How to relax after work to be able to sleep?

I started as an IB analyst recently and have problems sleeping... But not for the reasons you are thinking!

I get so much adrenaline from trying to meet deadlines late at night (idk why..) that I get home and can't fall asleep for 2 or 3 hours - which is a problem when you get home late

How are you guys able to quickly calm down after work so that you can fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow (aside from alcohol and drugs)? This is really becoming a problem for me and I need to figure it out.. I literally can never fall asleep instantaneously because I am so hyped up, for whatever reason.

Appreciate all the help guys

 

Prior to bed I would try to do something not too stimulating, easy music, light TV show.

I use melatonin when I've had too much coffee or need to fall asleep soon. It's natural hormone that regulates sleep cycles, non habit-forming. Gives me a little drowsiness that helps.

Do some research but it's a safe, non-addictive supplement that helps.

"There's always money in the banana stand" - George Bluth Sr.
 
Best Response

fap it out

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I used to not get to sleep until 1 - 2am and find it difficult to get up, whether or not I was busy. My natural circadian rhythms are set that way.

Things which have changed that: - Sleeping in a bedroom that gets direct sunlight in the morning. I started doing this for the first time in my life last year and it makes a hell of a difference. I wake up in the morning, unable to get back to sleep easily. That ends up making me more able to sleep earlier at night. - Getting old

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 

TFW you have wake up before the sunrise...

Disclaimer for the Kids: Any forward-looking statements are solely for informational purposes and cannot be taken as investment advice. Consult your moms before deciding where to invest.
 

Melatonin is good, however you don't always wake up feeling rested. And even worse, sometimes you're groggy/brain fogged all day

I'm on the pursuit of happiness and I know everything that shine ain't always gonna be gold. I'll be fine once I get it
 

I'll be completely honest with this one..

Smoke a B

or

Bust a nut...... or two

or

Get a good workout in straight after work to tire yourself out (dont take pre workout)

or

Load up on some melatonin and simply relax and read before bed. I find if i lay in bed without the tv on or not reading i'll be up all night because my mind wanders.

Sweet dreams.

 
PhilsCouch:

I'll be completely honest with this one..

Smoke a B

or

Bust a nut...... or two

or

Get a good workout in straight after work to tire yourself out (dont take pre workout)

or

Load up on some melatonin and simply relax and read before bed. I find if i lay in bed without the tv on or not reading i'll be up all night because my mind wanders.

Sweet dreams.

Combo 1 & 2 = best sleep ever

 

I admittedly use Z-quil too, though I honestly think it's not something you should be taking every day to go to sleep. Plus it usually gives me a weird feeling the next day. Melatonin is also good.

I'd try counting your breathing while you try to go to sleep. It sometimes helps me by focusing my mind and keeping it from wandering.

"There's nothing you can do if you're too scared to try." - Nickel Creek
 

My routine: Warm/hot shower (clears your mind and loosens you up) followed by medium/intense stretching routine (loosens your muscles after a long day of sitting down and helps blood flow (I find a workout before sleep is counter productive as my heart rate is way to high to sleep after and I have too much adrenaline)). I have found this gets me to sleep really fast but also the quality of sleep is much better.

 

This is a tough one.

No computer is what I've found works best. TV or reading kindle or magazine is usually the best route. Reading on a computer and internet surfing I've found leads to feeling awake for hours on end. Also get in bed early...I've found I like to have a minimum of 30min-1 hour lying down before "having" to go to sleep. Dimming lights immediately upon getting home. Eating some food. I've listened to a podcast which was nice (only once though).

 

Getting adequate rest / sleep, or at least a portion of, is critical to being on point and alert when you're on the job. Which I know all too well is easier said than done when you're working 80-90+ hrs a week and being under constant bombardment from your bosses and your blackberry.

Good news and bad news for you for someone who knows your struggle.

Bad news first. Your days of 8-9+ hours of sleep a night are behind you, at least for the next 2 years. Whether it's turning changes till 3-4 in the morning or, in your case, a restless mind when you do get a chance to grab some z's, your rem cycle sessions are going to be under constant bombardment as an analyst and even into more senior positions in finance. 6 years in I still haven't escape the occasional 2:00 AM workday. Just wait until you have to start traveling / flying...trying to jam out meeting notes and making model updates for a 8:00 AM meeting on a cramped 4 hour red-eye flight back to NYC. I digress.

