13,292,938 ideas when you hit the pillow?
The mind goes BAZOOKA at night. Simple two-pronged solutions to reign in the sacred mind's midnight idea machine.
The best way I can describe my sleep schedule over the past several months is an erratic Christmas eve style insomnia akin to that of an impish child. In all my years of binge-watching, movie-marathoning and hapless feed scrolling I’ve never struggled so much to get some shut eye. The culprit? GODDAMN WRITING. I can’t say my sleep routine was entirely consistent while I was in undergrad, but at the very least it approximated the reasonability of a college student with a 9 am lecture to get to. But in this strange gap of time between graduating and film school, winding up this fall, I’ve developed a type of compulsive ideation holding pattern, initiating the very instant my head hits the pillow, and amassing a mental deluge of additions and amendments to scripts I’m in the process of writing (on special occasions, a new concept entirely).
For the first few minutes my mind is clear and a hope for a swift descent into the dreamscape is still alive. The temperature in my room is just right. I don’t regret the combination of PJ pants and tank top I put on after my shower. The last whiffs of incense roam the air and I sink into the joyous idea of the next morning, when I’ll awaken with the shining eyes of restfulness to take on my creative tasks with a full tank… until more time passes when my mind chooses the wrong turn at the fork between precious recharge and esoteric brainstorm. Now, it would be an entirely different story if the ideas I was churning out at the wee hours of the night were frivolous by a morning’s reflection. But to my dismay ;) much of the stuff keeping me up, typing sporadically into my notes app, actually makes it into the final draft. So the question becomes, are these sparks of ingenious exclusive to the dark bedroom hours? Could I just as easily reach such novel territory during my dedicated daytime writing sessions. Science says great ideas tend to “strike” at night because the prefrontal cortex that’s involved in everyday inhibition and control weaken during those hours, not to mention the heightened state of relaxation lowers anxiety (which is wildly disaffirming to the bubbling baseline levels of anxiety I feel at night about things spanning from the state of the world to “when is my cool new bag from Japan gonna arrive.”) I guess I’m far more adept at dealing with those.
Knowing the clear perks, my plan to regain a healthy slumber schedule must account for at least half an hour of half-asleep idea generating. Not in a calculated way because that would destroy the stress-free essence of the whole thing. But to do that, I have to address a few natural impediments: screen time at night, setting off the creative mind is notoriously hard to stop.
Lucky for me, there’s obvious solutions to both of these.
Writing manually unlocks swaths of processing potential and it removes the stimulus. It forces you to slow down, think clearer and engage the kind of meditative practices that make for a seamless transition to bedtime. I tend to be a google docs warrior during the day but diverting my efforts toward the modest notebook has been a rewarding shift. I’m itching to do it much much more.
Another excellent compliment to the zero-screens in the bed policy I’m chasing is an alarm clock—which doubles in functional value when you consider the honorable, worthwhile goal of staying off screens for at least 30 minutes after you wake up. I personally haven’t been the best disciplinarian when it comes to this, but we grow stronger and stronger every day!
On my search for the perfect alarm clock, several lines of mid-century vintage flip clocks from the 70s caught my eye, most of which are made in Japan. I went with this beautiful orange one from Lumitime which I found DEADSTOCK on eBay that’ll be a a nice, dichotomously cohesive pop to my mid-century modern decor predilections.
There’s also a lot of great ones made by Sankyo, Seiko and Copal. While they do run you a chunk of change, I think inviting a sense of analog whimsy into your life is worth the investment if you can. I particularly enjoy the model I got because there’s no am/pm on the dial, meaning every night you have to set the alarm for the next day, a welcome addition to my nightly unwind routine.
I’ve of course trodded the medicinal path for improving sleep and I must say, most of it plateaus after a relatively short period of usage and/or deters me with the drowsy side effects (I’m ofc talkin melatonin).
So instead, I’ve gotten into my herbalist bag and relied on another pair of tools that go hand in hand.
Like I hinted at earlier, a room that smells divine soothes the mind. I like to burn some incense while I’m doing my nightly rituals and burn it a good 10-15 mins before hopping into bed. Yes it makes a difference. But don’t ask me. Ask ur neighborhood aromatherapy aficionado. Read an article about it. For the sake of everything we hold dear, don’t ask ChatGPT.
While the synthetic melatonin most people are used to taking has diminishing returns, I’ve become a huge proponent of plant-based solutions, specifically the concoctions made by the folks at Wooden Spoon Herbs. I grew up with health freak parents who stocked up on this kind of stuff weekly so I’m afraid it’s my own fault for being this late to the party.
Last night I was rocking with the Magic Magnesium Blue Lemonade powder to sip during a movie. They also make a cherry Magnesium Glycinate version but a simple zero-frills capsule of MG is probably the most effective vehicle, if they’re all natural ofc. I’m taking them on a trial run at the moment to find out if their muscle relaxing, anxiety reducing perks prove resonant by the 4-6 week signifier. TBDDD!
Dive in for yourself if you’re intrigued!
You also can’t go wrong with a classic cup of tea, if you’re me, preferably something piping, minty or tangy to revitalize the senses. A cheeky lil sleep mask doesn’t hurt either!
I’m nothing if not a ravenous consumer. For more thoughtful recs of excellent artistry in watchables, listenables, displayables, readables and playables, check out the Great Creations page that I stay stacking.
Next up this week:
Another bonus video as I figure out the recurring format for the series, this time with more happenings on the writing front!