Chixe

Put something boring on TV.

Try to read one of the text books from class.

Actually move around doing something I don't like (for example cleaning). The movement makes me more tired whereas laying down gives my body the little bit it needs to stay away.

Even when I feel like crap if I throw on some tunes, dance my butt off I get lost in the music. I again made myself more tired. Hot bath, snuggle up with some cocoa, I'm good to go.

If those don't work try one of those herbal sleep pills to help train your body to sleep on a schedule (ie: when it's dark outside).

DRUGS! lol Xanax.....and yea, the TV thing works for me too....go outside get some air...

Nyquil. I took that for the first time (that I remember) a few weeks ago when I was sick, and I felt like I was going to fall asleep while walking around. It knocks you out cold!

Other than that, I'd say music. It at least helps time go faster and before you know it you're sleeping.

Stefani has a good point. Honestly when I know I have to wake up early I have to force myself to sleep, so what I do is mix some weed with wine and smoke that, then I play chill out music and I'm sleeping like a baby in 15 minutes.

Don't fight it. You will sleep when you're tired. Other than that... Sleepy pills.

Pills, warm milk, read a book, count sheep, boring TV show...they all work.

SkeptiC: sometimes my mind just will not shut off. It's not that I'm trying to fight the sleep, there are too many things going through my mind. That's why I either try to bore my mind to sleep or I do something that completely takes my mind off of it. But I learned the hard way to write the thoughts down!

Reading a book or magazine will typically work but if I'm just not tired I don't fight it, like SkepticC said. I tend to keep the bed reserved for sleep, sex or naps and don't hang out in it. That's what my couch is for. Though I suppose you could argue sleep, sex and naps is what a couch is for also.

Of course Josue's remedy will always do the trick, weed and alcohol. Oh music too. The right type of music seems to condition my brain to fire off.

How come no one mentioned masturbation? Doesnt that make you tired when you're "finished"?

(Good) Sex makes me tired...masturbation doesn't wear me out...probably means something...

Well yea sex involved more physical activity....jacking off you just lay there....=]

No, jerking off does not help at all.

*Please excuse the interruption*

Note: Josue doesn't live in the United States. Got a couple emails. :)

Continue talking....

The trouble with the Internet is that it's replacing masturbation as a leisure activity.

As for sleep aids, dry closing the drapes or put something over your eyes to make it dark. That seems to help me sleep.

Also, maybe some mellow music in the background.

If all else fails, take a sleeping pill, just don't over do it. We don't Scrivs in a coma.

I usually watch a little TV or read before going to bed... reading is the far more likely of the two. I read until I'm having to read each sentence / paragraph two or more times to "get it". At that point, I can usually close the book, turn off the light, and be asleep within about a minute.

Yeah, sorry about that Tyme, I'll have to watch what I say.

Oh btw, I have some friends who run late at night, come home take a bath and fall asleep within minutes.

NP Josue

Funny, after I wrote all those great suggestions, they stopped working. :(

I put on my headphones which tend to drown out the thoughts. Just being relaxed, in bed, with something nice to listen to.. that should be enough to get me in a few minutes.

@ seanrox....the Internet hasnt replaced masturbation, people just do IT IN FRONT OF the Internet (pc)....lol

Try playing some boring podcast. The old time radio shows work great. Especially the ones with the monotonous dialogs.

Or look up Pzizz. They have a sleep module which works pretty well.

The thing that always puts me to sleep when I'm tired but can't fall asleep is to read a book that needs to get read, like a chapter in a text book, a boring report, or something like that. And if my mind doesn't want to shut off, I turn the TV on.

I only watch TV in my room when I can't fall asleep. I turn the sound down really low so that you really have to consentrate to hear it. I put the sleep timer on, and I'm always out before the TV shuts itself off.

And I'm sick right now, so I feel for you Scrivs. I wish I worked from home so that I could go back to bed.

I've only had insomia once in my life so i'm probably not the great person to ask. I am one of those annoying pillow meeting head equals slumber people.

People I've known who do have trouble sleeping seem to have success with camonile and warm milk with honey drinks.

It's 12:25a and I should be in bed. But then I thought of the sweet discount I get at work for the next week, and if and what I wanted to buy. However, I heard that if you have a hard time sleeping, do not watch TV or go to the computer. Something about the light from the TV and computer affecting/effecting (which one is it?!) screwing with the amount and quality of rest. Instead, do something boring that you hate... like maybe paying bills or like... I don't know, cleaning?

Good sex works wonders, but if all else fails, warm milk does the trick. It'll help synthesize the chemicals needed to put you to sleep.

A shot of morphine or something?

The problem with everyone suggesting sex as a way to get tired is that it's got to be good sex and you've actually got to have someone to have it with ;) hahaha.

I prefer making sure to get exercise regularly so that my body gets tired out and just knows that it is time to sleep.

I have to admit that I often work until a degree of exhaustion is reached. Dumb, but I've done it for 25 years and more (and often achieved the best results when working under pressure and under time constraints ... Having success that way just teaches you the wrong things) Today I think I have nothing at all left that could be called biorhythm. Sad.

I've often tried to adapt to the general population's sleeping rhythm, but I've always failed in the long run.

I do know though that when that final day comes, I will fall in line and just stay down like the rest of them. ;) No "Woke up in my boots again this morning" as my epitaph.

Not well.

Yeah like Deus, I like to work til I'm exhausted and my brain is cashed, then I sleep like a rock!

