Quick tips
- Comot for bed wen sleep no gree come.
- Turn di clock make e no face you.
- Write di important tin down, handle am tomorrow.
Na 2 a.m. You don dey inside bed for one hour. Or maybe two. You don turn di pillow reach di cold side, you don try lie on your back, on your side, on di oda side. Your body don tire. But your mind wake well well, e dey run go tomorrow meeting, one tin wey you talk for 2014, whether you remember to lock di motor. And under all of am, one worry wey loud pass: if I no sleep now now, tomorrow don spoil.
Na dat last tin wey you dey think dey do you bad pass wetin you fit imagine.
Na for dis night wey you dey face now we write dis one, and for di plenty nights wey fit dey gada behind am. None of am no be say make you try pass. Sleep na one of di few tins for life wey dey run comot di more you dey chase am.
Why Di Force Dey Turn Against You
To sleep no be sometin wey you dey do. E be like say you just leave everytin, sometin wey your body dey do by imsef wen di condition correct. You no fit force am di way wey you fit force yoursef to stand up or send email. So wen you lie down dey struggle make e happen, na wrong tool you dey use. Na di struggle imsef dey keep you awake.
Sometin quiet dey work under. Two system dey decide wen you go sleep. One na sleep pressure, one kind tiredness wey dey build di longer you dey awake. Di oda one na your inside clock, wey dey time your sleepiness to di day-and-night cycle. Wen di two of dem gree, sleep dey come easy. Wen dem no gree, or wen stress full your body with alertness, you go get dat wide-awake-but-tire feeling wey dey vex person for midnight.
Di worst tin wey you fit do na wetin plenty of us dey do without tinking: stay for bed, close eye, dey try. Night after night, dat one dey teach your brain one strange lesson. Bed go turn to di place wey you dey lie down awake dey feel frustrated. Your body go start to connect di bed with awake instead of rest. Na so few bad nights dey quietly turn to habit.
Wetin To Do For 2 a.m.
If you don dey awake for wetin be like fifteen or twenty minutes and body dey tight you, stand up.
We sabi. Na di opposite of wetin you wan do. But dis one move, to comot for bed wen sleep no gree come, na one of di tools wey get proof pass wey sleep doctors get. Dem dey call am stimulus control, and di reason simple: you want make your brain learn say bed mean sleep, finish. To lie down dey vex dey teach am di opposite.
So na dis version dey work for real life:
- Comot for bed go anoda room, or at least go sidon for chair. Make di light low and warm.
- Do sometin wey calm and small boring. Read small page for paper book. Fold cloth. Listen to sometin quiet. Di goal na gentle, no be sometin wey go wake you, so no work, no bright screen, no dey scroll bad news anyhow.
- Wait for di real sleep wey go wan catch you, di eye wey heavy, di feeling wey you no fit follow wetin you dey read again. No be just tiredness. Real sleep.
- Den go back go bed. If sleep still no come after small time, stand up do am again. As many times as e go take.
E go feel like say e no dey work for di first night. Continue am. You dey train one connection again, and dat one dey take some nights, no be one. Plenty people wey continue stimulus control dey find say bed start to dey pull dem sleep faster, becos dia brain don learn again wetin bed be for.
One tin wey you no go do: no dey look di clock. To dey check time no dey do anytin except feed di calculation of how small sleep you go get, and dat calculation na pure fuel for di worry wey dey keep you awake. Turn di clock make e no face you.
Wen Your Brain No Gree Stop To Dey Talk
For plenty people di problem no be di body, na di mind wey dey run anyhow. Di list of tins to do, di way you dey replay tins, di 'wetin if'. Night quiet, and na inside quiet head worries wey never finish dey come make dem hear dem.
Some tins really dey help for hia.
Keep paper near your bed. Wen one tin come dey insist say e important, write am for one line and tell yourself, true true, say you go handle am tomorrow. To take am comot for your head put am for paper dey give your brain permission make e stop to dey repeat am so you no go forget.
Try one worry window early for evening. Put aside ten or fifteen minutes, before you go bed, to tink well about wetin dey your mind and write down di next steps. E sound like say e too simple. Wetin e dey do na to give your worries one particular place to stay, so dem no go fit ambush you for midnight.
And loose di big fear. Di tin wey you dey tink say 'if I no sleep, tomorrow don scatter' no dey true as e dey feel for 2 a.m. People dey function, often well, even after short night. To remind yourself say you fit survive one bad night dey take some pressure comot, and na di pressure be part of wetin dey keep you awake for di first place.
Di Daytime Tins Wey Dey Decide Your Night
Wetin dey happen for 2 a.m. na di choices wey you make hours before dey shape am. Some wey you suppose sabi:
Caffeine dey stay for body longer pass wetin people tink. Im half-life na like five to six hours, wey mean say half of dat afternoon coffee fit still dey your body wen you wan sleep. For one study, caffeine wey person take even six hours before bed spoil sleep for real. If you dey struggle, to stop am early (say, by early afternoon) na one of di simplest change wey dey pay.
Keep your wake-up time steady, even after bad night. E dey tempt person to sleep long to recover, but na consistent wake time dey hold your inside clock steady. Di morning dey do plenty for tonight pass wetin you go expect.
Give yourself real time to cool down. Bright light and screen for late night dey tell your brain say na still daytime. One dim, slow half-hour before bed, light low, one calm routine, no work, dey help you enter sleep.
Alcohol na fake friend for hia. E fit knock you sleep faster, but e dey scatter your sleep for di second half of di night, na why you dey wake for 3 a.m. after you don drink two-three tin.
None of dis one na magic by imsef. Together dem dey put di chance for your side.
Wen E Pass Just One Bad Period
Almost everybody dey get bad nights. One week wey stress you, new pikin, jet lag, one worry wey no gree stop, dis tins dey come and go, and dem no be insomnia. Na just life.
E good to talk to doctor wen di wahala don settle down well: wen you don dey find am hard to sleep or stay sleep most nights for some weeks or more, and e don dey enter your day as tiredness, low mood, wahala to focus, or say you dey quick vex for di people wey you love. Dat pattern get name, and wetin important pass, e get treatment wey dey work.
For insomnia wey no dey stop, di first treatment no be drug. Na one short, organized program wey dem dey call cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, or CBT-I. E dey put di tools wey we talk for up, di stimulus control, di worry work, careful look at di time wey you dey spend for bed, inside few weeks of guided practice, and big medical bodies dey recommend am pass sleeping drug becos di result dey last. Plenty people wey do am dey sleep well well pass before, and dem dey continue to sleep better even after di program finish. Ask doctor about am. Good guided self-help version sef dey if therapy no easy to reach.
One last word for di night wey you dey inside. If you dey lie down dey read dis one, di kindest tin wey you fit do na to stop to dey score yourself for am. Rest still dey count even wen sleep no gree come. To lie down quiet for dark room, dey breathe slow, no be notin. Sleep go find you wen you stop to dey stand for door dey wait for am.
Wia Dis Info Come From
- Cleveland Clinic, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)
- NHS inform, Sleep problems and insomnia self-help guide
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I): A Primer
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, Caffeine Effects on Sleep Taken 0, 3, or 6 Hours before Going to Bed