Re: How to Not Get a Good Night’s Sleep
Now, why in the world would someone not want to get a good night’s sleep? There are lots of reasons.
Say, for example, you’ve met your friends for drinks and DJs at Bill’s Bar and Grill in Beantown, and you roll in to your hotel room at about 2:30 am. You have to catch a plane for Oakland at 7 am, which means you need to leave for Logan at 5 am, and you haven’t packed yet. You’re exhausted. What do you do?
1) DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CONSUME COFFEE, TEA, SODA, OR SUGAR. Those things are good for quick surges, but you’ll tire yourself out in the process and be even more exhausted. If you must sustain yourself in this way, drink something low in caffeine over a long period of time.
2) Take a tepid shower (NOT hot). Wash your hair, brush your teeth, and scrub from head to toe.
3) Dress as if you had just woken up. Put on a clean shirt, pants, socks if you got em’. Don’t, however, put on your shoes yet.
4) Turn on all the lights in the room. Desk lamps, overhead lamps, whatever. If you don’t want to put on ALL the lights, just turn on as many as you would in order to, say, work at your desk.
5) Turn on the TV. Turn it up as close to normal volume as possible, louder if you don’t think you’re going to bother anyone. Avoid anything dull or educational, unless it’s something you find absolutely fascinating. Nick at Nite plays reruns of popular sitcoms all night. The Cosby Show, Cheers, Newhart, and Taxi are good choices for me. You could also try this with the radio, but that never works for me.
6) Lie down on TOP of the sheets of the bed. DO NOT climb into the bed. Ideally, don’t even lie down. Stack the pillows so you’re kind of sitting up.
7) Set your watch alarm or cell phone to go off at the earliest you want to wake up. Set the clock radio in your room or ask for a wake-up call at the LATEST you want to wake up.
8) After about an hour or two when your alarm goes off, strip down and take a cool shower for about 5 minutes. Towel off and get dressed again.
This always works for me. The key is to fool your mind that you’re only laying down for a quick nap. Last week, I got 12 hours of sleep in five days.
