I Can't Get to Sleep: Help for Insomniacs

It's 1:00 am and you can't get to sleep. You've tossed and turned, gotten up for some water, even thought of warm milk (blech). Perhaps you can't sleep because you are worried about day-to-day stresses. Maybe a crisis at home or work has you tense, restless and unable to sleep. Perimenopause or menopause can also disrupt sleep patterns. Or perhaps you just can't get to sleep.

Whatever the cause of your insomnia, here are a few sleep tricks to help you finally fall into the land of nod. The goal of each is to center your thinking on something that is absolutely not important and a bit boring, easing you off to dreamland. Take each one nice and slow.

1. Geography Games
States: Take the last letter of the first state that pops into your head, try to remember a state that starts with that letter. No repeats.
Countries: Same as above but harder.
Cities: Same as above but even more difficult. How many cities start with "Y"?

2. Famous People
Start with A and think of a famous person whose first and last names start with that letter, for instance, Alan Alda, Bill Bixby, etc. If you think of one for Q, please let me know!

3. Presidents--for the history buffs
Recite your U.S. Presidents forward and backward.

4. Foreign Languages
Refresh your knowledge of those languages you learned in high school and college. Try conjugating a few verbs. Je suis, tu es, il est, elle est, on est, nous sommes . . . I'm making myself sleepy writing this.

5. Sports
Championships: Football, baseball or basketball fans can list the winners of their favorite sports' championships back through time.
Stadiums: Try running through the stadiums for each team in your head.
Coaches: Match coaches to teams or run through past coaches of specific teams.
Olympics: Starting with the most recent, match Olympics to host cities.

6. Alphabet Movies / Alphabet TV
Again, start with the letter A and work your way to Z with movie titles or TV shows (don't do both at once, it's too easy).

7. Alphabet Rock Stars: Soloists & Groups
Finally, a use for a use for Moon Unit Zappa! Starting again with A, either list rock soloists or groups until you get to Z. If it is too easy, limit yourself to groups from the '70s, '80s, etc. But remember not to make it too hard.

Never let these games get frustrating. If a president, irregular verb or Cubs manager isn't coming to you, do not get out of bed to look it up. Just move on to another game. The goal is to calm your mind, meditating over pointless facts.

As a frequent insomniac, I'd love to hear your tricks for getting to sleep!