Sterling Terrell

Here is the Idler, on how to fall asleep, by Tom Hodgkinson.

Do not miss the classic: How To Be Idle.

Unfortunately, I am not good at falling asleep in the least.

By nature, I am a night owl.

I never want to go to bed. I never want to get up.

I’m always disagreeable.

Always. 🤣

Some good tips here.

1. Be tired in the first place. This means plenty of mental and physical exercise during the day. I cycle six to ten miles each day, and aim to play tennis three or four times a week.
2. Drink lots of beer. Three pints of good ale each evening guarantees me a good night’s sleep.  Good beer is a sleeping draught. I’m always surprised by sleep guides which say “avoid alcohol”.
3. When you cannot get to sleep, lie on your back staring at the ceiling, and attempt to think nice thoughts. For example, imagine friends and family smiling at you.
4. Read for an hour before attempting to sleep.
5. Absolutely no screens.
6. Go to bed early, some time around 10pm.
7. Aim for nine hours.
8. Don’t be a farmer or work for Clifford Chance or Goldman Sachs.
9. Be happy. Clearly stress and worry interrupt sleep.
10. Avoid sleeping pills. The drugs don’t work, they just make it worse.
11. Absolutely no coffee after noon. Coffee hangs around in your system for eight hours or more. Author Michael Pollan calls caffeine “the enemy of good sleep”. After weaning himself off coffee, he said he “was sleeping like a teenager again.”
12. If you can’t sleep, consider doing something useful rather than worrying. When struck by insomnia, Lewis Carroll would put the light on and work on a maths problem. “I believe that an hour of calculation for me is better than an hour of worry,” he said.