How to get a quality sleep & less stress?

[Rykzeon]

Recently I feel that I have no energy to do anything and only wanted to sleep. I drink coffee 2-4 cups everyday.

[Doomkid]

If you find the answer I’d also love to know. Bouts of lethargy are the worst. Sometimes forcing myself to walk when I’m tired helps my body tap into an energy reserve, or at least that’s how it feels, but any additional advice would be great.

[SPG]

I hope this doesn't sound snippy, as I truly mean this: consult your doctor if you haven't already. There could be all sorts of factors from depression to changes in diet or environment, just to name some very broad possibilities, and what might apply for some might not apply to you.

[7Mahonin]

Ideally you should get 8 hours of sleep a night, but realistically you can survive with 6 or 7 hours as well. I would suggest writing a list of task you wish to accomplish for the day and keep yourself busy from the time you wake up until the time you generally go to sleep. 

[Dodgy Dave]

1 hour ago, Rycuz said:

Recently I feel that I have no energy to do anything and only wanted to sleep. I drink coffee 2-4 cups everyday.

Crystal meth. 

[Mr. Freeze]

- Go to bed at a consistent hour.

- Don't have caffeine, sugar or any other stimulant or supplements past early afternoon (the precise time will vary, for me it's past 6PM I won't be able to sleep)

- Get rid of your alarm! Disrupting your sleep with an alarm means you are sleep deprived. Sleeping better is sleeping longer. 

- No big meals before bedtime. 

- Avoid stress before bedtime. 

- Exercise every day. 

[BerserkerNoir]

Stop drinking Coffee, turn off all your devices with screens (TV, SmartPhones, Computer etc) 2 hours before going to bed.
Blue Light from the Devices makes the Brain Think its still daylight.
Just by stopping the Coffee intake should be enough.

[Redneckerz]

2 hours ago, 7Mahonin said:

Ideally you should get 8 hours of sleep a night, but realistically you can survive with 6 or 7 hours as well.

This is a myth, and its also one parents love to use: Sleep atleast 8 hours!

 

The truth is it depends on the person.

 

People can be fine with 5 hours or even 4. The latter is skirting it though.

 

Not disagreeing with the rest however. And a good night of sleep is a great feeling.

[Sonikkumania]

1 hour ago, Mr. Freeze said:

- Get rid of your alarm! Disrupting your sleep with an alarm means you are sleep deprived. Sleeping better is sleeping longer.

- Exercise every day. 

Good tips but I disagree with these. Most of people have to get up in the morning to school/work so it's necessary to have some time to get on with morning routines. Getting to bed early enough is a suitable solution.

 

As for exercising you'd might want to start every 2nd day. It's fine to hit the gym 3 times a week if you're getting or are into it. Your body needs rest too so no need to exhaust it every day, plus it gets demotivating fast if you force yourself to pump every day.

 

Remember healthy meals and a diet. Get fresh air. Get to the nature if you can. Avoid continous use of smart phones and other tech.

 

If it feels hard to start something new, don't be too angry on yourself. Take slow steps regurarly and you'll see progress.

[Murdoch]

40 minutes ago, Sonikkumania said:

As for exercising you'd might want to start every 2nd day. It's fine to hit the gym 3 times a week if you're getting or are into it. Your body needs rest too so no need to exhaust it every day, plus it gets demotivating fast if you force yourself to pump every day.

 

Exercise need not be hitting the gym. Even a brisk 10 minute walk is exercise.

[Sonikkumania]

3 minutes ago, Murdoch said:

 

Exercise need not be hitting the gym. Even a brisk 10 minute walk is exercise.

I know. 10 push ups a day is a good daily routine. The biggest enemy is motivation. If you skip one day, you'd skip another, and so on ..

[Solmyr]

5 hours ago, Rycuz said:

I drink coffee 2-4 cups everyday.

There's your problem.

 

The half-life of caffeine is around 5 hours. Half-Life is the time it takes for a substance to be reduced to half it's original ammount. So it's effects could last nearly up to 10 hours it takes for the caffeine to be out of your system.

 

After drinking a cup of coffee, at first you feel an energy boost, feel more alert and think faster, after 5 hours you start feeling even more tired than before you drank a cup of coffee, so you drink another to replenish the effect, while half of the last caffeine intake still remains in your body, thus it never goes away also your body starts building up resistance to the stimultant effect, thus you need to drink more to get the same effect, and in the end you still feel kinda tired all the time. Another effect that stimulants also have is heightening anxiety, which is also an effect of sleep deprivation. 

 

Also you shouldn't use any electronic device that emits light when going to sleep, as that tricks your brain into interpreting the ammount of light it processes as a sign that nightfall has yet to come, so it doesn't release melatonin in response, thus takes longer to fall asleep and feel anxious for it.

