My Secret To Falling Asleep

Like many people it’s hard for me to turn my mind off and rest at night. And the longer I lay in bed and watch the clock the more stressed I get about not sleeping. Three years ago I found a solution—PODCASTS. A podcast is an ongoing audio series (or video  –but not recommended for sleep) that you download on to your ipod, iphone or any mp3 player. All of the podcasts I listen to are free and I download them from itunes.

The best “sleep” podcasts are talk shows that don’t have any surprising sounds. The podcast’s topic should be something you find interesting, but not too interesting to the point that you’ll stay awake because you want to hear how it ends.
 
My Top 5 “Sleep” Podcasts

1. This American Life
It’s a weekly radio shadow that can be heard on NPR. Each week there’s a theme and a variety of stories around that theme. Most of the stories are true, though some are fiction. I’m a big fan. (60 mins)

2. Manic Mommies
Two moms who “bring tips, product reviews, guest interviews, and practical advice to moms trying to manage the madness!”  These ladies have a great sense of humor. (60 mins)

3. The Moth
The Moth is perfect for nights when you just want a ~15 minute bedtime story. Each episode is a true story told on stage in front of a live audience without notes. Check the one liner description , sometimes the stories are way to fascinating or funny to fall asleep. (15 mins)

4. Fresh Air
Another fantastic NPR program; It’s a talk show that discusses contemporary arts and issues. Just a beware sometimes they end the show with an album review. Nothing is worse than falling asleep and being woken up to a blaring guitar solo. (60 mins)

5. Stuff You Should Know
HowStuffWorks.com brings Chuck and Josh who discuss random "stuff" from “Do animals have a sixth sense” to “Is high fructose corn syrup bad for you?” Just a warning, at the end they answer emails and it has a bell chime intro that’s woken me up a few times. (20 mins)

The Technique
One ear bud in, using the ear that’s closest to the pillow so you can slip your mp3 player under your pillow and not wake up in the middle of the night tangled up in your head phones. Keep the volume low, but loud enough that you can hear.

The Side Effect
There is one side effect I’ve found.  All of the sleep podcasts I recommend are really interesting conversation topics. Sometimes I find that the topics get into my subconscious because I’m listening while I’m in that early sleep state of consciousness. (Note to advertisers: Get your commercials in the middle of podcasts-- captive and impressionable audience.) Information or stories that I didn’t realize I knew will come to me while talking with friends. Like it was in a dream…because well,  it was.

A few months ago I was listening to Fresh Air. Judd Apatow, the director of The Forty Year Old Virgin and Superbad, was being interviewed about his new movie Funny People. He brought up the fact that he has insomnia and he too uses podcasts to fall asleep:

But what I do nowadays is I will download on my iPod, FRESH AIR, "This American Life," Deepak Chopra books. And every night, when it's time to go to sleep, I'll put something on and I'll listen to it because I don't want to hear the voices in my head, and I'd rather hear you talking to Tobias Wolff or something. And for some reason, it makes me very happy. And I've slept much better since I realized that I could put the earbud in one ear, and not in the other ear and put that ear on the pillow. Because it would hurt if I had the earbuds in both ears. And so, maybe it's me, and it's not from Adam.
GROSS: Well, I'm thrilled that FRESH AIR plays some small part in…
(Soundbite of laughter)
GROSS: …in helping you get to sleep at night. That's really great.
Mr. APATOW: Now, I have to pick a FRESH AIR that is a topic that I think will calm me down.
GROSS: As opposed to making you more nervous.
Mr. APATOW: You're talking…
GROSS: Right, exactly.
Mr. APATOW: Yeah. If you're talking Iraq war, I can't go to sleep to that. But I can slowly, over the course of an hour, calm down to a combo show with, like, Bill Murray and Diane Keaton. It'll just kind of make me happy. And I'll listen and then I'll drift off. And the next night, I'll start from the point I fell asleep, and I'll listen to the end. This is the highest praise for you.
GROSS: Oh, you're kidding. You know, it absolutely is.
source

I was really surprised that he listens to some of the same podcasts as me, and even has the same one ear bud technique. And then I thought either this is much more common than I think, or I need to share this because a lot of people out there have trouble falling asleep.

Please let me know if you use podcasts to fall asleep already. If you do, which ones are your favorites. Also let me know if you try it out after reading this how it goes. Sweet Dreams!