Playing hours of video games helps too.

well for me it been a year now that i am fighting to sleep i hate pills but i tried everything possible my work hours are always changing but i did notice what work for me to sleep is warm Milk Boring Tv try PBS hahaha and sometimes i Even go run beleive me guys some people thought i am nuts cz running at midnight maybe is ok but running from midnight to 3am to get tired and i tried reading especially books are boring or news paper or just listenning to soft music i did also warm bath or shower anything that relax your body is really helpfull biking if you can then hit the shower and you will sleep masturbation ahh sometimes it do sometimes you just want a girl after..lol anyway at the end i tried once Ativan but it is so addictive and you feel like num so i stay away from pills personally but Hot Camomile with honey and relax i tried even sitting on the most annoying chair and concetrate on something i hated ahh it work too anyway these are experiences over one year now hope it willl help...:]

Nothing beats an intense workout followed by a hot shower to get me to sleep. Now mind you when I say intense, I mean Navy Seal intense (or at least your perception of what Navy Seal training is like).

Turn off tv & computer at least an hour before going to bed; impossible, I know, but if you actually try it, it often works :)

Some sleepy time tea, read a book and/or listen to some mellow music in bed and *zzzzz*.

Theory is easier than practice :) I have a horrible time sleeping because I ignore the basic stuff: let go of all your worries and stress.

Like a baby. Noise, position, setting, environment, etc. have no bearing. I sleep with a vengeance.

If I lay in bed then all hope is lost for sleep. For me, it's all about my eyes. When they get sleepy, I get sleepy. And until then, there's no hope for rest.
I've got a couple tricks.

Put on a TV show or movie that I've seen a million times, and watch it until my eyes start to get sleepy.
Grab a magazine. Something you're not too engrossed in. I have a habit of polishing off long novels overnight if they get good. But tech magazine are great for this. There's lots of eye candy and light content.
Get up and do something. Sometimes I'll cook food for the next day's lunch/dinner. Other times I'll see which night owls are on Xbox Live and play a few rounds of something with them, or just rock some single player Uno or Texas Hold'em.
If that fails, I'll go sit out on my balcony with my laptop, put my feet up, and see what's up on Blogland or Adiumville with my good friends in the Blue Man Group keeping me company. :)

Mind going a mile a minute happens to me often. I keep paper and pencil near the bed so I can write down some teerrrifc idea that won't disappear. Somehow, putting the idea down on paper is like deflating the balloon so it doesn't stick with me, preventing sleep. Of course, the next day I can hardly read my own writing!
If all our ideas don't help (including drinking no coffee or sodas with caffeine) then go to your nearest Wal Mart and grab Benedryl.

I sleep with a vengeance.

I laughed my pants off with that one...

There are times of the year where I'm sleeping at most 4 hours a night and function pretty well. But then there are periods when I have to sleep at least 10 hours a night to even think straight.

A trick for me is to read in bed. It slows me down and I crash within a page or two.

If you're talking about druggage, Tylenol PM works well for me. Benadryl is good too, but with me it makes my head all foggy for 4 or 5 hours after I wake up, which kind of defeats the purpose. I only take Benadryl for allergy situations if I'm desperate.

Hot herbal tea with honey is good to relax with, and is good for congestion and scratchy throat. Writing helps me wind down as well.

I know it's been a while since you've posted this Paul, but in case it's something you're still dealing with, let's try something practical instead of all these synthesized, outside solutions.

You were obviously conflicted by this lack of sleep in your post, noted by the title of your post and the wish that you could sleep while the sun wasn't in the sky.

Practically speaking, while it's great that you have a million ideas floating around, no amount of herbs or drugs or wine or baths or intense workouts will work for you until you come to the realization that your great ideas are being diluted by the never ending conflict of sleep or work in your mind.

You're an athlete, think about it like this. In order to win (make these ideas into successful reality) you've got to have your head in the game and not be distracted by everything else going on (should I go to sleep...no I cant sleep, must work...but it's late...I wish I could sleep when the sun wasn't out...crap, I need to get back to work).

It's all strategy in how we deal with the inner battles.

I put my head on the pillow and fall asleep in under a minute, pretty much every single night.

Work out?

I've been using pzizz lately, and it works like a dream.

20 angels are alive
10 are sleeping
9 are playing
and 1 is reading this

send another shoutout in 4-15 mins and you will
find your true love.

i need a hoe

I close my eyes. :)

It really helps to focus on making your breaths as relaxed and even as possible. You have to do it for 5-10 minutes to really get into it. I'm always amazed how tense and shallow my normal breathing is.

If I can't fall asleep, I find the following works:

Stare at yourself in the mirror. For a really long time. This should make you sleepy if you stay focused and don't think about anything.

If that doesn't work, take an ice cube and rub it all over your face until it melts. A little strange, yes, but it makes me sleepy (although it wakes some people up).

Mike: Lucky. It usually takes me 5 or 10 minutes to fall asleep. And that's if I don't think about anything.

Stephen Fry serenades me with chapters of Harry Potter every night... I just concentrate on the story (even though I've heard it a million times before) and I drop off within a minute...

That does become a hazzard when I'm driving and the shuffle whatsit on the iPod selects some Harry Potter >_<

Write a diary. And keep a pad and pencil by the bed. The diary gets a big chunk of worries out of my head and in case I'm drifting off and think of something "mustn't forget x" I just write it down and off I go...

hope that helps.

I usually fall asleep very quickly, and have no problems. If, on the rare occasion, I can't sleep, I read, and am quickly feeling sleepy.

It's been hard for me since we got the kitten.
First she was crying when one of us wasn't in her sight, so we couldn't sleep until she settled down.
Now she doesn't cry as much but she's gotten into attacking everything, including me and Brian, so while I'm trying to get to sleep I have a cat running sprints from one end of the bed to the other and pouncing on my leg.
And she wakes up WAY before I do. I had whiskers in my face at 3 am. And as a result, I am a total zombie. So if anybody has some advice for me, I'd appreciate it. Heh.