Edited September 26, 2022 by Solmyr

[heliumlamb]

in my experience, oversleeping is worse than undersleeping, and sometimes as bad as just not sleeping at all.

as for coffee? the following should apply to all manner of stimulants. every single one of them will distort and be detrimental to the body's energy baseline (variable per person, per day) over extended use, and very detrimental to the circulatory system too.

Edited September 26, 2022 by heliumlamb

[Pechudin]

I have begun practicing simple meditation before sleep, instead watching whatever inane BS on my phone. That's a small change you could make.

 

I am a big proponent of exercise (running in my case), but that is a bit of a larger time and effort investment.

[Somniac]

Put your phone away and read a book for an hour or so before going to bed. I've had all the sleep supplements on the market, some of them are great but it's not great to use them all the time. Reading knocks me out every time.

[smeghammer]

I tell you what, all good tips above, but it will entirely depend on you and your lifestyle (though changing your lifestyle a bit to accommodate can work too).

 

I've always struggled with exercise and keeping fit, but the real changer was actually lockdown and COVID19 - there was fuck-all to do on furlough so I started walking - there's a nice 3.5 mile route where I live. Started easy as others have said above, but kept it up and changed my diet to cut out most starchy carbs (no more pizza or crusty white bread :-( ). I started carrying weights - a weighted vest and wrist weights - and now routinely carry 23Kg, as well as doing a full shoulder, bi- and triceps workout with the wrist weights (5kg each side).

 

The point is, I have got massively fitter as well as losing 2 stone, and I definitely sleep better - partly because I get physically tired, but mostly I think because I feel better about myself, so can relax more effectively; and also feel more able to move easily during the day.

 

It absolutely is very hard to start, but once you get into the habit, it does make you feel so much better about yourself - and I think that is a key to not feeling lethargic and aimless.

 

I haven't given up the coffee though :-)

[Dark Pulse]

• A good bed. If your bed or boxspring are old, replace them. HUGE difference.
• Consistent bedtime is key.
• Cut out the distractions. Phones off or silent. Avoiding electronics is preferable, but if you must, turn the blue light filters on an hour or two before you go to bed.
• Some people like some natural noises to fall asleep to. Things like falling rain, rustling leaves, etc. I myself like distant train horns (though I don't use that stuff to fall asleep, admittedly).
• Avoid anything too stimulating within a few hours of bed. Don't eat, especially if it contains sugar. Don't drink anything that contains caffeine. Don't do anything you won't be able to stop thinking about.
• Avoid spending extra time in bed as much as possible. You want your body to associate the bed with sleep.

[reflex17]

22 hours ago, Redneckerz said:

This is a myth

According to neuroscience it isn't
 

tips on getting better sleep start at 14:30

Edited September 27, 2022 by reflex17

[exl]

Adding to the tip of watching screens before bed, in addition to blue light filters/eye comfort modes also use the minimum usable brightness. And avoid watching things that are very exciting, scary or that otherwise drive up feelings or emotions. But best is still to get away from them completely before bedtime.

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

If I have trouble sleeping I usually do something that I would only ever do in my dreams. I take off my shirt and play my saxophone for nine minutes while staring at myself in the mirror, microwave a couple sausages and put them back the fridge, and complain on the internet about how breastmilk caused me to have a fear of heights. Then I lay back down and go back to sleep because my brain thinks I've been dreaming the whole time anyway. I've done this since I was a kid, my family just figured I was sleepwalking.

Edited September 27, 2022 by TheMagicMushroomMan

[Daytime Waitress]

1 hour ago, TheMagicMushroomMan said:

If I have trouble sleeping I usually do something that I would only ever do in my dreams. I take off my shirt and play my saxophone for nine minutes

 

I want to believe that you don't actually know how to play the saxaphone - you just bought one for this dream gimmick. Don't let me down.

[Redneckerz]

5 hours ago, reflex17 said:

According to neuroscience it isn't

And your response is a TED video talk?

 

Yeah i am good. I was just posting an opinion anyways.

[Kyka]

On 9/26/2022 at 2:05 PM, BerserkerNoir said:

Blue Light from the Devices makes the Brain Think its still daylight.
 

 

I found it slightly amusing that Doomworld happens to be the bluest forum I have ever seen. :D 

 

I may have cracked this case wide open. :D

 

On a serious note @Rycuz wish you well and hope it gets sorted out. Blessings.

[Biodegradable]

11 minutes ago, Kyka said:

I found it slightly amusing that Doomworld happens to be the bluest forum I have ever seen. I may have cracked this case wide open. :D

 

<switches to Plain White mode>

GAH! My eyes!

 

I've done most of the things people suggest. The only thing I can't do is stop using an alarm clock. I go to bed consistently at 11pm on weeknights, but if I don't set an alarm, I will sleep until midday. Happens every single time. Granted, I work from home and already work my own hours, so this isn't necessarily a huge deal for me, but while I still live with my folks, so I need to be up in the morning and work around their schedules so we all circle around each other's morning routines easily.

