, I would stubbornly force myself to finish a chapter, only to find my mind had given up on sleep.
I eventually connected the dots between my wandering attention during list-making and reading, recognizing that this was my signal to drift off, as Samuel L. Jackson might say, “go to sleep.”
But a few weeks ago, I found myself waking before my alarm again, unsure of how to cope. Meditating didn’t help, and lying still did nothing. I could read a book to eventually doze off, but it often took an hour and wasn’t reliable.
After several weeks of frustration, I returned to my old method of naming countries from A to Z, and to my delight, it worked! I fell asleep in about 10 minutes, albeit a bit rusty initially. I struggled with ‘A’ (of course, America!), but by the second round, I was out without needing to resort to my backup clothing category.
Keep in mind that neither reading nor list-making is effective if you’re wired from caffeine or genuinely awake for valid reasons. This is aimed at those moments when you're exhausted but can't seem to sleep. I hope this method works for you too! I’d love to hear about any tricks you might have!
For more insights, check out my article on the benefits of meditation and techniques to try. If anxiety is causing sleepless nights, it might be worth exploring this issue further.
Read more of my thoughts at SanjaySays.co.
Chapter 2: Techniques to Enhance Sleep
This first video discusses effective strategies for falling back asleep in the middle of the night, perfect for those restless moments.
The second video covers the Military Technique for falling asleep in just two minutes, a fast and unique approach to overcoming insomnia.