I've been messing with my iPhone pretty much each night until my eyes get sleepy doesn't take long!

I snuggle with my doggie too

Most of the time [now] before bed, I talk with me lady , take a leak [or dump], brush me teeth, then off to dreamland.....Where the world can be a strange place of Love, Desire, Weirdness, & Random Zombie attacks.

[Edited 12/17/12 0:04am]

I try to take out my contacts by 10pm at the latest and wear my glasses until I go to bed (usually between 12 - 1am) so my eyes can rest.

I usually also take off my make-up / wash my face when I take out my contacts.

I watch the 11 o'clock news to see what the weather is supposed to be for the week. Sometimes I watch Seinfeld reruns and Jimmy Kimmel's monologue.

When I'm ready for bed, I brush my teeth, put moisturizer on my face, put in my mouth guard (I grind my teeth), and change into my pj's.

I shower (even though I also shower in the morning) and get ready for bed, crawl into bed, go on my laptop for a bit, then lay in bed for hours thinking about shit until I finally fall asleep.

Wash up

Meditation

I always go outside for many moments and breathe in deeply and give thanx to the universe

Pat the animals and tell them I love them

Kiss TR and say I love you

get in bed

stare at candle flame until eyes cant not

blow out flame

allow myself to drift to sleep or my mind to wander until I do sleep

Try desperately to be in bed by 10pm and fail. Pretty much the routine now.

Something like:

Exercise

Shower

lotion

teeth

hair

watch tv or movie or read

pass out

I have had big-time trouble sleeping for years. Either I can't fall asleep for hours, or I wake up in the middle of the night and don't fall back to sleep. If you've ever insomnia, you know it makes you super depressed and crazy.

Besides just physical issues causing the insomnia, I know I have too much stress and have developed bedtime anxiety. I started taking Ativan at night some time ago. Before that, I was taking Ambien, which is terrible. Don't ever take it. Now, I want to get off Ativan, though my doctor doesn't think it's any big deal so I only take it at night and it's a low dose. My theory is that it is causing me depression that seems to kick in around the time that the drug is almost out of my system the next day.

Having said all that...I'm working on a sleep routine, which is working out pretty good so far. No caffeine after noon. No eating after 9 p.m., unless it's a small thing like a few crackers or glass of milk. Computer, iPhone, put away between 9 and 10. I watch TV (nothing really involved and especially no news or true crime shows). Between 10 and 11, I have a cup of herbal tea and read, preferably something funny. I'm weaning myself off the Ativan, so I still am taking that in lower dosages for the next couple of months.

Sometimes I meditate and do the candle staring thing. It is really relaxing.

Plus, I wear sleep headphones at night, listening to a mix of noises on my SleepStream app. They mix the different color noises and it perfectly tunes all the noise out that is going on in my house till all hours of the night. My husband stays up late playing his guitar and watching TV. I have no idea what time my three teens go to bed. All I know is there is a tremendous amount of walking around, shutting doors and dishes clanging around in this house all night!

* Groom and then lounge in a hot bath

* Pick out clothes for the following day

* Pour a bedside beverage of some sort

* Kick the cat out of the bedroom if he's there

* Hop in bed

* Make sure my alarm is set

* Usually peruse the internet until sleepy, though I may ween myself of that

lock the doors, send the dog out to pee, clean my teeth & wash my fanny, have some sex, set alarm clock

excited said:

lock the doors, send the dog out to pee, clean my teeth & wash my fanny, have some sex, set alarm clock

Yup. We totally decompress and turn off the day and get into sleep mode by snuggling and watching retro detective shows, trying to figure out the whodunnit parts as well as crack commentary on the style of them; how they're shot, what we find groovy or absolutely hate about the underscore--- the clothes (for me), the cars (for him) . The ones from the eighties are gooooood for all that .

Adria said:

I have a kinda/sorta routine. I wash my face and brush my teeth, take my supplements, and develop a sketchy plan about what I want to wear the next day (so I at least know whether I need to shave my legs in the morning ).

I used to crawl into bed and watch TV, but I've stopped that. (I also turn off the computer and iPad an hour before I go to bed.) It made it harder to fall asleep, but then there were also times that I'd fall asleep with the TV on, then wake up later and have trouble getting back to sleep. Now, I read a chapter or two on my non-backlit Nook. It helps me to relax and cues my brain that it's time to go to sleep.

I get my jammies on early...7ish.....usually have a late nite snack (cereal) wash & brush around 11pm.

put on my mousturizer(sp) watch some TV...wendy williams is on at midnight. & just wait till i get sleepy..that can take hours!

Only on Sunday through Thursday. I set my alarm clock and then re-check it several times to make sure it's set. I check to make sure it's set to 6 a.m., I check to make sure it's 6 a.m. and not 6 p.m., I check to make sure the button is slided to the alarm position, and I check to see that the volume on the clock radio is turned all the way up. I do it several times a night and it's like a sickness. It drives me crazy. I'm that way with anything that's extremely important...locked doors, stoves and ovens off, air conditioner/heat set to where it won't blow when I leave home, making sure my debit card was put back in my wallet after using it, etc.

