Monday, March 20, 2006

Sleeping duty

Some people sleep because they are sleepy. Some people sleep because people are supposed to sleep at night. Some people sleep because doctors say so. Some people sleep because they have been up 24 hours straight, and their eyelids can't stay open any longer. Some people sleep because there is nothing else to do.

And others... can't get to sleep.

Fortunately, I have never really had a problem falling asleep. I'm the kind who, if sleepy, can fall asleep on a haystack full of crushed glass in the middle of the highway.

But I know people who have sleeping problems. Some have work stress, some have family problems, some have personal issues, some are feeling guilty, and some are in love.

Being someone who's fallen in love exactly 1.5 times in her life, I can say that no one is worth losing sleep over. Insomnia is really bad because it's not a problem you face only at night, it stays with you till the next day. And the next. And the next...

So I always take special care to ensure that I enjoy a good night's sleep. Though I don't get much sleep due to my late-night classes and super-early working hours, I compensate quantity with quality.

So today, I have decided to collate a list of all the tips that have supposedly helped in getting insomniacs to fall asleep. (Many of these tips came from other people.)

Have you got any to share?

  • Take a warm shower.
  • Soak your feet in a tub of hot water. (If you can't sleep, you'll at least get a semi-pedicure.)
  • Listen to soothing music. May I suggest Sonu Nigam's 'Meri kahani mera kissa ho tum'? Or Hariharan's 'Aankhon se baatein karein'?
  • Put on Jagjit Singh, turn off the lights, lie down and close your eyes. (His 'Silsilay' and 'Sajda' albums work very well.)
  • Listen to an intense song and sing it in your head, making sure that you're singing every note correctly. You will be concentrating so hard that you will forget everything else. Soon you will be sleeping. (One song that works very well for me using this method is Kavitha's 'Yeh dil sun raha hai tere dil ki zubaan' from 'Khamoshi - the musical'.)
  • Read a book.
  • Or even better, read my statistics book.
  • Drink warm milk before sleeping. (Eeeyucks!)
  • Avoid a heavy dinner.
  • Talk to me about the stock market or US politics. I will fall asleep, and looking at me, so will you.
  • Change your sheets. Something pastel is good.
  • Check your pillow. Is it too high? Too low?
  • Don't study on your bed. Associate your bed with sleep. That way, the moment you lie down, you will sleep.
  • Remove your mattress and make your bed on the floor.
  • Create a night ritual, and follow the order every night. For example, blog, brush teeth, put on music, apply moisturiser on hands and feet, switch on night lamp, read for fifteen minutes, etc.
  • Think of the biggest crush you ever had. Now play all your interactions with that crush in your head, in slow motion.
  • Think of the greatest compliment anyone ever gave you. Play it in your mind a couple of times.
  • Switch off the air-conditioner and open the windows, especially if it is a breezy night.
  • Stare at the moon and the stars.
  • Hum a little lullaby to yourself. ('Surmayi akhiyon mein' by Yesudas works very well.)
  • When you're in a bus or something, the right kind of shoulder comes in handy.
  • Think of the whole-day-course titled 'And more things you will never need to use at your workplace' that your company forced you to attend.
  • Watch something on the lines of Krishi Darshan (anyone remember this? apparently a big hit with the farmers in India).
  • Watch Katrina Kaif's or Tanushree Dutta's attempts at acting. (Oh but wait, you may laugh so hard, you may feel more awake than before.)
  • Read 'Sayesha's World'. (Tip courtesy Kini)
  • Remove guilt from your mind. Guilt about anything. What you did is what you did. You stumbled, fell and you got up, with lessons learnt. There is no point losing sleep over it.
  • Try not to ruin anyone's day, and you'll have a peaceful night.
But my most tried and tested one is this:

Exhaust yourself so much during the day, that the moment you hit the bed, you're sleepin' like a baby.

Works like a charm. Every time.

Touchwood.



38 comments:

oxymoron said...

huhooohahaaa... Gold Medal!
Speech coming up!

oxymoron said...

yeh mera doosra gold hai, n i shall strive for more!

good tips for sleeping, sayesha! badly needed.

i remember Krishi Darshan. we had a local version also: 'chaupal' , in my state!

one imp Question:
//Being someone who's fallen in love exactly 1.5 times in her life

how did ya manage that??? 1 or 2. how 1.5?

Anonymous said...

This time no anonymous can take my bronze...

Sayesha said...

#Oxy,
Sone ke post pe sona! Wah Oxy wah! :D

//how did ya manage that??? 1 or 2. how 1.5?

If I count all the times since teenage that I thought I was in love, it would probably add up to half a love. :)

#Anon,
Oh man, you got the silver and you want the bronze?? :D

Anonymous said...

krishi darshan rules ok!

it was one of the most memorable programs of its time :) (even a KD mocker like u has to grant it that)

jai jawan! jai kissan! (jam? no thanku)

ritzkini said...

