Ask HN: What's your quarantine side project?
I&#x27;m trying to get myself to wake up at 06:00 AM to go for an early 20 minute morning run. As an insomniac this has proven to be really difficult. But I really like running, even when I&#x27;m out of shape, as it has been a part since I was a kid.<p>I think I&#x27;m inching towards a stable rhythm though, but time will tell. I always need 2 months of a stable rhythm to be fully sure that I got a rhythm locked in.<p>Here is what I figured out so far:<p>- Magnesium before sleeping<p>- Vitamin D when I wake up, especially now since I&#x27;m sitting inside all the time.<p>- Obviously basic sleep hygiene that all the popular blog posts write about (fun fact: I use Iris instead of Flux, it dims the screen even more).<p>- Melatonin when I can already tell I won&#x27;t be able to sleep anytime soon. I used to try to fall asleep on my own strength for way too long. Things I&#x27;ve tried: meditation (my username is derived from it), progressive muscle relaxation, not thinking about anything (I am quite good at this), visualizations of being in familiar places, exercise and going to the doctor. It all doesn&#x27;t work. What does work: melatonin. Only since recently I&#x27;ve been a bit more aggressive with it (after 25+ years of sleep issues).<p>This leaves me with one issue: sometimes I wake up after 4 hours of sleep. My usual way of dealing with this is being awake for another 4 hours, so I can sleep my second quartet of hours. The problem: I wake up around 11:00 AM when I go to bed around 11:00 PM.<p>So what I&#x27;m trying now, since my lifestyle supports it, is waking up between 04:00 AM and 06:00 AM so that I have enough leeway to sleep a bit more. I&#x27;m starting a job soon and I have to be 09:00 AM in the office. This is my makeshift solution.<p>I hope it works.