1) Wash the dishes

2) Have a small, light snack

3) Wash up

4) Brush and rinse

5) Set the alarm

6) Watch the Wayans Bros

7) Asleep by 10:35pm

heartbeatocean said:

I spend a half hour or more struggling to concentrate and plan out the next day on my calendar. (as detailed as possible, like what I will eat)

What an interesting idea! I have never thought about doing something like this before bedtime.

NDRU said:

heartbeatocean said:

I spend a half hour or more struggling to concentrate and plan out the next day on my calendar. (as detailed as possible, like what I will eat)

What an interesting idea! I have never thought about doing something like this before bedtime.

Last night I saw Liz Lemon getting very excited about organising her calendar with COLOUR CODING

I love the idea of organisationing but ultimately that feels like too much work

Adria said:

I have had big-time trouble sleeping for years. Either I can't fall asleep for hours, or I wake up in the middle of the night and don't fall back to sleep. If you've ever insomnia, you know it makes you super depressed and crazy.

Besides just physical issues causing the insomnia, I know I have too much stress and have developed bedtime anxiety. I started taking Ativan at night some time ago. Before that, I was taking Ambien, which is terrible. Don't ever take it. Now, I want to get off Ativan, though my doctor doesn't think it's any big deal so I only take it at night and it's a low dose. My theory is that it is causing me depression that seems to kick in around the time that the drug is almost out of my system the next day.

Having said all that...I'm working on a sleep routine, which is working out pretty good so far. No caffeine after noon. No eating after 9 p.m., unless it's a small thing like a few crackers or glass of milk. Computer, iPhone, put away between 9 and 10. I watch TV (nothing really involved and especially no news or true crime shows). Between 10 and 11, I have a cup of herbal tea and read, preferably something funny. I'm weaning myself off the Ativan, so I still am taking that in lower dosages for the next couple of months.

Sometimes I meditate and do the candle staring thing. It is really relaxing.

Plus, I wear sleep headphones at night, listening to a mix of noises on my SleepStream app. They mix the different color noises and it perfectly tunes all the noise out that is going on in my house till all hours of the night. My husband stays up late playing his guitar and watching TV. I have no idea what time my three teens go to bed. All I know is there is a tremendous amount of walking around, shutting doors and dishes clanging around in this house all night!

you poor soul. i know how that feels. hope you find your sanctuary

ZombieKitten said:

heartbeatocean said:

heartbeatocean said:

NDRU said:

heartbeatocean said:

I suppose some people would call it compulsive. A roommate saw one of my daily schedules once and made me feel like a freak. I don't care. I think really deeply about how I spend my time, sort of memorize the day the night before. I think it makes me productive and I don't have to make many decisions while it's happening, everything is figured out. Bike or bus to work? Eat lunch out or make it? etc. I'm not a very spontaneous person.

I'd like to try that. I am completely spontaneous, but that does not mean I am fun or adventurous, just disorganized and unproductive.

I really like the practice. I feel queasy and unsettled now if I go to bed without a clear idea of what the next day brings (mind you, I am self-employed so I don't have much external structure to carry me).

And I can be very adventurous when I schedule adventure into the day!

NDRU said:

But I have lingered in the morning surfing my phone instead of getting up.

This will be my undoing. Now I take my iphone to bed, which is better than the iPad because I don't like surfing on it or playing games. But you know what, I'm going to get an old fashioned alarm clock and keep the gadgets away from the bed altogether.

Or maybe maybe I could set the alarm on the gadget then leave it DOWNSTAIRS, so I HAVE to get out of bed to turn the alarm off.

ZombieKitten said:

NDRU said:

What an interesting idea! I have never thought about doing something like this before bedtime.

Last night I saw Liz Lemon getting very excited about organising her calendar with COLOUR CODING

I love the idea of organisationing but ultimately that feels like too much work

You know, planning the way I do is a TON of work. Sometimes it takes me an hour just to plan the next day! But I'm pretty sure it's worth it, because I am efficient once it's all laid out, and I get to things I would neglect otherwise, and I save time by consolidating trips and coordinating my activities and doing this according to priority.

I've been reading a book about time management and one of the key principles is being REALISTIC about time. Hashing out the details beforehand helps me do this.

heartbeatocean said:

ZombieKitten said:

Last night I saw Liz Lemon getting very excited about organising her calendar with COLOUR CODING

I love the idea of organisationing but ultimately that feels like too much work

You know, planning the way I do is a TON of work. Sometimes it takes me an hour just to plan the next day! But I'm pretty sure it's worth it, because I am efficient once it's all laid out, and I get to things I would neglect otherwise, and I save time by consolidating trips and coordinating my activities and doing this according to priority.

I've been reading a book about time management and one of the key principles is being REALISTIC about time. Hashing out the details beforehand helps me do this.

I only plan for a couple of things or I'm a ball of stress and fatigued after