/*But my most tried and tested one is this:
Exhaust yourself so much during the day, that the moment you hit the bed, you're sleepin' like a baby.
Works like a charm. Every time.*/

Totally agree !!
:)

and yeah..the other one..works too !
:)

Anonymous said...

ohh...didnt even see that the first two comments was by the same person...take back ur bronze...give back my silver..my precious...:D

-TOA

Shobana said...

some more tips: play some mind games before bed or play some sport regularly like badminton etc or swim..
have a good meal before bed..
start counting backwards from 1000

Anonymous said...

good stuff...more importantly does this come with a 'how to wake up' guide??

:P

Cheers
Kais

V said...

I hate sleeping.
To me, sleep is the main cause that we achieve so less in our small lifetime.

Having said that, I won't be able to sleep anyway seeing what you have done to my link :(
.....

lol.
anyway, nice post :)

R said...

I was studin Management of information systems and almost fell asleep,came here hoping to catch something that wud wake me up!!!!
hehehe..
ram ki leela bhi ajeeb hai.
*budhiya waali khansi*
I have a sleeping disorder.
If cannot sleep is INsomnia, I so totally have OUTsomnia!!!

Anusha said...

Reading something along the lines of Jane Austen's 'Persuasion' always manages to do the trick for me. (Yes, I'm speaking from personal experience! *ducks to avoid getting stoned by JA fans*)

//Don't study on your bed. Associate your bed with sleep. That way, the moment you lie down, you will sleep.

Heh. Exact opposite for me. Studying on the bed always manages to put me to sleep!! That's why I try and avoid my room as much as possible when I have important tests coming up. Seeing the bed occupy most of the space in my tiny room always makes my eyes droop. :/

But, like you, I don't have much of a problem getting to sleep. (Ask my mum; she'll give you ample confirmation! :P) Could you possibly make a Things-you-can-do-to-make-sure-you-get-up-in-time list?? Pwetty pweez? :D

Anonymous said...

Listen to
jago mohan pyare...
or
Jo Jagat Hai So Pavat Hai..
or
jago re jago re prabhat aaya

and zzzzz

Tinku

iksha said...

Thankfully, I rarely suffer from insomnia *touch wood* But like many others, I could use some suggestions on how to get up...on time!!! Several alarms, wake up call from friends, loud banging on the door, tried it all!! Another post pls, for the ones whose problem is that they CAN sleep...too much! :)

Thanu said...

Never think about what should I blog about? This is keep you awake the whole night.

Rays Of Sun said...

What a coincidence..I just wrote about Meree Kahani!!
Warm white milk-Yuck! warm bournvita...wow!
read journal papers!!

I dont have sleeping problems..but I sometimes dont want to just sleep:O

Sayesha said...

#Rene,
Ok baba, it rocks. Khush? :)

#Vikram,
Why aren't you my HR manager, yaar? :D Forget the beer part, the office hours sound reallllly gooood! :D

#Ritzkini,
Haan haan, bol lo. Other one toh works only for you! :)

#TOA,
Errr... Why don't you just choose 'Others' and key in TOA when you comment? And ok ok, you can have your silver! :P

#Jade,
Oh yeah! That's part of my 'exhaust yourself' plan. Go to the gym, pick up a sport, anything that tires you out.

//have a good meal before bed..

Not quite sure if you mean the same, but I think dinner should be the lightest meal of the day. :)

#Kais,
Hehehe... I knew someone would say this! Akan datang, my friend! ;)

#The Masquer,
First time here? Welcome! :) Yeah, all these books are a great help for what they were not intended to be! ;)

#Tequila,
Sheesh! Sorry yaar, forgot to key in the 'http'... hahaha! Sab teri galti hai, hazaar baar URL change karega aur hum jaise nirdosh logons ko blame karega! Hmmmph! :)

#Moonwalker,
Ooops! Hehehe! :P Yahan Ram li leela nahin, Ramleela chal rahi hai! :D

#Clueless,
Wohi toh problem hai! Once you fall into the habit of sleeping on the bed cos you study on it, you will have difficulties sleeping on the same bed without the books. :)

// Could you possibly make a Things-you-can-do-to-make-sure-you-get-up-in-time list?? Pwetty pweez?

Hahaha! Wait for the sequel! ;)

#Tinku,
Or just listen to Tinku and... zzzz... :D
ps: And why are you logging in as anonymous now? X-(

#Iksha,
Coming soon to a blog near you! ;)

#Thanu,
Hahahaha! Baap re, bahut seriously leti hai tu blogging ko! :P

#ROS,
Yeah I hate milk too... bournvita chalega... complan daudega! :)

//but I sometimes dont want to just sleep

Hmmm....

Anonymous said...

//And why are you logging in as anonymous now?

Kyunki teri comment window mein kai baar naam likhne wala dabba hi nahin aata.

Tinku

Sayesha said...

#Tinku,
Dhakkan insaan ke liye dabba nahin aata mere blog par! Bwahahaha! :D

ps: Sorry sorry, bad joke! :P

Anonymous said...

