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8 Ways to Beat Insomnia’s Butt

It goes like this. You go to bed at 10:30 pm. You lay there content for awhile thinking about the funny thing a friend said or the new trick the dog learned. Maybe you turn over on to your side or your stomach and tuck yourself into the sheets fully intending to have a good night sleep.

Then you remember you forgot to put the clothes in the dryer and you need them for the morning. Well, maybe not. Maybe you can find something in your closet if you dig deep enough. You close your eyes again and think about the fight you had with your mom or your significant other. You think about the homework you didn’t do for the class you hate. You look at the clock, and its midnight, and you suddenly remember you have to get up early tomorrow because it’s your turn to bring the coffee. Now you are worried about being tired tomorrow because you aren’t going to get a good night’s sleep.

Alright, maybe if you go to sleep right this minute you can still get a good 6 hours before the alarm goes off.  The second you close your eyes, your mind takes off on another tangent. You look at the clock again, and now it is 2:30 am.  Perfect. Now you are looking at 3 hours of sleep if you go to sleep right now.

Finally, you drift off to sleep only to be startled by the sound of the alarm telling you it’s time to get up. You feel like you just went to sleep. You feel like you might cry.

Welcome to an insomniac’s nightmare.

The Insanity of Insomnia

Insomnia is a common condition. It is estimated that roughly 1/3 of the adult population suffers from chronic insomnia which results in a reduced quality of life. Insomnia is different then a few sleepless nights. It must be persistent and last from 1 to 6 months. It is chronic if it lasts more than six months.Impaired daytime functioning, higher health costs and increased loss of time for work are just a few of the problems sufferers face. Over time, insomnia leads to depression, anxiety, and increased use of hypnotic medication.

Sleep is vital to our health and wellness. Lack of sleep increases the time it takes to recover from illness and impedes our ability to concentrate.In short, lack of sleep can make you feel like you are going insane.

Insomnia can occur for a number of reasons. Things like a noisy environment, shift work, substance abuse, illness, and age are all reasons for not getting a good night sleep.There are some successful recommendations to help bring on those sweet dreams once again.

A group of researchers from the American Academy of Sleep reviewed scientific literature dating back to 1999 from the Sleep Academy. Their goal was to evaluate the effectiveness of non-pharmacological treatments of insomnia. They published their findings in Practice Parameters for the Psychological and Behavioral Treatment of insomnia: An Update. Their recommendations were developed based on the review using evidence-based methods.  They determined that the behavioral interventions discussed below effectively treat insomnia.

What to Do

We live active lives and sometimes it is difficult to turn off the brain once you settle in for the night. These recommendations work but only if you practice them on a consistent basis. It often takes a few weeks practicing a new routine before it becomes effective.If you have difficulty sleeping try these recommendations:

Stimulus Control Therapy – This objective of this therapy is to train yourself to re-associate the bed and the bedroom with sleep and to re-establish a consistent sleep-wake schedule…

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How to Plot Your Story Using the But/Therefore Method

Here’s another sneak peak from my forthcoming book The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers!

The but/therefore method* is an easy way to create your plot and test the cause-effect connections between your plot and character motivation.

If you don’t have a plot yet, it can help you create one. If you already have one, the method almost always reveals gaps that need to be addressed with new or stronger chapters/scenes. (For help with your character motivation, check out the PDF “Creating Character Arcs” in my Free Resource Library.)

Use this template for each scene or chapter:

[Main character] wants ______, but _______, therefore ______.

In the first blank, put the motivation for that chapter or scene.

In the second blank, the conflict or obstacle.

In the third blank, the result or action the character takes, which leads into the next goal, and so on, and so on.

Chapter-by-chapter it might look something like this:

Chapter 1: Julian wants to ask Matt to the dance, but he’s scared of being rejected, therefore he slips a cryptic note into Matt’s locker.

Chapter 2: Matt doesn’t see the note. Now Julian wants to get into his locker and retrieve it, but the principal sees him trying to jimmy open the lock, therefore Julian is given detention for a week.

You can also do this scene-by-scene. My suggestion would be to start with the chapter outline, see what it reveals, then move into the scenes. If you’ve already written a draft, you can outline your draft using the template, which should reveal holes in character motivation, plot, and cause/effect, all with one fell swoop!

Hope this helps!

*I adapted this method from South Park writer Trey Parker, who first introduced it in the documentary Six Days to Air.

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The Literary Architect is a writing advice blog run by me, Bucket Siler. For more writing help, check out my Free Resource Library, peruse my post guide, or hire me to edit your novel or short story.

The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers will be available for purchase soon. Follow the link if you want to be notified when it is released. xoxo