#416 – Circadian

Sometimes it’s hard to get to sleep at night because my brain won’t turn off. I have two things that I do that usually work. If it’s something that I’m working on, like new comic ideas, I just have to get up and write them down. If my brain is busy just freaking out about life in general then I go for a walk in my head. I picture myself getting up out of bed and leaving the house. I go for a walk around my neighborhood trying to picture what it would actually look like. Sometimes I go for a walk in places that I used to live. Trying to remember all the details is a good distraction and it usually doesn’t take very long to unstick my brain and fall asleep.

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0 thoughts on “#416 – Circadian”

  1. PsychoDuck says:

    Damn, I need some of that tape…

    The Duck Has Spoken.

  2. SEA says:

    I want some of the tape! =p

  3. Tsuteto says:

    I have that experience WAY too often.

    Going to try what you do to sleep though. Seems good, the walking thing. I typically need such a thing XD

  4. AG says:

    I do that every night. My mind gets into the idea for my next week of comics or whatever and I just can’t stop playing with the ideas in my head.

    I never thought of the walking thing. That does sound like a really good idea. I

  5. Sven says:

    I have that way too often. I’m always working on the next project in my head, and I can be quite the insomniac because of it.

    I’m going to try that walking thing, it sounds like it might work. I’ve tried counting sheep but that doesn’t work at all; the few times I tried it I usually gave up after reaching 1500 or so (I’m not kidding!).

  6. stonehydra says:

    Duct tape works better than crime Sean tape I’ve tried, don’t ask.

  7. Gene says:

    It’s ridiculously hard for me to clear my head and get to bed… it’s after 3 here, my girlfriend went to sleep 3 hours ago and I really can’t seem to get to sleep… I’m just not tired. And it’s just a matter of my brain having no desire to sleep…
    Maybe I should try that walking thing?
    And maybe I should tape my face up too…
    GR

  8. Garrett says:

    I sometimes go for a swim in my mind, and that used to work well. Now it only works sometimes, probably because I’m running out of pools to skinnydip in mentally. I should add some walks to my mental wind-down procedure.
    As for the comic ideas, yeah, I write those down too. The best ideas come at 3am.
    I had to look up Circadian, and found the Wikipedia article substantial.

  9. Andrew says:

    Isn’t that what gets him into trouble in the first place. That he just wasn’t thinking?

  10. bizzybody says:

    I hate it when I get a great idea when I’m trying to go to sleep. I just have to mentally work on it until it’s done before my brain will shut off.

    What’d absolutely work would be Demerol. Back when I was 18 I had a bit of an argument between my right hand and a table saw. (I’d say it was a draw. I still have all the fingers but the middle one has an artificial joint and the next one out only has two joints.)

    In the emergency room they hooked me up with Demerol in an IV. A few minutes on that and… brain off. Ask me a question and, yah, I hear and understand what you said but couldn’t think of an answer.

  11. Coillscath says:

    That’s actually a really good idea, I’ll have to try that! I suffer from this problem too, mind just keeps rushing even though I’ve gone to bed and gotten comfy. Thanks for that πŸ™‚

  12. Elli says:

    Ugh. I have that problem, too. That and being physically unable to sleep through the night. I’ll wake up and sometimes I can’t get back to sleep. Like right now. It’s 4:40 AM and I can’t sleep. D:

    Of course, the fact that my cat won’t shut up ain’t helping. >:/

  13. Yohimba says:

    The brain not shutting off thing happens to me a *lot*. When it’s really bad I have a ritual where I concentrate to relax from my toes up a little at a time and while doing that sing, silently in my head, a commercial jingle from my childhood, the Circus Peanut Butter song… “It’s got a jar made of plastic, it’s a plastic jar. It’s either creamy or crunchy in the plastic jar. Snap off the top, it gives you a greeting. Snap off the top, a new taste in eating. Remember the name: Circus Peanut Butter.” Ahem. It’s been my way since I was little, over 40 years, I’ll stick with it. πŸ˜‰

  14. Bullet Fiend says:

    He should’ve thought of this ages ago. But then again, it wouldn’t have been as funny >D

  15. WindWarrior says:

    People might consider this weird but I just like to sit there, thinking, I will think of upcoming events or when maybe someone breaks into my house, or when the world is overwhelmed by Zombies(stuff like that). I do this at night, and it helps me fall asleep.

  16. MaskedMan says:

    Thinking too much: Occupational hazzard.

