I voted no, but I do get pumped. I just need about an extra hour or two before drifting off. I can sleep at will just about anywhere, except on a plane.
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Anyone else have this problem?
- Thread starter birminghambass
- Start date
Probably not so different to anyone else, but here's what works (and doesn't work) for me - YMMV:
- What's in:
- Low light. Many of the living areas in my house have quite bright halogen downlights so I don't use them when I come in late at night. Low wattage table lamps do the job. And make sure the bedroom has decent curtains that keep out the early morning light.
- A warm, non-caffeinated drink. My go to is a hot chocolate with milk that's been heated in the espresso machine.
- A book. I love reading, but if I'm reading in bed late at night it usually only takes a couple of pages before I start nodding off.
- Regular sleep patterns. One of the worst things for sleep disruption is irregular times for getting to sleep and waking up. I try to get up about the same time on the weekend as I do during the week, and if I get in late on a gig night I'll still get up around the same time the next morning.
- Power naps. While I don't sleep late in the morning, I'm OK with a nana nap mid-afternoon. Not too long though - an hour is enough.
- What's out:
- Alcohol. I tend to find having a few drinks during the evening might help me initially fall asleep, but also makes me wake up an hour to two later, so I don't get good sleep, or enough sleep.
- A big meal. I can't get comfortable in bed with a full stomach, particularly if I've eaten a lot of carbohydrate, or anything spicy.
- Physical activity. I usually don't even unload the car. It's safely locked in the garage so can wait until the next day.
- Screen time. TVs, computers and smartphones all stimulate me and make my brain more active.
Always had that problem. I had a bit of insomnia for years anyway, but up hours after getting home from a gig.
Melatonin 5 mg every night for a couple of months and it got me back to wanting to sleep at night.
I quit taking it after it built up.
I still have that after gig wind down, but it cut it back to less than and hour from 3 or more.
Melatonin 5 mg every night for a couple of months and it got me back to wanting to sleep at night.
I quit taking it after it built up.
I still have that after gig wind down, but it cut it back to less than and hour from 3 or more.
Ric5
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Check out Dave Asprey and bio hacking
a simple way to improve sleep is to wear blue blocking glasses 1/2 hour before going to bed.
Especially when I was touring I had this problem a lot. I didn't think about what I was doing to myself at the gigs. Drinking colas: caffeine. Drinking drinks. Alcohol stimulant. Inhaling smoke: nicotine stimulant, the worst kind--second hand smoke. One time we ended up hiring a kind of 'holistic' lady vocalist and I became good friends with her. She taught me that if I wanted a soda, get soda or tonic with a splash of lime juice or lemon. Don't drink! Hard one to do LOL. Can't do much about the smoke but she would go to her room and completely strip of the smoky clothes and shower. She always had plenty of clothes and did a lot of laundry. She felt that even smoky clothing wasn't good for you.
I still know her to this day, and while she's older than a lot of singers, she sure still looks pretty da*n good! I feel that was great advice and I still follow it to this day. Oh, forgot to mention. Have a cup of chamomile tea when you get home, maybe a dash of honey. Good luck.
I still know her to this day, and while she's older than a lot of singers, she sure still looks pretty da*n good! I feel that was great advice and I still follow it to this day. Oh, forgot to mention. Have a cup of chamomile tea when you get home, maybe a dash of honey. Good luck.
Same with me! I'm happily excited and the best pieces play in my head over and over again
Sex. Lots of sex. Nothing like sex after a gig. That always does the trick for me. Works pretty good even if there is no gig, too. Either that, or Mimi at the massage parlor.
You'd be surprised how many states are still run by their citizens, and therefore still enjoy indulging in their vices.
Why, we even have cigar bars here. Perish the thought!
As to the OP......'fraid I can't be of much help. I've never seen the problem from that side. 20 years of touring where the norm was to finish the show, hit the afterparties, enjoy some "company", maybe finish up with a little light breakfast before returning to the hotel room, usually around 6am.
Hit the rack, pass out, and rise about 11, maybe a little earlier if you were gonna go Sun King by the pool.
5 nights a week, then get all the sleep you want on Sunday and Monday, as long as you could work it around woodshedding new material, usually 4~5 new songs a week, and rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday.
Shower and get some cuddle time. You will sleep like a baby.
I’d say that’s a fairly accurate description of what I go through. That said, I’m about to retire from my full time day job so it will not be such a problem going forward. For me, playing live is a very intense experience and it takes me hours to unwind.
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I get up at 5:30 5 days a week for my day job.
I play pretty much every Friday and Saturday and go to bed around 5. I wake up around 9. It ain't easy.
My day job allows me to take off Fridays when necessary (and that's a lot), and I sometimes have to take an sleep aid (antihistamine) to knock myself back on schedule. I also take naps. Music is more important to me than anything, and I make more money with my band than I do my day job - so I learned to roll with it. I know it ain't the healthiest thing to juggle schedules like that, but I've been doing it pretty much my entire life.
