More than 30% of the world's population suffers from insomnia. Insomnia is the perception of inadequate or poor quality sleep due to factors like difficulty falling asleep, waking up frequently during the night, or unrefreshing sleep. Usual treatments include cognitive behavioral therapy or prescription sleeping pills for short-term relief, although pills are not recommended for long-term use. The document proposes more creative solutions for treating insomnia that target its underlying causes more efficiently, such as soothing the mind, focusing positive thinking, or channeling excess energy. It provides over 100 potential solutions addressing common causes of insomnia like stress, negative thoughts, distractions, perfectionism, fear of nightmares, feelings of unfairness, boredom, and restlessness

1. I.N.S.O.M.N.I.A. - more than 30% of the world population suffers
from it.
(better-sleep-better-life.com)
According to MedicineNet, insomnia is the perception or complaint of
inadequate or poor-quality sleep due to a number of factors, such as
difficulty falling asleep, waking up frequently during the night with difficulty
returning to sleep, waking up too early in the morning, or unrefreshing
sleep.
Usual treatments may include cognitive and behavioral treatments, or
prescription of a short course of sleeping tablets for immediate relief or to
manage a particularly bad period of insomnia (although they aren't
recommended for long-term use).
Surely there are more effective forms of treatment!? If the underlying causes
can be so varied, there is enough scope to explore a more creative approach
to targeting the causes and treating them more efficiently...

3.  The mind wandering
◦ Control the mind
◦ Inspire the mind
◦ Soothe the mind
◦ Let the mind run free… in the desired direction
 Anxiety/Negative thinking
◦ Let positivity overwhelm negativity
◦ Detract attention from sources of restlessness –
focus on soothing the mind
 Too much energy for bedtime
◦ Channel the energy

5. Problem: general stress – you’ve got too much to think about
Possible Solutions:
1. Buy a planner & use it
2. Leave notebook & pen by nightstand
3. Daily to-do list – check items off before lights off; if necessary write
tomorrow’s to-do list
4. Lay out clothes for the next day – one less thing to think about!
5. Cook twice as much dinner – stops you worrying about the next meal
6. Hire help in environment of root of problem (house/work/children)
7. Meditate
8. Make a long mental list of things to process before processing them –
stick to the order. Guaranteed you won’t get to the end of the list
before you fall asleep
9. Think of something pointless for a change – how many good hiding
places are there in your flat/house? For hide-and-seek? for hiding
Easter eggs in?
10. Mental maths – it’s never too late to practice
11. Imagine what it would be like not to think of anything at all – an empty
mind. Aim for it
12. Organise your thoughts – literally – into a compartmentalised drawer.
Update it every day, keep all files/sections structured and in order.

6. Problem: focused stress – you’re thinking about a big
problem
Possible Solutions:
13. Look for & find a positive angle
14. Seek expert opinion (if problem is complex)
15. Comfort yourself – put pj’s on the heater so when
you change they are cosy & warm
16. Comfort yourself – hot shower & clean pj’s
17. Comfort yourself – hot water bottle
18. Comfort yourself – glass of warm milk with honey
19. Comfort yourself – buy a comfort pillow
20. Work through it peacefully – meditate
21. Work through it logically – analyse, make plan of
action on paper – steps & who to discuss it with
22. Work through it physically – run it out, go spinning
etc. before bed

7. Problem: related stress – you have too much pressure to fall asleep
Possible Solutions:
Distract yourself!
23. … Tempt your partner
24. … Tempt yourself
25. Remember every song/tune heard that day
26. Remember all the lyrics to a song
27. Write a poem
28. Count sheep
29. … Count camels
30. Re-play every task of the day gone by (6.45 – alarm rang, I snoozed. 6.47 – alarm rang, I snoozed.
6.50 – alarm rang, I turned it off, got up, walked to the bathroom…)
31. Create the longest predator/prey food-chain you can construct
32. Read a boring book
33. Repetitive and limited-thinking activity – knitting
34. Repetitive and limited-thinking activity – shuffle cards
35. Repetitive and limited-thinking activity – drum your fingers individually in the air
36. Repetitive and limited-thinking activity – abdominal/butt crunches
37. Repetitive and limited-thinking activity – massage your
head/neck/shoulders/arms
38. Hypnotize yourself?

