I would agree with almost all of this. The worst bouts of insomnia I had were caused by going without sleep for a day or two and then starting to fixate on all the issues it might cause if I did not sleep. The anxiety surrounding the problems I would have the next day with little sleep was the biggest culprit.
You stick yourself in a programmatic loop by trying so hard to make yourself sleep. As you said, sleep just happens, you don't force it.
Generations of people have gone on very little sleep for decent stretches of time. It is impossible for your body to not sleep and at some point it will happen whether you want it to or not. Fixation on making your sleep better will only do the opposite.
Do the main things that help sleep - exercise, no caffeine after noon or so (if you're on normal day schedule), get off the screens at night near bed time and wind down appropriately. Other than that you must take an attitude of 'So what if I don't sleep. I'll feel slightly bad tomorrow and that's about it'. You will not suffer all that many long term effects of a little sleep deprivation here and there.
Thank you. This and GP's comment are refreshing to hear. All I see on the news about lack of sleep is doom and gloom. According to them, I'm totally fucked in a myriad of ways and it's too late for me since I've held a sleep deficit for so long now.
Yeah, I understand lack of adequate sleep is bad for me, no shit. I'm doing the best I can and you're not helping. (addressing those sleep gloom and doom people)
I just had a kid. I came to the conclusion that if sleep deprivation was a detrimental as some of these people say then our species would have become extinct long ago. Our bodies are able to cope just fine on lack of sleep and recover down the road. Is it ideal? No, but I've surprised myself with how functional I can actually be with lack of sleep. I just say, hey that sucks, and then move on with my day.
You stick yourself in a programmatic loop by trying so hard to make yourself sleep. As you said, sleep just happens, you don't force it.
Generations of people have gone on very little sleep for decent stretches of time. It is impossible for your body to not sleep and at some point it will happen whether you want it to or not. Fixation on making your sleep better will only do the opposite.
Do the main things that help sleep - exercise, no caffeine after noon or so (if you're on normal day schedule), get off the screens at night near bed time and wind down appropriately. Other than that you must take an attitude of 'So what if I don't sleep. I'll feel slightly bad tomorrow and that's about it'. You will not suffer all that many long term effects of a little sleep deprivation here and there.