Hacker News Reader

Comment by imglorp | Hacker News Reader

I think everyone can relate to falling asleep listening to a voice or background noise. I wonder if there any science about quality of sleep that results if you do this all night.

View on HN

I am honestly completely opposite in this regard. Any sort of 'content' will keep me up for hours if it's playing near me. On vacations with friends and family, if others put on a movie to fall asleep to, I'll watch the entire thing. I've tried falling asleep to podcasts - but I have a compulsion to not allow my attention to be diverted from it. If I start dozing off and miss some - I'll go back a few clicks and make sure I'm aware.

That having been said, the white noise of a fan is always lovely to fall asleep to.

The key I found it so listen to something very familiar so that you can focus just enough to keep any anxiety at bay, but that doesn't demand too much attention. As I said in an earlier comment, I found listening to familiar movie dialog a reasonable solution.

Agreed. I used to watch reruns of Law & Order. Hearing the beginning intro would remind me of a time when life was less complicated, and the plot was engaging enough to distract and lull me into sleep. Sadly, Netflix removed it, so I now rely on podcasts.

I'm with you. My brain continues processing as long as any input continues to arrive. Music, movies, people talking, pets walking, even the sound of my wife breathing will keep me up. Fan noise is heaven.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com