8. Problem: environment – you have distractions in your surroundings
Possible Solutions:
… if distracted through vision:
39. Buy better blinds
40. Blindfold your eyes
41. Get spa/relax eye-mask
42. Hang a soothing painting on the ceiling
… if distracted through lack of vision:
43. Light safe candles & light them (scented?)
44. Night light
45. Lava lamp
46. Play TV in the background on mute
… if distracted through hearing:
47. Buy ear plugs
48. Play soothing music in the background (set on sleep mode to
turn off automatically)
49. Play music and change your breathing pattern to beat
50. Count your breathing
51. Adapt your breathing to partner’s rhythm

9. ‘Problem’: you’ve got an over-perfectionist personality
Possible Solutions:
… if distracted through state (i.e. ‘imperfections’) of surroundings
52. Rearrange your room – go zen?
53. Fold your clothes
54. Clean them- dust the surfaces, vacuum under the bed, clean
the mirror
55. Reorganise sock drawer
56. Re-fold a pile of clothes before turning lights off
57. Colour-coordinate shirts
58. Stretch bed sheets before lying in bed
59. Brush your hair
60. Align your shoes with the bed
61. Prepare your bathrobe for wearing after getting out of bed in
the morning
62. Close your eyes and imagine walking through your room,
looking at every single detail in room and describing it with a
visual close-up image

10. Problem: you’re afraid of nightmares or waking up
Possible Solutions:
63. Envision: what would you do with 1million
dollars/pounds/euros/yen – how would you distribute the
money/what would you buy/invest in?… and what would
the results be?
64. Envision: what was your childhood career choice and
where would you be now if you had pursued it?
65. Envision: if you could change one conversation in your
past, how would it affect where you are today?
66. Analyse: your fear and its origins
67. Analyse: your current situation – you are in your
bed, warm, comfortable, and worrying for what?
68. Plan: what you are going to do tomorrow to get
everything you need to do done?
69. Plan: where are you going to go on your next holiday?
70. Plan: next birthday celebration

11. Problem: you feel life is unfair… you’re moping.
Possible Solutions:
… treat yourself!
71. Get a full body massage… deep tissue.
72. Change the bed sheets
73. Have a glass of wine before bed
74. Order-in dinner instead of cooking
75. Go for dinner in a restaurant
76. Watch a feel-good movie in bed
77. Dinner in bed
78. Have twice as much desert
79. Have a foot bath before bed
… deal with it.
80. Think of 3 ways in which it is better than it used to be for you –
improvements you have already accomplished.
81. Think of 3 people you know that have bigger issues to deal
with, and think of all the aspects of your life you are happy with
82. Think of 3 ways you can make it fairer on yourself – and don’t
be lazy.

12. Problem: you’re bored of lying in bed in the dark
Possible Solutions:
... Tire yourself
83. Sports activity
84. Clean
85. Cook/bake
86. Sing/dance
87. Read the instruction manual to your microwave front to back
... Get creative!
88. Paint a portrait of yourself
89. Make a collage of all the random and un-useful things you find
in a short walk through the house
90. Compose a percussion theme song to your favourite movie with
your kitchen utensils
91. Play the first classical song you can find and create a
choreography. Rehearse rehearse rehearse.
92. Start writing your autobiography – it’s on your longer list of
things to do
93. Expand your origami skills, beyond the party hat or paper boat

13. Problem: you’re restless, bored about the bigger picture
Possible Solutions:
94. Brainstorm (with or without colourful hats) – about where you would
like to be instead
95. Make a list of hobbies you never pursued and pick one based on
current context and interests, and consider how best to approach
implementing it into your schedule
96. Think of all the people you know or know of and how their lives seem
somehow more complete than yours. Draw the differences and make a
plan of action
97. Shrink the picture, look at your day-to-day and realise that it’s not
about the bigger picture but all the small pictures of which it is made
up
98. Remember a time where you weren’t restless, and compare. What
changed?
99. Imagine going to therapy and talking about your restlessness… think
about what you would say – self-therapy might lead you to solution?
100. Expand your horizons – learn to count to 20 in a different language
every night, and rehears all previously-learnt languages.
101. Make 3 resolutions on how to ‘improve’ your situation