I wake up at 3am to 4am daily as a neighbor makes noise walking their dog. This cannot be helped. Once I am awake, my mind won’t stop going over details about everything from the mundane to the critical. Often, I am able to fall asleep again after three or more hours of wakefulness, but only minutes before I have to wake for the day.

Does anyone have success with quieting the mind without substances so that they can fall back to sleep?

Edit: I want to thank you all for the helpful comments. I’m reading through them now and wioo be internalizing some of the suggestions.

To provide more context for those who asked:

I do have ADHD and OCD and Anxiety.
I sleep with a fan and a white noise track (10hrs of non-repeating noise I d/l’d with newpipe). My apartment building has a fire escape that the neighbor uses as their front door. This path means using a heavy steel door on a power hinge. (Slam!) The door is against the wall that my headboard is on. They have every right to use whichever door they like, and I don’t know them well enough yet to ask them to change for me. They are trying to be as quiet as they can, other than using the loudest path possible. They seem very nice, and their dog is quiet and well trained.
I’m in the middle of a long period of unemployment and I am beginning to worry about finances, as my savings are about half gone in a year.

Thanks again for all the suggestions! I’ll report back with my results in a few days.

  • FuglyDuckEnglish
    6•9 months ago

    Put a Marpac Dohm white noise generator between you and the window. It’s basically a fan that’s modified to generate consistent white noise, and is somewhat adjustable (volume, tone for lack of a better term.).

    It does take some getting used to, but once you do, it muffled a lot of noise. Any white noise generator will probably work, but my marpac has run for years with only needing to be opened once or twice for dust.

    Another option is a thick comforter in the window (like curtains.)

    Beyond mitigation, I keep some yarn and a crochet hook, and make stuffed animals for random kids of people I know. Crocheting for me hits the sweet spot between mindless and needs focus to still my mind.

    My mom will do chores like folding laundry or dishes for a few minutes. Or sudoku.

    Another option is meditation techniques- like meditative breathing will help with relaxing. Try breathing for a count of 3, holding to 6, exhaling to 9 (so each step has a 3-count in through the nose, out the mouth.)