I got a terrible night of sleep and have an interview this afternoon. What are some things I can do to help my brain?

minorsecond@lemm.ee to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 150 points –

I'm super drowsy even though I had some caffeine. I'm drinking lots of water and eating healthy foods, but is there anything else I can do in the meantime?

How do you make yourself feel better after a poor night of sleep?

Edit: It went well! The director even said, "we should just hire you now!" However, I have one more panel interview. Time for a nap.

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Drink a cup of coffee THEN take a 20 minute power nap right after. Caffeine doesn’t clear the chemicals from the receptors that tell your brain you are sleepy. It DOES prevent those chemicals from binding for a while, so drink the coffee and immediately take a nap. Your body will clear up the Chema, and the caffeine will prevent the Chems still floating in your blood stream from making you tired again 20 minutes later

20 minute power nap

Just curious, how do you guys manage to do that? It can take me up to 2 hours just to fall asleep, unless I just woke up in which case I still shouldn't do that because few extra minutes of sleep just totally destroy me for the day.

20 minute Power Nap = lay down, close my eyes, think of nothing for 20 minutes.

It usually takes me an hour + to fall asleep but I still appreciate getting a few minutes to shut down in the middle of a tiring day.

Imagine telling an adhd (or related) to think about nothing.
Might as well ask me to move that mountain over there :p

Move that mountain over there.

Actually, when I think about it, you sort of can. Because the mountain is a part of Earth you can just move the Earth. As you know, every action has an equal and opposite reaction so you can just start walking or running by which you ever so slightly changed the Earth's rotation and kind of moved the mountain along with it.
But actually, speed is relative. So if you're walking (which the mountain probably isn't, at least not in exactly same direction at exactly same speed) the mountain is moving relative to you.
Although you could also probably just kick it. Vibrations are also movements, no matter how small.

But what if you just took a rock from the mountain and thrown it somewhere else? If it's considered a part of mountain, you just moved it relative to Earth which is a big success in this case. I mean, think about a pile of gravel. Take some from one side, place it on the other, it's still a pile of gravel and it is also slightly re-positioned.

Anyway,...

And this is the sort of thought my brain goes through when trying to think of nothing...

Start at 10, count backwards to 1
Count up to 10
Count backwards to 1

Your mind will wander, that’s ok. Recognize it is happening, and focus back on counting.

Dude I am textbook ADHD and totally useless without meds (which is why it takes over an hour for me to even think about sleeping).

You don’t have to give up before you try just because you have ADHD.

You guys should try having kids. You'll learn to fall asleep within moments.

Miracle cure, I tell ya.

Just close your eyes and let your mind wander. Even if you don’t fall asleep you get a large percentage of the benefits. The 20 minutes is because that’s about the best timespan for the body to rest without taking into a deeper slumber that’s hard to wake up from

You're not actually going to sleep, you're "resting" for 20 minutes. It still had a massive impact on your energy level and well being. Anything past that and you run into the danger zone of sleeping too long and waking up mid sleep-cycle and feeling worse.

I never use to be able to nap until I started smoking weed.

Do you smoke before the nap? Or just the active use seems to help you nap in general?

Just the active use in general. I do sometimes have trouble falling asleep but its usually allergy related or my cat won't shut up lol

I personally used meditation techniques to fall asleep faster until I taught my brain and myself the right routine. Don't confuse your brain, Bed=sleep and keep a schedule. From there power naps are easy.

This works, and I'm speaking from experience. Nothing makes a short nap more effective at clearing cobwebs than coffee right beforehand.

If you can manage both, do this and then go for a walk for about 20 minutes before your interview. Physical activity can also help wake up your brain, and a walk shouldn't get you sweating like heavier exercise might. Showing up for an interview sweaty isn't a good look.

Same here. I have drank coffee and gone right to sleep before and its a different kind of sleep.