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How to Be Productive When You Can’t Sleep
What can you do about insomnia? If breathing exercises, humming, exercise-exercise, and all other fall-to-sleep techniques fail, you may just need to lean into the wired up brain.
A few months ago when I had trouble sleeping, I might’ve been prone to turning to Wordle, Dordle, or Quordle, or random Internet browsing. But lately, I’ve been going a more productive route. Since I’m once again wide awake, I figured other forced night owls might benefit from my insomniac evenings.
How to be productive when slumber is no longer your friend:
- Clean / Tidy the House
I feel like there’s always something to clean. The other night when I couldn’t sleep, I finished cleaning my bath tub/shower. Sometimes I do laundry, or tidy papers, or do dishes. This stuff needs to get done anyway and it’s a little more energy-based, so it’s a good way of taking care of what needs to get taken care of while burning some energy. As a bonus, you get to wake up to a nice, clean house (after you eventually fall asleep that is).
2. Read Actual Books
I finished two novels last week through the late hours. Thanks, Insomnia! If you have a stack of books on your nightstand, flip on a light, skip the tossing and turning and turn some pages instead. This alternative to reading via…