If you’re looking for ways to cure insomnia using your own brain power and problem solving skills, Day 7 is your day.
As already mentioned in the article about sleep and stress, many insomniacs have gotten themselves into the habit of worrying about their life problems at night when it’s time to sleep.
They go looking for ways to cure insomnia not understanding that the problem can lead to the solution.
That means, simply, that the same brain power and mental activity that is keeping you awake can be put to positive, productive purposes that can help you sleep better.
And as mentioned in this article about how to sleep better using two simple mental concepts, many insomniacs have also gotten accustomed to feeling that their day is never “finished,” as well as feeling that tomorrow is already here.
Finding the right ways to cure insomnia often means changing these two thinking habits that prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep.
But HOW do you change those habits?
Good question! I presume that you’ve already become accustomed to worrying at certain times during the day rather than at night (or whenever you’re trying to sleep). If not, go back to Day 2, then read the article on sleep and stress relief and the cure for worry article.
If you’ve already scheduled appointments with yourself to worry or engage in other mental activity that normally keeps you awake at night, great! You’ve already discovered one of the most effective ways to cure insomnia if you are a night worrier.
After a week or two (or three) of this schedule, you can then begin to figure out real solutions or answers to whatever it is keeping your mind so restless and wide awake.
The Problem-Solving Secret… and What Makes It Easy
What happens eventually is this: once you get into a problem-solving mode, life just keeps getting better and better.
Why? Because being able to solve problems feels really good. Nothing zaps our energy and zest for life as much as feeling helpless to deal with our inevitable problems and concerns.
Worrying is really the manifestation of this feeling of helplessness and negativity.
Once you give yourself a real answer — even if it’s not the exact “right” answer — your brain will understand that you’ve broken the helplessness cycle, and will begin to relax. This in turn, allows it to think up more and better answers.
INPORTANT: you need a big pool of “wrong” answers to find one that might be “right.”
Why It’s So Hard to Solve Problems
The education system in our country always emphasizes the “right” answer. We must find that right answer at any cost. But the cost often turns out to be our ability to think up lots of wrong answers, which is the only true path to creative problem solving.
Now I’ll admit, learning problem solving techniques does not, at first glance, seem to offer the fastest or easiest method among all the possible ways to cure insomnia… maybe not quite the magic bullet you were looking for.
I do understand, but don’t dismiss the idea quite yet. It can work a lot faster than you can imagine. Never underestimate the power of your brain to not only solve problems, but to knock you out cold — with a very satisfying type of exhaustion — once you’ve done it.
Many people think that finding a solution to a difficult problem requires great effort and possibly major life-style changes.
Not true. You will benefit greatly by starting to think of very small, simple things that you can do to solve a problem.
It’s sort of like beginning to build a brick wall by bringing one brick at a time to the place you’re planning to build it. One brick at a time… Or you can think of the old proverb that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Good problem-solvers are often able to see both the big picture and the small details… or the tiny trigger that can lead to big insights… or the tiny opportunity that can get you out of a big hole.
You need to become more alert to these kinds of small beginning steps that can make a start and set you on the path of a real solution.
This is vitally important if your worries keep you awake. Here is something to keep in mind:
Nearly ANY step you take to actually solve your problem will help relieve incessant worry. Even if it’s a small step. And the relief that comes from taking some real and deliberate action will help you sleep better at night.
And this is how learning productive and effective problem solving methods can be one of the ways to cure insomnia — among many others — that can improve your waking life as well.