Last night I was in bed just after 9pm. It felt much, much later than that. I would have been asleep within 5 minutes, and I sleep pretty well. I had to make a bathroom stop at around 2am, but I went straight back to sleep until the alarm at 6am. They were talking about getting to sleep when you’re having trouble, since it appears one of the presenters only got about 2 hours of sleep the night before. He was in a hotel room, and apparently had a lot on his mind. There were a lot of the usual muppets calling in to offer their suggestions, mostly stupid, but one guy in particular had some insight. He suggested just going for a walk; 15 to 20 minutes, just walking somewhere.
I agree with this idea. It helps you to clear your mind of whatever you’re thinking about, and the exercise seems to take the edge off any nervous energy. When you lie down and attempt to sleep again, you’re just that little bit more relaxed and drifting off into the Land of Nod isn’t interrupted by worried musings about the next day. I can also recommend having a glass of milk before bed. Milk apparently contains some chemicals that help to trigger sleepiness at night. I should look up more information about this and post some links. Once you’re actually in bed, I can recommend breathing deeply, the way you do when you’re actually asleep, and counting the breaths. The breathing gets your body into sleep mode and helps you to relax, and counting your breaths keeps your brain occupied on something simple and boring so you don’t think about everything else.
Today I’m off to the Melbourne Grand Prix to watch the F1 drivers protect their engines by staying off the track.