My suggestion... decide what makes you happiest in life, and set priorities. If you're even considering quitting music, I think that says a lot. You can also find different gigging/playing situations.
I play pretty much every Friday and Saturday and go to bed around 5. I wake up around 9. It ain't easy.
My day job allows me to take off Fridays when necessary (and that's a lot), and I sometimes have to take an sleep aid (antihistamine) to knock myself back on schedule. I also take naps. Music is more important to me than anything, and I make more money with my band than I do my day job - so I learned to roll with it. I know it ain't the healthiest thing to juggle schedules like that, but I've been doing it pretty much my entire life.
My suggestion... decide what makes you happiest in life, and set priorities. If you're even considering quitting music, I think that says a lot. You can also find different gigging/playing situations.
For as long as I’ve been playing (40+ years) it has always taken me a good 2-3 hours between putting away an instrument and finally getting off to sleep. Not just gigging, either... late night recording sessions, jams, even practicing all have the same effect. Getting our brains, fingers and eyes to do the stuff needed to get a groove down basically fills the body with hormones that make us hyper-awake and alert... if we didn’t have those hormones we wouldn’t be able to play. Try getting out of bed after a deep sleep and immediately picking up your bass and playing a line... it won’t happen because your body and brain need time to charge up first. Same is true in reverse at the end of the day. It takes time to get the hormone balance back. Don’t agree with suggestions in some posts about using melatonin, anti-histamines etc. I’ve done all those and the risk is (if you use them frequently) they can become habit-forming (not the same as addiction but still quite difficult after a while). Eventually I just learned to accept that I needed a couple of hours or so to purge the good buzz hormones out of my system. So I now won’t practice or record at night (much past 7pm at least) and when gigging (infrequent for me now) or jamming with mates I just assume I won’t be tired enough to sleep until the wee hours.
I can also relate OP. I don't get home before 3am after a gig, never. Thankfully my part time job has no issue with me requesting off the day of and day after a gig so I can get myself back together. Much of the time I'm not even scheduled on the weekends because there are two or 3 people who prefer working on the weekends anyway.
Sadly not many gigs currently, but I get pretty wired, to a lesser extent but the same with rehearsals. 2 to 3 hours to unwind & the same with my wife who is on keys. We have a cup of tea & play YouTubes and it’s quite fun. Drove taxis for a while & the same thing happened. Drove Limos (“hire cars” out here), busses & coaches & there was a little of the same effect but not nearly to the same degree - then someone here just mentioned cigarette smoke... figures. But not in the current band so I think it’s the impact of the creative juices doing their thing currently.
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I think the reason many of us have trouble falling asleep and being tired the following day is because we typically end up going to bed much later after a gig than we normally do. It also takes some time for our bodies and brain to unwind after a gig.
For as long as I can remember, I've always had trouble sleeping whether I had a gig or not. My mind is always racing with random thoughts. It usually takes me 30 minutes or more to fall asleep and I wake up 3 to 4 times almost every night. I don't ever remember sleeping through the night without waking up. I don't drink caffeinated drinks and drink a couple of beers on the weekend. I mostly drink water. When I have a gig, I find it more difficult to fall asleep and find that I don't sleep well at all. I'm usually tired the following day.
For as long as I can remember, I've always had trouble sleeping whether I had a gig or not. My mind is always racing with random thoughts. It usually takes me 30 minutes or more to fall asleep and I wake up 3 to 4 times almost every night. I don't ever remember sleeping through the night without waking up. I don't drink caffeinated drinks and drink a couple of beers on the weekend. I mostly drink water. When I have a gig, I find it more difficult to fall asleep and find that I don't sleep well at all. I'm usually tired the following day.
Most every gig in my life required some down time prior to sleeping.except for two or more our rides home.
100 years ago (well, back in '04) my 'day job' was working swing shift, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. So - gigging hours fit like a glove. Consistent hours, good sleep.
Fast forward a few, day job employer put us on rotating shifts (days / nights, repeat repeat). Haven't slept right since. If I get 5 hours of unbroken sleep, it is a miracle, and rarely happens. So - I feel like I was hit by a truck most of the time, I feel your pain. Hope something here helps, because good sleep has way more value than most people realize. Don't quit the band just yet, you probably love what you do... Giving it up could make you bitter for a very long time, and it may not cure the sleep deprivation. Ask me how I know this.
Fast forward a few, day job employer put us on rotating shifts (days / nights, repeat repeat). Haven't slept right since. If I get 5 hours of unbroken sleep, it is a miracle, and rarely happens. So - I feel like I was hit by a truck most of the time, I feel your pain. Hope something here helps, because good sleep has way more value than most people realize. Don't quit the band just yet, you probably love what you do... Giving it up could make you bitter for a very long time, and it may not cure the sleep deprivation. Ask me how I know this.
Florence and the Machine. No need to purchase any tracks as you can create your very own Florence and the Machine album by locking an owl in a windchime shop.
It's always taken me about two hours to level out after gigs. I've always been a night owl though.
It's always taken me about two hours to level out after gigs. I've always been a night owl though.
