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Your mind is racing, you're tossing and turning - you know you're in for another sleepless night. Insomnia has reared its ugly head and you don't know what you can do to finally get some well-deserved zzz's.
I'll be the first to admit that I am a true insomniac (just take a look-see at the published times for this and some of my other blog posts!) But there are a few things that I can certainly avoid in order to get a good night's rest...especially some of these senseless rituals that I tend to perform right before I'm supposed to be sound asleep:
1. Above, drinking any sort of caffeinated beverage. Coffee, soda, Red Bull, 5-Hour Energy - you get the point. I mean, duh. (Drinking lots of water right before bed isn't too smart, either.)
2. Watching any part of a series on television. For some reason, the best of the worst is on television after midnight - in bulk. You name it, if I start watching one episode and there's 10 more, I feel like I must stay tuned to see what happens next. (Enter all guilty pleasure shows here...)
3. Doing my nails - nail art if I feel extra energetic. Looks great(!) until I finally do decide to sleep - and the position of choice is as though I'm in some sort of casket. This is so I avoid smudged nails in the morning (which happens anyway....)
4. Playing any video/online/app game. Bejeweled, Words With Friends, Draw Something, Mario Kart, Scrabble...not a good idea when you're trying to sleep. Especially if your opponent gets a notification at 4AM. Whoops.
5. Listening to any sort of music you can sing along to. Wilson Phillips, Beyonce, Journey...I need to take these off of my "I NEED TO SLEEP" playlist.
6. Turning the A/C to an almost freezing temperature. Unless you're armed with a down comforter, hat, gloves or scarf, you will be forced to turn this off in the middle of the night. If you are in the 21st century and have a remote, congratulations! For the rest of us, hellooo stubbed toe.
7. Logging onto Facebook. 'Nuff said.
8. Piggybacking on #7, surfing the Internet, period. I can't begin to tell you how many hours I've wracked up researching random topics such as hairstyles, current events, shoes, celebrities, etc. (You've probably noticed that I use the term "researching" quite loosely here...)
9. Laundry. I always forget to factor in drying time. Double duh.
10. Blogging. =)
Here's to a good night's sleep!
