[FK Pimp]

you missed one out:
* Anyone who wants to part with their money to hear nothing new

[Matt M]

Hahaha!

I'd like some of that sleep please. Luke has always been a "bad" sleeper, waking every few hours or so. Last night he woke every 40-60 minutes without fail as he's teething and has a bad cold.

I know coffee is frowned upon on the zone, but it's so good right now.

[Jet]

Sleep is for girls......and communists......

[Will Walshe]

Those damn strong, lean communists with their excellent immune function, improved mood and general outlook on life...

[FK Pimp]

indeed, but the more you read about it the less you do it i reckon - the more you read about it the more you lie in bed thinking 'crap I better not wake up <4 hours or I'll miss out on the delta phase, how many hours left, oh crap, how many?' etc etc.

(my opinion only, backed up by zero science or fact.)

[Will Walshe]

Chris Barclay, on Oct 25 2008, 06:06 PM, said:

indeed, but the more you read about it the less you do it i reckon - the more you read about it the more you lie in bed thinking 'crap I better not wake up <4 hours or I'll miss out on the delta phase, how many hours left, oh crap, how many?' etc etc.

(my opinion only, backed up by zero science or fact.)

That's a quick way to drive yourself insane alright. Best thing I've found when that happens is to get up, walk around for a bit then have an ice-cold shower lasting 3-5ish minutes. Towel off quickly and head back to bed. You'll sleep like a log afterwards.

[Will]

Will Walshe, on Oct 26 2008, 05:17 PM, said:

That's a quick way to drive yourself insane alright. Best thing I've found when that happens is to get up, walk around for a bit then have an ice-cold shower lasting 3-5ish minutes. Towel off quickly and head back to bed. You'll sleep like a log afterwards.

My parents will not take kindly to me waking them up in the middle of the night to have a quick cold 5 min shower with claims that its helping me sleep lol.

[Rich]

Will Walshe, on Oct 26 2008, 06:17 PM, said:

have an ice-cold shower lasting 3-5ish minutes

[Will Walshe]

Weird huh?

It was just an empirical thing for me for ages (this is how I got a decent 8 hours the night before my finals), but I stumbled across some stuff recently about how your body temperature drops naturally when you sleep, so dropping it a little by artificial means makes it a touch easier to nod off.

[Aside: This is part of the reason why hypothermia victims generally die in their sleep, btw]

If the prospect sounds too daunting, try alternating between hot for 1 minute, cold for 30 seconds a few times, finishing on cold. I promise you this is a lot more relaxing than it sounds.

[RossMc]

Will, on Aug 25 2008, 09:42 AM, said:

So can you tell me why I only get lucid dreams?

They were cool at first but they're really annoying now I wake up and sometimes I have memeries ofconversations and stuff but I can't remember if I dreamed them or not.

Sorry if this is going a bit far back in the thread! Will, the initial stages of learning how to have lucid dreams involve consciously acknowledging that you are going to sleep and keeping your brain ticking over while you drift off. Try and put all thought of sleep out of your mind and just go blank, or read a book - anything to take your mind away from the fact that you're going to sleep and to let your brain relax.

The Art of Dreaming by Carlos Castaneda offers a slightly esoteric take on the subject. Or there's tons on Wikipedia.

[Will]

No its fine lol believe me anything that helps is great cos they can be really scary aswell when you start loosing control of what is going on. I do read before I go to sleep as this relaxes me but when I actually lay down its like I just completley wake up again.

Last night instead of cold showers I just left my window wide open so my room was freezing and I did get to sleep quicker and didn't wake up once although I was freezing when I woke up. So I will be trying this for the next couple days to see how this helps me.

[RossMc]

I sleep with the window wide open, and found it helps to have two blankets - one to cover you, and a smaller one that you can bundle up around your head to stop your face freezing.

[Will]

Nice Idea I put a pillow over my head lol.

[RossMc]

Sorry to ignite a very old thread, but read this recently and it's very interesting:

Unleash The Power of The Nap

Tl;dr - you sleep in 90 minute cycles. Go for a 15 minute power nap when you need a boost, or sleep in multiples of 90 minutes to let your brain fully recover and leave you refreshed and able to function properly. That's why Chet's 3 hours sleepies leave him feeling good.

[Franz29]

I could do with this - getting practically none at night, and it'll be worse once the baby comes...

I'll give it a read and see what's up.

[Franz29]

Working on around 3 hours per night right now and it's affecting almost everything I'm doing. REALLY have to check that link...