Your new reality is a life of shittier sleep. Silver lining here is you can minimize the level of shittiness. Beneath are few friendly suggestions, that I've learned / acquired the hard way, that can help you get more and better quality sleep whilst you're work schedule is high tempo (in no particular order):

  1. Have Sex / Bang: I'm not being factious here. No matter what's ailing you from your work day that's going to hamper you from catching a few good hours of sleep, coming home and taking a good romp in the sack with your old lady, or partner or whatever, is your most direct line of sight to crashing out right away. You'll get a bit of cardio in and your biological urge to procreate will drown out thoughts about that excel problem you couldn't figure out before you left the desk (although I'll admit, I have thought about excel during sex before, yes...it was weird).

  2. Regulate Caffeine Intake: This one is tough, I know, especially when you only got 3 hours the night before and you still have 8 hours of work left at 5 PM. Unless you know for certain your night is goner and you'll be up all night regardless, figure out what your biological cut-off is (eg if I have a double espresso at X PM, I'll fully process it through my system by Y PM) and stick to it. Also, one thing I started doing eventually when I could was tallying the number caffeinated beverages, or any other stimulant, I had during the day. After awhile I started to get a sense of how much I could imbibe in a day without tossing and turning till 2:30 in the morning. Some decent substitutes if you need a boost are green tea, snus or on the extreme end, chewing tobacco (concern for personal health and group culture permitting).

  3. Gym Sesh: This one's pretty obvious, but can be tough finding the time and energy. Tying back to #2, if you're looking to hit the weights, be mindful about downing a shaker full of your favorite pre-workout. Pretty much everyone of these pre workout sup's have an absolute SHIT LOAD of caffeine packed into them as well as a bunch of shit that oxygenates your blood stream and ratchets up your heart rate.

  4. Weekend Sleep: Now that jr bankers have mandatory Saturday's off, take full advantage of it to catch up on rest. I always thought that a "sleep deficit" was an old wifes tale. However, according to this doctor chick I was sleeping with a few months back, there is indeed such a thing. If you've had brutal week, maybe skip your trek out to Montauk or boozy brunch on Sunday take an extra nap or two.

  5. Working Smarter: This one's not so simple or straight forward. The best guys I have worked with in my career are rarely the one's in the office the latest. Sometimes shit just needs to get done and working late is better than trying scramble in the morning. However, you should work to have those instances be the exception rather than the norm. This can be difficult or outside your purview when you're getting the hang of the ebbs and flows of the job as an a first year. But the sooner you can start moving away from simply waiting for an email with instructions or get a mark-up back to assuming more ownership of your contribution to the deal, for the very simple goal of cutting down at the office or working, you'll begin to better compartmentalize your work obligations and personal life. Point I'm trying make, is being faster and more assertive will give you a greater sense of control and make work seem more manageable. How does this impact your sleep? Instead of going to bed every night stressing out and spinning your wheels about your day or what's to come the next morning, you'll be confident about your final work product(s) and if there's some fire drill waiting for you in the AM you can handle it.

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Irrespective of all odds, I take a 5 mile brisk walk everyday in the busy streets, park, lawn, etc. This gives me a nice exercise with a lot of sweat. After this work out, I take a cold shower (and in winters, a luke warm bath). I sit down under the shower for about 15-20 minutes. This gives amazing relaxation as the water flows down my body. I sometimes float in my bath-tub. After a heavy dinner, I lie on my bed trying to still my mind - this is also a time when I reflect my day, especially the mistakes I made and the new learning I had. In about 15-20 minutes, I'll be dead on the bed for the next 6 hours.

