Sometimes it’s hard for me to fall asleep because I can’t stop the chatter inside my head. When it gets to be three o’clock in the morning I’d rather be sleeping, not thinking about work or trying to figure out what will happen in the next book of the Song of Ice and Fire series. (When will Jon Snow’s heritage be revealed? Who will be the dragon riders? Will Dany ever get to Westeros?) So I’ve started listening to podcasts as I go to sleep because I figure if I’m listening to someone else chatter it’s harder to talk to myself in my own head.
I’ve had mixed results, but it seems to have helped overall. It’s best if I don’t listen to a funny podcast because laughing out loud is not conducive to sleep. So The Weekly Planet is not a great choice. It’s good if I don’t listen to a podcast that I’m really interested in, because then I try to stay awake to finish it. That means no new episodes of This American Life or RadioLab, though old episodes are ok because I already know what’s going to happen. It’s also good to avoid podcasts that have lots of different segments because the various musical cues can jar me back awake when I’m in that half-awake/half-asleep state. I’m looking at you, Marketplace Money.
I’ve had good results with Fresh Air because it features long interviews at even sound levels about topics I’m moderately interested in, which give me enough time to lull off to sleep. I realize this is a backhanded compliment. “Your show is great to fall asleep to!” But I don’t mean it that way. I’m perfectly capable of staying awake for a full episode of Fresh Air during daylight hours, and frequently listen to it while I’m working. If anything, hopefully they’d be flattered that I take them to bed with me. Not everyone can make it under my covers!
The strange thing is that one moment I’ll be listening to the beginning of an interview and then suddenly David Bianculli is finishing a TV review and they’re signing off. Where did those 40 minutes go?! Going to sleep is a quasi-mysterious process. I never remember the moment I fade out, and if I were to become aware of that moment when it was happening it would just jolt me awake again. But if I go back and listen to the podcast I fell asleep to, I can figure out where I must of slipped out of consciousness. It gives me specific time markers for how long it took me to fall asleep and how long I was out. It gives me a bit of insight into my sleep habits, but it’s also eerie to know my consciousness can shut off without me really noticing. Not only that, but we do this every single night and it’s considered perfectly normal. Other mammals are able to sleep half of their brains at a time, so they’re never fully out. Know where I learned that? In a RadioLab podcast, of course.
Even when I pick up where I left off, it can take me 3 or 4 attempts to finish an episode. I guess that’s good because it means I’m going to sleep instead of lying there think, think, thinking too much. I’m concerned I might start to get dependent on it, and won’t be able to sleep without a podcast going, but I’m willing to risk it for now. Sleep is a mysterious process, but as long as I have my podcasts it’s a mystery I can take on every night.
Photo by Fe Ilya / CC BY-SA 2.0
Cello mum says
October 1, 2015 at 8:05 pmAs someone who has *always* had to listen to spoken word when falling asleep (as opposed to unspoken words?) in order to distract my brain I have recently had great success using the “my sleep button” app. The sleep button tells you scenes to visualize and you can set the time between scenes – I have one suggested about every two seconds. The idea is “cognitive scrambling” where you make your brain so busy that it can’t focus on anything else and you fall asleep. Works for me 🙂
Vickie says
October 1, 2015 at 9:04 pmTry Winston Churchhill’s granddaughter. British voices lull me to sleep very easily. Hers is the best. I know this because I recorded a piece she did on her grandfather on PBS. I tried to watch it dozens of times. Dozens. Only ever made it about 10-15 minutes. Still have never seen the rest of it. At some point it was deleted off the recorder. And one of these days I am going to order it from Amazon in DVD format just so I have it in case of high stress/no sleep emergency.
Vickie says
October 1, 2015 at 9:07 pm@Vickie – and one of my daughters and I took a 2+ week tour in England/Scotland/Wales. The tour guide’s voice was so relaxing that we often drifted off to sleep on the coach. No other accents have this effect on me. . .
Natalie says
October 1, 2015 at 11:48 pmFor daytime naps, I think you can’t beat cricket on the TV. For those not of an English/Australian/South African etc persuasion, test cricket matches go for five days at a very sedate pace. Commentary is fairly subdued, crowd noise is polite rather than frantic, bat hits ball in a gentlemanly fashion. You can have a good nap and miss nothing of importance. Warm summer afternoons…
Gloria says
October 2, 2015 at 12:13 amThere’s a guy who makes a podcast specifically for people to fall asleep to. He tells nonsensical stories in a soothing voice and tone. I can’t remember what it’s called but I’m sure it wouldn’t be difficult to find.
Katy says
December 16, 2015 at 2:54 pm@Gloria – It’s called Sleep With Me, I listen to is multiple times a week. Jennette, try it!
Nora says
October 3, 2015 at 6:16 pmI have now watched the entirety of the Seinfeld and 30 Rock series. I play these when I go to sleep. I started with Seinfeld because I know the episodes and they’re familiar, so I don’t have to ‘pay attention’ as I nod off. Now that I’ve watched it enough, I do the same with 30 Rock. The nice thing about 30 Rock is that I watch it through Netflix on my laptop and Netflix will load up the next episode automatically, and shut off after some amount of time (60 mins?). I find this is a great way to ‘turn off’ my own voice but fall asleep to funny, happy people. As sad as it might sound, I actually think of some of the characters like my friends because I’m so familiar with them after watching them so much.
Molly says
October 6, 2015 at 6:10 pmI do this as well but not just to ignore the chatter in my head. I have tinnitus – two kinds, hissing in one ear and ringing in the other. I listen to Stargate SG-1, Stargate Universe, Firefly and Eureka mostly – oh, and 2 episodes of Sherlock too. I have to be specific about which episodes to use as some are more conducive to sleep than others.
Most of the time my sleep is uneventful and therefore, restful but every now and then parts of the shows will appear in my dreams in typical surreal dream fashion. On those mornings I wake up shaking my head and thinking “Okay, that was odd…”.
Jen says
October 12, 2015 at 8:40 pmI listen to podcasts for a similar reason while I’m working around the house — it’s enough to keep my mind entertained during the mundane tasks so I don’t ruminate on stupid things. Kelly McGonigal wrote in The Willpower Instinct that when the mind is not busy, it tends to focus on negative things. I call that the “Screensaver of Doom,” and I don’t like it.
Good for you for finding a solution to a tricky problem that works for you.
Fal says
October 17, 2015 at 2:01 pmI grew up listening to Ann Rachlin’s classical music/fairy tales before I went to sleep, check them out! https://annrachlin.com/
Mymsie says
October 19, 2015 at 4:05 pmI’ve been using the Calm app for several months and it has dramatically improved my falling asleep/sleeping process. The meditations are accessible and low-key and there are several you can try for free. Highly recommend!
Asydneyfoodie says
December 11, 2015 at 8:07 pmI’m with you there. The right podcast or spoken word book helps me turn off my mind and go to sleep.e.g early harry potter before he gets all shouty -yes. Julie & Julia – yes. Cleaving – no. I’ll have to look up the podcasts you’ve suggested.