What do you do when you can't sleep?

I play a lot of online video games.. I turn them off at 12 -2 each night, and spend at least 3 hours just lieing there literally counting sheep or random things.. Sometimes I just know sleep will not happen and get up and go back to gaming, but after 4-7 days++ of not sleeping just lieing there still conscious but not moving (with exception of tossing and turning all night) and resting, makes a big difference to my concentration and how I feel in general the next day, (defenantly not sleeping, but I refer to as resting, and it does help.. mostly..)

i usually just lying in my bed.. do a lot of thinking.. or telling myself 'pleasee let me sleep pleaseee' lol.

Lower the room temp and snuggle with a heating pad, the kind that shuts off automatically after 15 minutes, then put on a movie you love but have seen at least a dozen times, keep the volume just high enough you can hear it, in other words, low. Room, dark. and a benadryl if you can handle it without it drying you out too much. If you are prescribed something stronger instead, sub that for the benadryl. But I hate most of that stuff, I always wake up with a headache. Don't drink anything the hour prior to when you go to sleep. But hydrate well throughout the day. Have had insomnia for 20 years. I have almost convinced myself 4 to 5 hours sleep is perfectly normal.

I started studying accounting which i only looked at after midnight - i assumed that reading that in the early hours would send me right off to sleep.....that was a few years ago....I am now an accountant who cant sleep.

At least i can count the sheep better i suppose......

Joking apart - i found that using the 'extra' time constructively helped get rid of some of the frustration of being awake which in turn made it more relaxing which did help to a degree.

I put on a sketchy looking coat, grab a knife and a flask, get on a random bus, get myself lost and drunk then find my way home. Its a lot of fun and I can usually fall asleep after that. Probably not a good idea if your a woman or small though.

On the nights when I'm really lonely and feel like I'm the only one awake, I google search for all the live web cams I can find around the world. Last one I found interesting was a camera shooting a live shot of a bar in downtown Dublin, Ireland. I watched it on St. Patrick's Day. Kinda fun. Then there's another camera of a karaoke bar in New Orleans. Everybody is drunk and thinking they sound fantastic. To my ears it's like nails on a chalkboard but it's still sorta fun to watch. In that moment I feel better knowing that I'm not the only one awake.

I also read the newspaper, do household chores (by sunrise my home is spotless; right now it's 3AM and my dishwasher and clothes washing machine are both running), try to get any one of my 2 cats and 1 dog to play but they usually are too sleepy to oblige, listen to various company's earnings calls, do sit-ups, makes smoothies with my Ninja, clean the kitty litter box, refill my pets' water and food dishes, write letters to my grandma (she loves handwritten letters), go around the inside and outside of my house and water all the plants, go outside and chop down trees for firewood (just kidding. I'm starting to feel batty from being up so long). Right now it's almost 3:30AM and I'm going to go check on my 3 babies (cats + dog) and then make breakfast and get ready for church. Insomnia sucks but it's my (and our) reality. I guess we have to play the hand we've been dealt. Hang in there everybody

General tidying, light cleaning, reading

When I'm manic and not sleeping I usually find myself in some 24 hour store or online shopping with money I can't spare to begin with.

If I'm not manic, I clean quietly to not wake the rest of the house, take a bath, do my nails, have some herbal tea. I've learned to not just lay there and plead with my mind to sleep. I get up and treat myself well or get things done around the house.

Sometimes I lay there and suffer which is bad. Other times I'll go lay on the couch in the living room to see if I can get to sleep there, sometimes I can, but usually not. Our house is laid out weird where all the bedrooms open off the living room, so if I get up and actually do something it can be annoying. I have to close everyone's doors and keep real quiet. Also, even though I can't fall asleep when I get up and try to actually do something I'm so tired I can't do it. Frustrating!