Ericka / May 9, 2005 10:36 AM

Read, walk around, watch really bad infomercials, craft, check email, toss and turn, eat, exercise, iron (my favorite LOL) wash clothes, write, paint, draw, on occasion go out, listen to music, clean, watch the sun come up....and figure out a way to bring about world peace....LOL other than that what can you do but pray your tired self falls asleep before it's time to get up and go to work!

Andrew / May 9, 2005 11:19 AM

I usually go out to the couch and try sleeping there. For some reason, it usually works.

Ken / May 9, 2005 11:31 AM

Suffer.

lacey / May 9, 2005 11:32 AM

This is extremely nerdy I know, but I watch episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation on DVD.

Naz / May 9, 2005 11:35 AM

I try to do something productive. Since I'm up I may as well and there's always stuff to catch up on.

Barring that, if it's warm out, I'll take the bike out and ride to wear myself out.

anne / May 9, 2005 11:40 AM

Since I get insomnia because I have too much to worry about in my brain, I started investigating good, non-habit forming sleep aids. My favorite: Valarian Root. Incredibly stinky (double bag that bottle) but easy to find and it really works to shut down all the nagging details swirling around my head. Since it's an herb, it's not regulated, so be sure to check the amount per pill before you buy.

If I can afford to "work through" the insomnia, I write. I've got a series of 20 poems and counting.

Blake / May 9, 2005 11:53 AM

I count pink slips, and hope that one is coming my way!

Michael / May 9, 2005 12:01 PM

Feed the demons.

Wendy / May 9, 2005 12:43 PM

I open up my iChat to see if anyone I know is online. You never know who's up late...

waleeta / May 9, 2005 12:46 PM

lots of stuff: wait, take a melatonin, or smoke some weed.

salty / May 9, 2005 12:48 PM

Take a double dose of (generic) Benedryl and/or Tums, and lay down on the couch.

Maybe watch an episode of "Pimp My Ride" during the never-ending PMR marathon.

Turn off the t.v. and I'm out.

Veronica #2 / May 9, 2005 1:20 PM

I troll craigslist.

Michael / May 9, 2005 1:22 PM

I'm with Waleeta...
Weed usually does the trick.

Pedro / May 9, 2005 1:32 PM

Sleepy time tea works well, and so does sex.

Erica / May 9, 2005 2:16 PM

Working out regularly -- my best sleep is when I'm on some sort of exercise program.

Staci / May 9, 2005 2:53 PM

Sleeping on the couch usually works for me, but I also take a calcium pill because it seems to help me relax.

Cinnamon / May 9, 2005 3:02 PM

If I can't sleep, I find that I get more done between midnight and 3 am than I can between noon and 3 pm. But don't tell my boss.

The only thing I won't do if I can't sleep, is lay there. Listening to my sweety snore softly while I can't sleep is the most frustrating thing ever.

Roni / May 9, 2005 3:28 PM

I pout, toss & turn since I usually fall asleep very quickly. I know, I know, I suck. But anytime I can't fall asleep just throws me off. Sometimes I just try to think about something - plan my day, review my day, anything. If I can make myself not think about sleep, then I fall asleep.

emily / May 9, 2005 3:28 PM

the prissy combination of earplugs, a satin eye mask and deep breathing usually does the trick for me. if not, a glass of wine and some tylenol pm knocks me out cold.

paul / May 9, 2005 3:31 PM

I always have some sort of work to do. That puts me right out.

I have the luxury of a second bedroom, which is more like an office. My sleeping bedroom has no books, no tv and I never bring the laptop in there. However, the "separation from distractions" thing only works in principle and usually works in reverse. Like last night - after laying undistracted for a half hour, I decided to be constructive and went to the "office futon" where I lasted about 5 minutes.

jason / May 9, 2005 3:34 PM

Whenever I can't sleep I usually try to pick up a book. I get about twenty pages in and then my eyelids start to get heavy and I know that sweet slumber is only a few moments away. It works - most of the time.

leelah / May 9, 2005 3:51 PM

Lay awake for a few hours, then drink some milk straight from the carton and pray that it makes me tired.

d4ve / May 9, 2005 5:09 PM

melatonin rox my world

susan / May 9, 2005 6:03 PM

I bake.
And sometimes I take 5htp.

Eamon / May 9, 2005 6:12 PM

I pick a random number greater than 500 or so and start counting down slowly from there. If I get to 0 (which is rare), I get up and watch some bad television.

Emerson Dameron / May 9, 2005 7:32 PM

Any sort of orgasm usually serves. If not, I'll read (something lite - Woody Allen's Without Feathers works wonders), write, or pretend I'm an actor playing a sleeping person.

steven / May 10, 2005 8:48 AM

Doesn't happen too often (knock on wood). If it does, and it's not too late, I'll pop a Tylenol PM. Snooze City. Otherwise, I'll get up and hit the web or read.

Somewhat Great Gatsby / May 10, 2005 10:31 AM

Only one person has said thus far what we all know we do when we can't sleep: masturbate. If you've got a girlfriend/boyfriend next to you, then you may have sex instead, but maybe not if you don't want to wake them up. But I suspect that insomnia is more often than not a one-way ticket to curioushandsville.

I also smoke grass when I can't sleep and listen to the Sea & Cake's Oui album. That is also effective.

Herman's head / May 10, 2005 1:28 PM

jack off, shot of liquor

jim / May 10, 2005 3:30 PM

read Gaper's Block