Insomnia Tips: How to Get to Sleep

When you routinely have trouble getting to sleep, life can be pretty miserable. Your brain needs sleep in order to organize your memories and brain structures. Without enough sleep, your concentration suffers, and you might even start to suffer from paranoia and hallucinations. This article has advice on how to avoid those problems and get yourself to sleep.

Don't worry or let your thoughts wander

Worry is the enemy of sleep. If you've ever spent a sleepless night worrying about the coming day, you'll know that it's no fun. While scientists don't fully understand sleep, evidence suggests that you can only fall asleep when you let certain parts of your brain become inactive. It seems that whatever your brain does when you worry prevents those parts from becoming inactive. Or, perhaps worrying sends stress hormones into your system, which make you more alert.

Whatever the case, stop worrying. If you have trouble stopping yourself from worrying, just keep trying. Don't think of stopping worrying as your goal, but rather, think of your goal as practicing and getting good at calming worry whenever it crops up. That way, if you find yourself worrying, you won't feel like a failure; you'll see it as a new opportunity to practice calming your worries.

Similarly, letting your thoughts wander can keep you awake. Deal with it the same way as with worry: gently stop your mind from wandering whenever you notice it.

Think of it this way: what your brain does during sleep is like the cleaning staff of an office building going around and cleaning up. If a bunch of people are pacing or wandering in and out of offices, the cleaning staff can't do their work.

Concentrate on a story or scenario

This is where the old 'counting sheep' suggestion comes from. If you concentrate on a scenario, like sheep jumping over a fence, or meeting up with someone for lunch, or climbing a tree, or anything, really, then as long as you keep focussed on that scenario and don't let your mind wander away from it, you'll leave most parts of your brain inactive, as described above. This will allow your mind to mostly wind down, and you'll probably just naturally fall asleep after a while.