  17. Seraphine says:

    Haha, crime scene tape. I hate
    to think what Biff thunk. πŸ™‚

  18. Zack says:

    I had the issue with a restless brain making it hard to sleep.

    I found three things that helped me deal with it.

    1) I no longer have nay caffeine after 11 AM. I noticed it was keeping my brain awake even when I was physically/mentally exhausted.

    2) I do something repetitive and relaxing for 30 minutes before bed. (play uno on xbox, stretch, read a chapter of a book)

    3) If I get in bed and I am still restless after 10 minutes I get up and do something to help relax. No point in tossing and turning when I know I can’t sleep. A chapter of a book or a comic book is usually enough to help me doze off.

    One last note… I have also noticed that dropping the bedroom temperature helps tell my body to sleep. I have a programmable thermostat which drops the temperature of my house to 60 degrees at 10 PM. It definitely tells my body. “time to go hibernate” and I find myself usually wanting to burrow under the covers by 11.

  19. Hanii Puppy says:

    personally, i find listening to the radio or watching tv as i go to sleep works like a charm =p

    it’s in the morning though that’s annoying, because sometimes i wake up, get out of bed, get ready for school, get my stuff together, then wake up and realise i just dreamt i got ready and i have to do it all again. worst time this happened, it happened 3 times before i actually woke up ;_; this happen to anyone else?

  20. pieman says:

    i find that if i dont think enough, i cant get to sleep, because i just get bored.

  21. Nutter says:

    I have a similar trick but not as interesting. Usually I can’t sleep because there is just way too much for me to be trying to keep track of, not bad in work but useless when I’m trying to sleep. The way I get to sleep, is to close my eyes and think of a black box, as thoughts creep into my mind, a person, an idea, a pink elephant etc. once it becomes too cluttered again, I focus on any part of the black box that’s not been filled with junk. Then expand that out until there is nothing but an empty black box again, rinse, repeat.

    I’d try the whole going for a walk thing, but I’ve bearly got the memory to imagin accuratly anything outside the bedroom door, let alone get anywhere interesting.

  22. dragonbrad says:

    I find it hard to belieive he can even procsess a thaught, I want that tape.
    plus, I hate when you wake up, get ready, then find out that it like three hours away from the time your alarm goes off

  23. Chivalrybean says:

    Lately it is just my pregnant wife keeping me up. It’s a girl!!!

    Sometimes I start thinking about something to try and get to sleep then I wake up the next morning.

  24. Diana M. says:

    Ha.To me, it’s kinda diferent.I can only fall asleep if I think about my comics.

  25. me says:

    That happens to me sometimes too, its always annoying to think about how tired you will be the next day if you dont get to sleep until 3 o’clock. I think ill try that walking thing next time that happens.

  26. Adrian says:

    I have some kind of photographic memory like you, but I just use it to find my way around town

  27. unknowledge says:

    I tend to start blowing stuff up with a giant robot when stuff like that happens… nothing like the sight of a urning city to put you to sleep o.O

  28. Jesso says:

    I like that idea of taking a mental walk. I have that problem a lot, of my brain not turning off, especially when I’m super stressed. Emotional stress (frustration, anger, sadness, etc) is worse than work stress, but both get to me.

    I will have to try that tonight. In just a few minutes, in fact… Good night!

  29. Ben says:

    I’m gonna try that walking idea.
    I take hours to get to sleep at times.
    I find listening to very quiet and slow music helps. I have one track that lasts for about 90mins that consists of only sound effects, no beat, it helps alot.

  30. Momo says:

    That happens to me a lot, and since I like to write a lot (especially fiction) I either can’t sleep at night (because that’s when it always seems to happen) or I dream about it and then completely froget about it… I lose a lot of good ideas that way… πŸ™

  31. -2! says:

    I am actually diagnosed with (and taking medication for) insomnia, and yet i still take over an hour to fall asleep, assuming i stay up to the brink of falling over tired, which takes over 2 hours from when i take the insomnia medication.

    I have forgotten the medication on occasion, trust me it is working.

  32. Zach Light says:

    The police have arrested his brain, man that sucks, nice comics by the way dude, Grade A+ stuff

  33. SurveySays says:

    see, the walking thing sounds good but my brain would turn it into something completely diffrent. i’dbe walking along then somewhere in my head a little voice would say something like’is that car following you?’ and it would all go down the tubes from there.

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