 

When I move out next year, I could try an experiment where I don't set an alarm at all and see if things gradually change where I start waking up at a more reasonable hour. Until then though, got to keep setting an alarm for a while longer.

Edited September 27, 2022 by Biodegradable

[Casketkrusher]

On 9/26/2022 at 3:03 AM, Rycuz said:

Recently I feel that I have no energy to do anything and only wanted to sleep. I drink coffee 2-4 cups everyday.

I have the same, work is devistating for me, full days really taking its toll. Or I am just a weak person who knows. I get that a lot, "your generation is weak". Maybe, I don't know. I have not much energy left when I get home from work, same in weekends, I lay in my bed for almost the entire day and when I eventually get behind my PC or whatever I don't feel very productive. Sucks, maybe I am going to work a bit less to see if that changes anything. I also have to work on my diet and maybe do some excercise, but then again I want to do that but when you have no energy, how I am going to achieve this? Weirdly enough when its nighttime I feel much more alive than durng the days.

[reflex17]

8 hours ago, Redneckerz said:

And your response is a TED video talk?

Yeah, they are more qualified to speak on it than I am. I guess I could've chosen a better video but that was the first one that came to mind. I meant for the video specifically as a response to the thread not any one individual.

Edited September 27, 2022 by reflex17

[dasho]

This article was an absolute game-changer for me. Yes, the original question wasn't necessarily about pain or discomfort, but those can also impact sleep in a quality vs. quantity manner.

[Daytime Waitress]

7 hours ago, Casketkrusher said:

I also have to work on my diet and maybe do some excercise, but then again I want to do that but when you have no energy, how I am going to achieve this?

 

Little by little. Find something that works for you - walking, jogging, free-weights, cycling, whatever. And do a little each week, each day. Sticking to it is hard, and starting is even harder - I know I'm constantly dropping the exercise and putting the weight back on. But your body responds to it, and it gets a little easier to get back on that horse because you recognise how much better you feel. Keep at it.

 

7 hours ago, Casketkrusher said:

 I get that a lot, "your generation is weak". Maybe, I don't know.

 

I don't want to indulge in exactly the same kind of absolutism, just the opposite direction, but... lol fuck no. We're better at listening when ourselves or others around us say, "I ain't doing well" or "I'm fed up with the horseshit that is making me feel like this".

[MrFroz]

I think that it really depends on what is it that you are going through right now that is causing you to be stressed, because there might be some stuff going on in your life that is stressing you out but there is probably very little you can do about it. So I think a good step could be identifying those heavy burdens and figure out if there's anything you can do about it.

 

From my experience: after having a job with stable income for most of the past year, I am currently unemployed. Needless to say not having money to buy me things isn't something I like, but I took a couple of measures to be less frustrated about it. For example, I had a wish-list on Steam of +50 games, but I have now emptied it because I didn't like the way I felt whenever a game was for sell at a crazy discount percentage and even then I still wasn't able to afford it. I'm also trying to find free alternatives to services I can't pay premium for anymore.

 

I also need to be reminded sometimes that things happen for a reason, because I tend to forget until I do some mindfulness. I resigned from work because it had become a daily slog of co-workers who shunned me when they weren't being totally indifferent to me. I have a neurological condition and I was even getting hazed by the very supervisor of the Inclusion & Diversity program of the enterprise. And (somewhat) similarly to you, I spent the entire month after quitting sleeping in my room most of the day before becoming functional again. And I think my body and mind needed that downtime.

Edited September 27, 2022 by MrFroz

[Herr Dethnout]

On 9/25/2022 at 9:03 PM, Rycuz said:

Recently I feel that I have no energy to do anything and only wanted to sleep. I drink coffee 2-4 cups everyday.

I tend to not drink much to nothing coffee at all aside just for enjoyment. The coffee is a drug (obviously not a the same level as the stronger ones heh) and can generate addiction or even a feeling of absense, make you think that need coffee every minute to stay awaken even if you have a good amount of sleep hours.
 

I suggest to reduce the amount of cups (1 cup a day is more than enough) if you can't stop to drink. Maintain your body and brain stimulated through exercises can help a lot to reduce the feeling of being exhausted even when you got the 8 hours of sleep. A good diet can help too (fruits > coffee heh)

Everybody above give you great suggestions too C:

 

On 9/26/2022 at 2:31 AM, heliumlamb said:

in my experience, oversleeping is worse than undersleeping, and sometimes as bad as just not sleeping at all.

as for coffee? the following should apply to all manner of stimulants. every single one of them will distort and be detrimental to the body's energy baseline (variable per person, per day) over extended use, and very detrimental to the circulatory system too.

Couldn't agree more with this, oversleeping is really terrible habit.