Dear LPG,

I read with interest the article posted on your site on 31/07/19 where IC of Lewisham explained a wish to stop oversleeping in the mornings (►►►).  I have the problem at the other end of the day when I try to get off to sleep and the result is often that I find myself feeling and reacting exactly as described in that post when it is time to get up. 

I can’t say that I have found any answers to help with getting up at the time that you really want to but I think that if you can get to sleep in time to get the required amount needed that must help a bit. 

With that in mind, I took a look at the internet in the hope of getting an answer and I am working my way through trying the following recommendations. 

As ever, most of the information on the internet is written with younger people in mind and offers solutions needed for getting off to sleep after working all day, while I think I am not unique when I mention that, now that I am in my late 70s, I have got to the stage where getting off to sleep is not a task that I need to master just once a night.  Just in case the younger pensioners who read this have not arrived there yet, I feel the need to forewarn them that the time will inevitably come when their sleep will be interrupted at least three times per night as a result of a need to visit the room at the end of the hall.  So I have decided to master the art of getting to sleep, or back to sleep, as quickly as possible after such interruptions and hope that my findings help others with the same issues as me.

I have asked LPG to add a few links below my post which are designed to help.  Apparently there is a lot of science attached to getting it right and the techniques I found include getting your breathing, temperature, lighting, pre sleep food intake and sleep position right.  I am working my way through a few of them, while respecting the limitations that my age dictates and hope that, while not one technique will work for all, some readers may find their personal answer somewhere in this collection of suggestions – including me. 

HJ, Mottingham

HJ shared the following information …

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