20 replies to this topic

[rhythmboy]

Goddamit - woke up at 4.20 this morning with (1) a head full of 'to dos' for work and (2) the 'Family Guy' theme song rolling around and around in my head

Still up at 6 as I post and have to get ready to go to work in the next hour or two. So I'm staying up for now and I'll pay for it later

The solution for getting rid of thoughts of work was to write down a to do list and start working on some of the things I can do at this hour (why aren't the other staff on email at 5 in the morning? Slack!), actually very effective at getting rid of them.

Family Guy theme is a harder nut to crack - not helped by recently reading about musical memory and how we store tunes in our brain (it happens in the right frontal cortex apparently, and is linked to the same cortices that are responsible for imagination). Knowing why I have a tune stuck in my head actually increases the sense of it happening! Seems the best solution is to listen to other music - although at times I have the music I'm listening to and the music I'm imagining rolling around simultaneously. Which perhaps supports the theory that imagined music has no connection to the auditory cortex. Although I feel like I'm bordering on schizophrenic.

Yaaarrgghhh!

How do you folk deal with those thoughts that invade the brain and keep you awake? Especially those annoying tunes?

[Spectrum]

In my new line of work, those 3am wake up calls are known as 'flight mares'... happened this morning, imagined a potential major fuck-up likely that's gonna cost $$$ to fix... got to work to discover all's well.

I think the key to minimising those night time disruptions is to ensure one checks off everything in the diary that should have been done, and reschedule anything that wasn't, meaning there's no loose ends to ponder over.

Kinda works, but my mind still starts racing with things I could be doing.

Family Guy, huh? Would you believe I've never watched It?!!

[Captain Terrific]

Spectrum, on 20 July 2011 - 09:36 PM, said:

Family Guy, huh? Would you believe I've never watched It?!!

err, what?!?

[Jester_Fu]

I've always found the list + starting the work process allows me to chill, drop stress levels and sleep again. Ironically, since finishing uni, i've maybe had 2 nights lost sleep from work related stuff. I guess i learned to figure out what the priorities are and make a good start on them ASAP to put my mind at ease with the time frame for doing the work in. So, the to-do list was good, but it wasn't until i figured out how to prioritise and let some 'slip through to the net' occasionally that things seemed to ease sleep/stress wise.

With the old tune stuck in head, i find the best thing is to find some mentally challenging task that requires focus for enough time to forget i was thinking about some song at all and have my head fill with nothing but that problem/task. I guess that works because of the first point and being able to stop at certain points despite my anal tendencies... which is kind of ironic when i read it written

Or you could just take drugs - alcohol, weed, diazepam... the usual sensory depressants. But, drugs are bad, MK?

[dylab]

I too suffer from bouts of insomnia or waking up at three am
I find I sleep better if the iphone isnt by the side of the bed but then I need it on the 3 days I work for alarm clock
on the nights I wake up I tend to read on the phone - very low brightness - dark background and read until i get tired - which can take about 2 hours then try and get an extra hours sleep before up for work

[ryanedward85]

I spent all last night tossing and turning. My Girl friend says that is odd as I do not strike her as being much of a turner. I have the Tron Legacy soundtrack in my head all the time now, not that I mind.

[rhythmboy]

Spectrum, on 20 July 2011 - 09:36 PM, said:

I think the key to minimising those night time disruptions is to ensure one checks off everything in the diary that should have been done, and reschedule anything that wasn't, meaning there's no loose ends to ponder over.

Kinda works, but my mind still starts racing with things I could be doing.

Jester_Fu, on 20 July 2011 - 11:36 PM, said:

I've always found the list + starting the work process allows me to chill, drop stress levels and sleep again. Ironically, since finishing uni, i've maybe had 2 nights lost sleep from work related stuff. I guess i learned to figure out what the priorities are and make a good start on them ASAP to put my mind at ease with the time frame for doing the work in. So, the to-do list was good, but it wasn't until i figured out how to prioritise and let some 'slip through to the net' occasionally that things seemed to ease sleep/stress wise.

Good advice. I've realized also that simply saying "there's nothing I can do about it in the middle of the night - any money (insert person of concern here) isn't worrying about it right now..." helps - it's just a matter of remembering that

Must say generally tho - for someone who spent years going to bed at 2-3am every night, even with early starts in the morning, that now I'm getting to sleep by 10.30 has made a huge difference to my day, my mood and overall sense of goodness, no matter when I wake up.

Jeez is that married life or gettin old or both? Who'd have thought RB would settle down

[Spectrum]

rhythmboy, on 21 July 2011 - 10:41 PM, said:

Good advice. I've realized also that simply saying "there's nothing I can do about it in the middle of the night - any money (insert person of concern here) isn't worrying about it right now..." helps - it's just a matter of remembering that

Must say generally tho - for someone who spent years going to bed at 2-3am every night, even with early starts in the morning, that now I'm getting to sleep by 10.30 has made a huge difference to my day, my mood and overall sense of goodness, no matter when I wake up.

Jeez is that married life or gettin old or both? Who'd have thought RB would settle down

2:28am, I'm up now now, damn it!!! And what seemed to have triggered it was thinking through the need to be re-writing a breakdown of components on an invoice that was intentionally overpaid so that the surplus to be refunded could be easily calculated... then to realise that these particular components were never present - nor ever intended to be - on this particular invoice, so the entire thought process should have be disregarded before it even started! Aaarrrrgggghhhhhh!

