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.

  • @[email protected]
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    1410 months ago

    I focus hard and repeat to myself several times, “i deserve a full night of sleep,” to help get rid of whatever is in my brain. Then i take 5-10 breaths to think about getting comfortable, feeling my pillow and covers. Then i relax one body part for 3 breaths, starting at my feet, then ankles, then lower leg, … Keeping my mind as focused as possible on it to prevent brain wandering. If thoughts creep in, i start over reminding myself that i deserve sleep.

    • Pasta Dental
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      210 months ago

      Ive never managed to sleep this way, I tried so many times, but instead of thinking about the thing I should think about, like breathing, my stupid brain thinks about thinking of doing the thing…

      • @[email protected]
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        110 months ago

        It is hard. Took me about a year of practice to be able to go back to sleep. Adding that i deserve sleep helps me put down my phone and turn off the tv.