"The last refuge of the insomniac is a sense of superiority to the sleeping world." - Leonard Cohen

I'm not an insomniac, but sometimes I can't fall asleep even though I'm tired.

I've developed some techniques over the years. The bottom line is not to force it. If I find myself lying in bed with heavy and swollen eyelids, unable to lose consciousness, I just pick something else to do.

A game, TV, catching up on a whole category of blog I've ignored for months. Anything will do.

By far the best though, is to seize this "extra" time, and try to do something creative. Most of my endeavors have gone unused and undocumented come morning (my night of lightpainting is an exception), but it's the best way to settle the mind.

Also key is not letting these mind shenanigans mess with your regular schedule- if my body's not going to sleep at night, it doesn't get to sleep the next day away.

Back to the Leonard Cohen quotation though- I picked it because I'm very hesitant to write about this subject. Insomnia is a real problem that friends of mine struggle with, and all too often it turns into some kind of one-upmanship game. The only argument worse than "who slept the least this week" is "who has the most work to do".

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