“Since taking a new job every time I try to go to sleep, my mind starts racing with new ideas etc, and it makes me stay awake at night. What would you suggest as a remedy for it?” This is a question we’ve received. On this episode of The New Helix Experience podcast, Tim Frey shares about Curing Sleep Anxiety – Tim’s Method.
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00:00:01
What’s up, guys? Thanks for checking out this episode. I have had a question come in and the question goes.
00:00:08
Since taking a new job every time I go to sleep and I try to go to sleep, my mind starts racing with new ideas etcetera, and it makes me stay awake at night.
00:00:21
What would you suggest as a remedy for it?
00:00:26
So I just get this all the time, especially when I was coaching like Super early in the morning.
00:00:31
I call it sleepxiety, which is sleep anxiety.
00:00:37
As soon as my head would hit the pillow, I would.
00:00:39
Be like what?
00:00:41
Is the meaning of the universe.
00:00:43
How can I change the world and then I would stay off so long that I would stress out about staying up so long.
00:00:51
Which would make me not sleep.
00:00:53
And then I would be stressed that I wasn’t going to have enough sleep and then ruined my day the next day, which was just like a self perpetuating cycle of stress and anxiety, which is not fun. That’s not good for anyone.
00:01:04
And especially when like we get up at 4:30 to coach, it’s pretty early. And then if you go to bed at 9:00 and you’re not getting sleep till 12, you’re laying in bed for three hours of sleep anxiety and you get 4 hours sleep.
00:01:17
That’s pretty ******* awful. Especially like to live a productive life in a day. So like I get this and I used to get this all the time.
00:01:26
I’ve come up with a bit of a routine here, which I think would be beneficial if you’re someone that struggles to get to sleep at night.
00:01:33
Therefore, like you’re lying awake. Whatever, like, whatever the situation is. Try this. If you feel one of those days.
00:01:39
Are coming up.
00:01:40
Personally, I can feel those days coming up for me if I’ve had a hectic day. Crazy **** has happened in business.
00:01:47
Training was hectic. I’ve had some drama happen, my phones blowing up. I get calls like she’s crazy. You just know those days are coming and you can like, it’s a feeling you’ve got within.
00:01:56
Your body.
00:01:57
If you ever have one of those days, I want you to revert back to this because this is what I do.
00:02:02
So at about 7:00 PM, after the day, I’ll write A to do list. Basically journaling of like anything that I’m thinking about.
00:02:09
So it’s like must walk. The dogs must talk to ex client. I have this idea about this new business venture that I want to launch this argument I had.
00:02:18
With my wife.
00:02:20
You know, I should start.
00:02:21
Eating better, like I’m a little fat ****. My training was great today or wasn’t great today. Like literally anything.
00:02:29
That comes to mind. Then, once you’ve like journaled, everything could be pages you want to just start thinking like is there more and then you want to get to a point where you’re like there’s literally nothing coming out. I’m not thinking about anything else. It’s all on the paper in front of me.
00:02:44
And then I wanted you to go through and look at the things you’ve written down and then just analyse them and assess them and be like, is this ******** or not? Like, is this something that’s worth me staying up over at night and not getting sleep?
00:02:54
So it’s a bit of like a self assessment on what you’re actually thinking, your thoughts, beliefs, actions, these types of things.
00:03:00
There’s probably going.
00:03:01
To be some like really key insights and knowledge on the paper. But then there’s probably going to be some ******* garbage on there as well, which is pointless for you staying up overnight.
00:03:10
So that’s about 7:00 PM I’d say that take you 10 minutes, depending on how fast you write and how colluded you’re the ******** in your head is. Second step is switch your phone off straight away.
00:03:21
Straight after that.
00:03:22
Last thing you want to do is just sit there and you’ve just unloaded your head and then you log on Instagram and you just see someone else’s ********.
00:03:29
And then that just starts triggering you and then you’ve got a whole bunch of other thoughts, ideas, beliefs, actions in your head straight after that, you’ve just emptied your head out.
00:03:36
The last thing you want to do is get more stuff in there, and especially like tiktok or any of that ******** where it’s just constant.
00:03:43
There’s just so much information coming.
00:03:44
And it’s all the social media is bad. It’s just like the effect of it. I feel like it’s just not a good thing for anyone’s mental health, let alone yours person who can’t get to sleep at night.
00:03:55
Worst thing you want to do so switch off your phone straight away. That will stop you from doing any type of scrolling or getting into a scroll hole third thing.
00:04:05
I personally am not telling anyone to do this, but I when I know this is happening I’m going to take.
00:04:10
A heavy dose of melatonin.
00:04:13
And the heavy dose for me is 5 to 15 milligrams. I want to be so sleepy that I feel like I’m not going to make it to my bed.
00:04:20
That is the goal. So I take that about 7:00 PM. Usually it kicks in about 7:45, eight and then I’m a ******* zombie.
00:04:26
Hopefully I don’t need to carry my dog down the stairs. Long story. He can’t go downstairs, so I gotta carry a ******* Rottweiler downstairs, which is pretty hectic.
00:04:33
That pumps me up. I get it from like a local health stores under the counter. ****. It’s like the medical grad ***. The *** that you meant to have a prescription for.