RB, I've made a point these past few months to be getting to bed between 9:30 to 10:30, sometimes as early as 9 (if I crash when the little one gets to sleep). It means waking up @ 5am onwards, but also ensures I'm consistently out the door before 7:30am without too much of a head strain. Agreed re 'overall sense of goodness'. And with the body clock re-set, the beginnings of each day off are nice and productive - no waste sleep-in - though hurts if I do stay up beyond midnight and a few drinks.

In other news, our little girl turns 3 next week, party on Sunday, mum over from the other side of the country, friends coming up from Melbourne, happy days!

And how's your girl these days, RB?

[em]

I don't think your'e going crazy. If u head down the road of thinking it's psychological you'll never sleep again and start a Fight Club. Everyone in Melbourne is doing the "how many blankets?" dance. You'd be surprised how the tiniest shift in temperature will wake u up. Get 100% cotton sheets and don't air out the room after dark as the condensation will slightly wet everything, and when u wake up at 4 it's almost like your cooking in juice (ew). Get rid of the synthetic doona and use woollen blankets.

[Mark Shaw]

em, on 22 July 2011 - 12:03 PM, said:

I don't think your'e going crazy. If u head down the road of thinking it's psychological you'll never sleep again and start a Fight Club. Everyone in Melbourne is doing the "how many blankets?" dance. You'd be surprised how the tiniest shift in temperature will wake u up. Get 100% cotton sheets and don't air out the room after dark as the condensation will slightly wet everything, and when u wake up at 4 it's almost like your cooking in juice (ew). Get rid of the synthetic doona and use woollen blankets.

The first rule is we do not talk about it

[TonyG]

I find it very hard to sleep if there is a thunderstorm rolling nearby. Not so much because of the noise, but because of all the electricity in the atmosphere. It can be most uncomfortable. I don't even bother trying to sleep I just browse or read a book.

[rhythmboy]

TonyG, on 05 August 2011 - 10:20 PM, said:

I find it very hard to sleep if there is a thunderstorm rolling nearby. Not so much because of the noise, but because of all the electricity in the atmosphere. It can be most uncomfortable. I don't even bother trying to sleep I just browse or read a book.

I used to live in a 2nd floor room that was about 4 metres from a 600V DC line running on Melbourne's tram network

(for our foreign visitors )...



Can't believe I put up with it for nearly 2 years. Scary when you consider my Tannoys would buzz with 50Hz hum - with no cables attached. Think of what it was doing to my nervous system

[M.jerrick]

OMG. You wouldn't need an MRI Scan, people would probably see your brain pulsating like a plasma lamp of it's own accord.

[rhythmboy]

M.jerrick, on 11 August 2011 - 09:37 PM, said:

OMG. You wouldn't need an MRI Scan, people would probably see your brain pulsating like a plasma lamp of it's own accord.

Indeed!

Added to that it was above a music shop and the owner used to bring his mates in for late-night jam sessions that at times were so loud my furniture upstairs would start moving across the floor from all the vibrations.*

A wonder I got any sleep at all

* one night after a particularly floor-shaking episode where my desk was moving sideways I went down at 3am to ask if they could 'just turn it down a bit' - not actually stop, just pull it back to 100dB or so. One of the owner's mates suggested that I be evicted for 'bringing down their vibe'. Asshole

[TonyG]

rhythmboy, on 13 August 2011 - 10:27 AM, said:

Indeed!

Added to that it was above a music shop and the owner used to bring his mates in for late-night jam sessions that at times were so loud my furniture upstairs would start moving across the floor from all the vibrations.*

A wonder I got any sleep at all

* one night after a particularly floor-shaking episode where my desk was moving sideways I went down at 3am to ask if they could 'just turn it down a bit' - not actually stop, just pull it back to 100dB or so. One of the owner's mates suggested that I be evicted for 'bringing down their vibe'. Asshole

What a TIT

[Mark Shaw]

I have a neighbor, a Kraut with a serious attitude. For weeks he and his family have been making a real racket all day and night. Especially at dawn with loads of up and down the stairs shit. So last weekend I put on Terminator Salvation on in glorious 9.1 and at a high volume. He actually had the nerve to scream at me to lower the volume. I gave him an answer, it was 2 words and the 2nd was Off. Fucking Krauts. Needless to say the volume next door is a lot lower now and I sleep like a bairn.

[ryanedward85]

My girlfriend and I bought some land in the Philippines and in a few years we will be building a house on it. It will have a dedicated HT room and office for work. I'm looking forward to watching my movies and listening to my music as loud as I want. My girlfriend's best friend plays for a large orchestra in the Netherlands, he also has land nearby so we will be jamming big time soon.

[Mark Shaw]

Suffering from insomnia big time for the last 3 weeks or so. Tried various "herbal remedies" but nothing seems to work. Thing is I'm tired enough to sleep but somehow cannot. Any suggestions or solutions would be appreciated.

[Cheyne]

You can buy things like Mersyndol over the counter which act as a calmative but help you get to sleep, id try that next, of if a doctor will prescribe for you valium is great for relaxing you enough to sleep but without forcing you to sleep like some other horrible sleeping pills.

Its a nasty spiral, you need to try get your normal sleep rhythm back other wise you start becoming used to being awake at weird hours.

Alternatively, start doing lots of exercise at night, if your tired enough you'll sleep.

[ryanedward85]

A few years ago I was in Asia for the Ministry Of Sound World Tour and had a long flight from London to Singapore. I tried a Valium to help me sleep. It worked for about 30 minutes and that was it. Highly disappointing experience tbh.