Next morning, my alarm wakes me up, and I take another 30 minutes to leave my bed for the new day to start. During weekends, I tend to sleep for 7-8 hours, and spend my time reading new books (if I'm in that mood), with my hobbies or shopping to relax my mind.

 
nitau_gg:

Irrespective of all odds, I take a 5 mile brisk walk everyday in the busy streets, park, lawn, etc. This gives me a nice exercise with a lot of sweat. After this work out, I take a cold shower (and in winters, a luke warm bath). I sit down under the shower for about 15-20 minutes. This gives amazing relaxation as the water flows down my body. I sometimes float in my bath-tub. After a heavy dinner, I lie on my bed trying to still my mind - this is also a time when I reflect my day, especially the mistakes I made and the new learning I had. In about 15-20 minutes, I'll be dead on the bed for the next 6 hours.

Next morning, my alarm wakes me up, and I take another 30 minutes to leave my bed for the new day to start. During weekends, I tend to sleep for 7-8 hours, and spend my time reading new books (if I'm in that mood), with my hobbies or shopping to relax my mind.

I'm a bit flustered after reading that, fifty shades of grey could learn a few things....
"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 
nitau_gg:

Irrespective of all odds, I take a 5 mile brisk walk everyday in the busy streets, park, lawn, etc. This gives me a nice exercise with a lot of sweat. After this work out, I take a cold shower (and in winters, a luke warm bath). I sit down under the shower for about 15-20 minutes. This gives amazing relaxation as the water flows down my body. I sometimes float in my bath-tub. After a heavy dinner, I lie on my bed trying to still my mind - this is also a time when I reflect my day, especially the mistakes I made and the new learning I had. In about 15-20 minutes, I'll be dead on the bed for the next 6 hours.

Next morning, my alarm wakes me up, and I take another 30 minutes to leave my bed for the new day to start. During weekends, I tend to sleep for 7-8 hours, and spend my time reading new books (if I'm in that mood), with my hobbies or shopping to relax my mind.

For some reason I couldn't help but read this in Patrick Bateman's voice.

 

I turn on the TV, put a 30-minute timer, take my glasses off, turn off the lamp, and watch the TV. Usually I fell asleep before the timer turn the TV off.

Come to think of it, I always get sleepy everytime I take my glasses off then doing nothing (or almost nothing, like watching TV). So if you wear glasses, maybe it's worth a try.

Fortes fortuna adiuvat.
 

fortheppl what do you do right before you go to sleep?

if it's anything involving a screen, my #1 suggestion would be to do something non-electronic for at least 30 minutes before you hit the sack. Blue light emitted from smartphones and laptops have been shown to mess up our circadian rhythm (they've done studies on this).

Reading a light fiction book (in paper form, not on a tablet) is a great way to unwind and relax the brain. I have a few collections of classic short stories (usually 20-30 pages) that are great for bedtime reading.

I'd also agree with Stringer Bell about limiting/managing your caffeine intake, because it stays active in your body long after the buzz is gone.

Metal. Music. Life. www.headofmetal.com
 

Thanks for all the answers, really helpful.

They seemed to fall into 4 camps: 1- quick workout 2- read/watch tv for a little to get mind off work 3 - melatonin / weed 4- bang

Last night I went with option 4 and it obviously worked pretty well. But ill probably go w number 2 for the most part. Hopefully reading or watching something mindless for 30 min will be just what I need

Any good half hour tv shows that people prefer before bed? Not anything that requires serious thought, i'm thinking a stupid comedy like how i met your mother

 

HBO's Silicon Valley. My favorite show on tv right now. I also like Hard Knocks for a good wind down show.

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Back when online poker was still operating properly (USA), I would suffer the same problem - finishing up late with a mind running 100 mph. Couple things I did to take the edge off:

Work out.

Put on a movie or stand-up comedy special that I've seen a thousand times. Dave Chappelle's "Killing Them Softly" was my Ambien.

Read a book (or CFA material if you're on that grind).

If you are tired but still frustratingly awake in bed, getting up and moving to a different room does wonders. You'd be surprised what getting up and moving to a different room for 10-15 minutes can do.

Smoking a bowl can help you get to sleep but it usually leaves me very groggy in the morning so I cut that from my routine.

Hope that helps.

 

I mean if you are THAT determined not to use drugs, you have some options.

A combination of a warm shower and some light stretching ought to relax you some.

Keep your room nice and cold, definitely helps for science reasons or something.

