The Simplest Cure for Insomnia

Post written by Leo Babauta <http://leobabauta.com> .

For years I had a mild-to-medium case of insomnia, often staying up late
watching crappy television and eating junk food because I couldn’t fall
asleep, no matter how tired I was.

It is miserable. You walk through the day like a zombie, unable to
function properly. You desperately try to sleep but nothing works.
Sleeping pills leave you feeling drugged out.

My first simple cure was running. I’d try to get up 15 minutes earlier
each day to run, and the running would leave me very tired but I still
had a day ahead of me. I’d be so exhausted by bedtime that I slept
instantly. Hard exercise is a great fix for insomnia.

Recently I’ve had another slight bout of insomnia, and so I rediscovered
a trick I learned several years ago. It’s so simple it seems like it
can’t possibly work, but it unfailingly does.

The simplest cure for insomnia: get comfortable and close your eyes, and
then replay your day in your head, in every detail possible, from the
moment you woke up. Start from the moment your eyes opened, and replay
every movement – getting out of bed, starting the coffeemaker, going to
the bathroom, washing your hands, or whatever. Don’t summarize – leave
nothing out.

It works. I’ve never made it to mid-morning in my mind movies. I
inevitably fall asleep. It’s much better than counting sheep (I’ve
tried) and even better than mediation (I’ve done that too). Try it, and
when it works, praise me in your dreams.