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Comment by ilaksh | Hacker News Reader

Don't most people think about stuff before they fall asleep? I know I do. Often it takes quite awhile to fall asleep for me and have plenty of time to do it.

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I specifically need to zone out and calm my mind TO fall asleep. Took me years to teach my brain that "lying down in bed" == "brain turns off".

Otherwise I'd spiral into a web of incomplete thoughts that would never get anywhere and I'd just get really stressed - and then fall to a restless sleep, anxious.

Now if I'm a bit wound up, I put on some wireless headphones and listen to some really boring or non-consequential podcast with a sleep timer on Overcast. Unless I'm really stressed, I never get to the end of a 10 minute episode.

I can't emphasize enough what an impact this approach had for me. I suffered from sleep anxiety and insomnia. Took trazodone for years. It lost its potency and I wanted to get off the sleep drugs. Then I discovered history podcasts. The only ones that work have a single person talking and no ads intermixed with the podcast episode. Usually I'm asleep five minutes into the podcast. Then when I wake in the morning, I listen to it with my coffee. A few years ago my daughter was having similar problems and she too solved it with podcasts.

Are there any specific podcasts you would recommend?

For history stuff, I just love: https://historyofeverythingpodcast.com

The creator got started on TikTok doing weird history trivia with is wife and has started a podcast after that.

For my "going to sleep" podcasts, I use "The Indicator from Planet Money" (the ads are a bit distracting at times), "More or Less" (facts about numbers in the news), "Robot or Not" and "Ungeniused". All are long enough to fall asleep to, but interesting enough to start listening.

History of Rome

Revolutions

The History of Bizantium

The British History Podcast

I fall asleep pretty much instantly. Isn't thinking about things distracting you from sleep?

I would love to be able to stop thinking just because I lay down or something.

Depends. I remember reading a while ago that the average time for a person to fall asleep is 15 minutes. I personally believe I fall asleep instantly, but maybe that’s just me not being conscious enough during those 15 minutes to remember them.

I envy you. It takes me an hour or more unless I've already stayed up way too late.

Not if you fall asleep to YouTube or TikTok

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