If you need something to do so that your mind isn't racing or thinking about all you have to do the next morning, do some light reading. Nothing too engaging. Cut it out with the tv, computers, phones, etc. Wrecks your sleep for some reason. No idea why, I can fall asleep with it just fine, but apparently you shouldn't.

Sex/beating it. This one is obvious.

As far as waking up, bust out 100 push ups, fifty or so tricep dips and crush an iced coffee.

 

Update: advice on watchinng tv actually does work! Watched hard knocks last night for literally 5 minutes before bed and passed out right away as if I just got home from a night of drinking. Was magical

 

A really really hot bath will do the trick. Relaxes your muscles/mind then as your body temperature gradually drops once out of the bath it helps you get a deep sleep or something or other. Also, I find having a full stomach helps me sleep. Lots of cottage cheese for proteins and gives you some weird dreams.

 

Exercise your human rights (if it's not, it should be) and jack it. As my dad would say "go pull rope". This works especially if you have adenine going and mind racing about the big presentation or valuation you just finished at 3AM. I'm surprised you haven't figured this out on your own.

Have compassion as well as ambition and you’ll go far in life. Check out my blog at MemoryVideo.com
 

Melatonin and f.lux. Additionally, switch out the lights in your bedroom at night with orange bulbs and make sure there are no lights coming through your window. The darkness is crucial and makes your body produce more melatonin which signals the body to sleep.

 

I think #1 is one of the most important/overlooked tips on the list. Condition your body so that when you get into bed it knows it is time to go to sleep. Spending time in bed doing work, watching TV, etc will only confuse that. The only real exception I have found to this is reading as that usually helps put me to sleep. Obviously sexytime too.

This to all my hatin' folks seeing me getting guac right now..
 

I think caffeine is the most important one. I used to be hopelessly addicted to caffeine (as I'd imagine many of you are, but don't realize). One morning I didn't have time to grab coffee heading into work, and it was pure hell. Foggy brain, couldn't focus or think clearly. I decided then to give up all caffeine. It was a very gradual process (I couldn't do cold turkey); I did soda > black tea > green tea > water, for a week each before permanently settling on water. You'd be surprised the difference it makes.

 
MFFL:
I think caffeine is the most important one. I used to be hopelessly addicted to caffeine (as I'd imagine many of you are, but don't realize). One morning I didn't have time to grab coffee heading into work, and it was pure hell. Foggy brain, couldn't focus or think clearly. I decided then to give up all caffeine. It was a very gradual process (I couldn't do cold turkey); I did soda > black tea > green tea > water, for a week each before permanently settling on water. You'd be surprised the difference it makes.
People don't really need caffeine, just like people don't really need adderall or vyvanse. It's all bullshit.

I avg 2-3 hours and have never touched caffeine, mostly because I hate coffee, yet I have plenty of energy and get straight A's while working an internship without really being that smart.

 

Good post. I personally find it difficult to fall asleep hungry though. I prefer having a lighter lunch so I don't get groggy during the afternoon.

 

To me the most important part has been #5. There have been times where I've been very busy, but have been able to stick to a routine and feel great everyday. My biggest problem has always come on the weekends- a particularly aggressive weekend can throw me off for the entire week.

I never was allowed to have a TV in my room growing up so, with the exception of college, I've continued to do without. I think this can be a big help. One question- any thoughts on reading on an iPad? It's the only real screen I bring to bed, as I've stopped buying actual books. It doesn't seem to have any negative affects on me getting to sleep, but I understand the backlit screen may not be ideal. I often use the night setting (black background with white text, which great diminishes the amount of light produced).

 

5 is the big problem for me. I have a relatively set routine during the week, but the weekend its not like I'm gonna be at a party and be like "Welp, its 12. Time for me to go to sleep." The weekends are my play time so that really messes me up.

Tar Heel Blue:
One question- any thoughts on reading on an iPad? It's the only real screen I bring to bed, as I've stopped buying actual books. It doesn't seem to have any negative affects on me getting to sleep, but I understand the backlit screen may not be ideal.

Same issue here. I've taken a liking to reading on my Nexus, and have no physical books. I'm sure the screen can't be helpful.

I also have a TERRIBLE habit of needing to fall asleep with the TV on.

 

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Please don't quote Patrick Bateman.
 

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