Dhakkan vo hote hain jinhe maloom hota hai ki vo bad joke marne wale hain lekin fir bhi maar hi dete hain. :D

Chal tata 5 din ke liye..

Tinku

shub said...

"Try not to ruin anyone's day, and you'll have a peaceful night"

sweet :)

Thanu said...

Hey I usually go to sleep soon. Once I was thinking what shud I blog about and stayed awake for hour and a half scripting my whole blog in my head and then I had to stop myself and think of something else. I had actually written a post about my sleeping place Aven

Pallavi said...

Interesting!! I sometimes don' get sleep because I am so excited for next day or thinking big time and boom no sleep for long time....but in ur list I have tried some n will try the one's which I havent.:)

Anonymous said...

hmm!! some succour for insomniacs like me...btw you 'd like to add Amisha Patel's name to that list :-)

Unknown said...

Sayesha said..(from previous post)
>Share CCM with you? Kabhiiii nahin

kya khadoos nikli re tu! And i had this wrong impression that you were a very nice girl and everything...jeez, blogs can be so deceptive. ;)

I am with Pallavi, can get myself really excited about something and not sleep. Or watch a stupid scary movie, then see shadows lurking outside my window, and then....omg, its plain misery. :(

Suds said...

Are Sayesha good post yaar. Are mereko bhi neend nahi ati. Now I will try some of the suggestions.. Hope something works..:):)

Hazel Dream said...

girls will remain selfish and cold you have forgotten making Love or was that intentional?

Big Man said...

how can u forget

* watch a golf tournament live
* watch world cup of curling

Sayesha said...

#Tinku,
What?! Tussi ja rahe ho?? Tussi naaa jao! Ok fine, you're not dhakkan! Khush?? :D

Yeh paanch din aapke bina kaise katenge?
Answer: Shaanti se!

:P

#Shub,
:)

#Thanu,
Wow, I read about Aven... let's have a pajama party, you, me n ROS? :P

#Pallavi,
You're SO right! Sometimes I get so excited about the next day's events, I can't sleep. :)

#SS,
Hahaha! Yeah, Amisha Patel too! :D

#Ipanema girl,
Some pple would do anything to emotionally blackmail their way to get choc chip muffins! :P
ps: I can't sleep after watching scary movies too. So I have stopped watching them! :P

#Suds,
Haha! Lemme know which one worked for ya! :)

#Dream Merchant,
I don't write about things I know zilch about.

#Big Man,
Hahahahahaha! Good point about the golf tournament, but what is curling?
ps: Even soccer has the same effect on me as a golf tournament.
ps: Soccer fans, don't kill me now! :P

Big Man said...

curling consists of a round rock (to put it simply) that you slide across ice to the target area and the best part is there are two people who brush the ice for you to make the passage smooth...

who comes up with this stuff?

Rays Of Sun said...

Pajama party mein pajama pehanna zarooree hota hai kya:P

Waise sometimes if i have a 6 AM flight I dont sleep thinking I might not get up:P

Anonymous said...

//Yeh paanch din aapke bina kaise katenge?Answer: Shaanti se!

Maine abhi abhi decide kiya ki main jaunga lekin tera blog check karta rahunga cyber-cafe mein.

BWAHAHAHA!=))

Tinku

t said...

my mom says rub some warm coconut oil on ur soles, usse bahut acchi neend aati hai.
i do it sometimes and it works awesomely :)

Sayesha said...

#Ann,
It's a gift, cherish it! :)

#Big Man,
Sheesh. What a game. Obviously some very drunk eskimos came up with it! :P

#ROS,
Oye! Party mein aane ka hai na? Bina pajama ke not allowed! Sheesh! :O

#Tinku,
Ya allah! Kis janam ka gunaah bhugatna pad raha hai? :)

#Trupsster,
Really? But the sheets will get oil-stained :(

Hazel Dream said...

Yes Love is a mystry for xx chromosome. its a virtue which only Y chromosome Possess .in this beautiful life .. why talk about sleeping.

Jeevan Baretto said...

Arre you have given some N number of ways to go to bed. Can you suggest some tips on how to come out of bed. Here in the hostel you would find almost everyone sleeping till 10 in the morning and sleeping whenever they get time.. Now what do you say about it..??

Kusum Rohra said...

Hhmmm i usually have no trouble sleeping ...er ...er only when i am in office heheheh. I sleep best when i am worried about something, so instead of thinking of the solution to the problem i am worried about you will find me sleeping zzzzzzzzzzz...

Hey sayesha, pls yaar write a list for *jago mohan pyaare* wake up in time also,I'll be waiting :)

Sayesha said...

#Dream Merchant,
//Love is a mystry for xx chromosome. its a virtue which only Y chromosome Possess

HAHAHAHA! I can't believe you actually said that! :D

#Jeevan,
See latest post! :)

#Kusum,
Your jaago mohan pyaare post is ready! :)