00:04:42
Maybe I do have prescription. I’m just telling fibs here. But I do a 15, so 5 to 15 milligrams dose of melatonin.
00:04:49
That gets me like pretty sleepy. Then I’ll also do a hard dose of magnesium, so not one of these, like ***** medicine or like 1 tablet doses. I’m talking like many tablets, so much so that.
00:05:02
Like on the verge of shooting yourself amounts of magnesium, it’s going to calm your nervous system and just get you to chill out. There’s another supplement you can take called Rhodiola, which is like a neural calming.
00:05:15
Herb, which I have taken intermittently as well, so melatonin, magnesium Rhodiola, says RH OD.
00:05:24
IO LA Rhodiola.
00:05:26
Those three before I get to the next ones yet like.
00:05:29
Usually I don’t get sleepxiety or have trouble falling asleep once I’ve had a hectic.
00:05:36
OK.
00:05:37
What I mean by hectic day, it’s a physical day, so if you’re sitting at a desk all day, not burning many calories and you haven’t worked out.
00:05:43
Probably not a hectic day. My body is so ******* tired by the end of most days that I just pass out straight away without having a a thought or any anxiety.
00:05:53
So I think the key here is just being like physically very physically active. So you just pass out and you’re never gonna get sleepxiety or anything like.
00:06:00
Next tip is I take a shower straight away. Your body needs to cool down. There’s a perfect temperature for your body to be out to get a really good night’s sleep.
00:06:10
It’s a little bit cooler than probably you run around or moving around or just I find if I don’t have a shower before bed, I feel like I’m encased in heat.
00:06:20
It’s just that, like my ability for my body to cool down after I’ve cooled down. Yeah, like after you, sometimes you go to bed and you haven’t showered.
00:06:26
You just feel kind of like sticky and ick. Like if you don’t do that, I feel like my body gets really hot, especially at night. As soon as you.
00:06:34
Get hot at night. ******.
00:06:37
My next one is just making your room a ******* bat cave. Like Batman lives in there. So dark, so grim and so cold that only like a bat would actually live in this room.
00:06:48
And you when you sleep because they’re the optimal conditions for a human to sleep. I wear blue light blocking glasses at night because they also.
00:06:56
Helped me quite a bit, so the theory behind the blue light blocking glasses is.
00:07:01
We have the thing called the circadian rhythm and your circadian rhythm is like your timing mechanism of telling your body to go to sleep.
00:07:09
So as soon as the sun goes down, well in the ancient times, your like your circadian rhythm would signal your body. It’s time to go to sleep. Problem now is like we’ve got light phones and.
00:07:21
You know, like stair lights and timers and all sorts of **** that you see and it just ***** with your circadian rhythm.
00:07:27
Therefore, you can never get a good night’s sleep. That’s what blue blockers are for. As they they shield your eyes or your retina from actually seeing these blue lights, which resets your circadian rhythm.
00:07:38
So it’s not like every time something flashes on TV, it’s like Bang, Bang Bang your circadian rhythms getting reset.
00:07:44
So I just wear blue light blocking glasses at night. I’m really strict with it, so as soon as I take them off, I close my eyes and I do not open my eyes. Even when I go for a pee at night, I keep my eyes closed because I don’t want to have my circadian rhythm.
00:07:58
Reset. So a really important one and then.
00:08:02
Two more box bro.
00:08:07
As soon as you get into bed, if you’re not passed out already. So what I like to do with box breathing is 4 seconds in four seconds. Hold 4 seconds out. Four seconds. Hold.
00:08:18
And then just repeat that for 10 minutes. Set a timer on that. Make sure you’re wearing your blue light blocking glasses.
00:08:22
Don’t look at the ******* phone screen. You’ll reset your circadian rhythm and then we’re ****** again. We’re up **** St.
00:08:28
So 10 minutes of box breathing, four in four, hole four out, four. Hold. Repeat that for 10 minutes. Nice slow, calm press. Get your nervous system down regulated. Ready for rest.
00:08:39
One I have written down here, but make sure you’re not eating around these times. I eat like, stupidly early dinner sometimes 4:35 PM because I want to give myself enough time to digest food.
00:08:52
It’s a big, big issues. People eat so close to their actual sleep times, which ***** with the body.
00:08:58
Just doesn’t give you enough time to digest your food, so I like to eat like later 6:00 o’clock absolutely.
00:09:03
Latest usually 5 in between 5:00 and 6:00 I have dinner and that’s ******* early and people probably freak out hearing.
00:09:10
That and then lastly, just some light physical activity AKA having sex with your partner before bed goes pretty well. I generally pass out after that, feel like I need a cigarette.
00:09:23
You know, I don’t smoke, but generally just hit the sack and I’m out straight after. I’ve have a root.
00:09:30
So it could be good for.
00:09:31
So in summary, generally switch your phone off, drop heaps of magnesium, melatonin, Rhodiola obviously seek counsel on those. I’m not a medical professional, I’m just a brolly lifter Brody lifter, bro, lifter, shower.
00:09:48
10 minutes of box breathing have sex with your significant other or your hand. Whatever floats your boat there. So that’s my get to sleep in cure anxiety.
00:09:59
After 13 years of coaching, this is what I do, particularly the last one, but that’s up to you.
00:10:06
So let me know if this helped you out or you got some value from this episode. Thanks team.
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