STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

turtledove · Nine West

sleep deprived!

wicked · Coach

My only suggestions are writing down your worries to get them out of your system and no coffee after noon. Maybe reading before bed would help too. Another thing is personally I realized I had been going to bed too early and now I stay up 'til I feel tired, before I would just go to bed when I got bored.

ico · Dooney & Bourke

agree with the above post, esp no coffee after noon (you can try avoiding any caffeinated food/beverages after noon: tea, chocolate, coke...)

chamomlle tea works for me. When I am really stressed about something, I make the tea with 2 tea bags and leave them in the hot water for more than the reccomended 5 minutes. You can add honey (supposed to relax too), but I drink mine plain. I'd suggest no sugar.

TV can keep you alert. Try to read, as wicked suggested, and I'd add in dim light. Also, listening to slow music (jazz, some classical, even new age if you like it) can calm you down.

Also, if you are stressed about how many things you have to do/study/whatever tomorrow, write a "to do" list: seeing them on paper makes any tasks less scary.

As for the money, write down an "action plan": what steps you have to take to improuve the situation, i.e. go on a shopping ban, make your own food, don't buy any more cosmetics/beauty products until you have finished the ones you have, and so on.

HTH. Sleep deprivation can really screw up your day!

NCshopper · Hermes

ico wrote:

Also, if you are stressed about how many things you have to do/study/whatever tomorrow, write a "to do" list: seeing them on paper makes any tasks less scary. As for the money, write down an "action plan": what steps you have to take to improuve the situation, i.e. go on a shopping ban, make your own food, don't buy any more cosmetics/beauty products until you have finished the ones you have, and so on.

I definitely agree with this advice. Sometimes when I'm really stressed, I'll keep a pen and a pad of paper on my nightstand so I can just jot things down that I need to remember. Making lists really helps me feel more organized and having things written down means my brain can relax about it and stop thinking/obsessing over it.

I'd also recommend trying yoga. Taking yoga helped me learn how to relax a little bit more. It might not be your thing, but it's worth a shot. At the end of the class, they dim the lights and have you lay down for like 10 minutes and you try to get your mind just to go blank, which I found really helps me.

subwolley · Kate Spade

I don't know if you drink, but one glass of wine is really relaxing before bed time.

NCshopper · Hermes

subwolley wrote:

I don't know if you drink, but one glass of wine is really relaxing before bed time.

I don't know if this is just me, but I actually find that red wine right before bedtime makes me wake up in the middle of the night. White wine doesn't though. Weird.

I was thinking about this earlier today for some reason, and was thinking maybe the time of day that you exercise is causing the problem. I've heard that you don't want to exercise within two hours of going to bed. So, if you're trying to get to sleep by 11, you'll want to make sure you're done by 9.