I've found that when I can't sleep, going grocery shopping helps a lot. Harris Teeter (local grocery store) is now open 24-7 (to compete against Target and Wal-Mart) which is ideal for me. Yesterday when I went at 330am, I was delighted to find that Swanson TV dinners were discounted from their normal price of $2.59 to buy 9 for $9 ($1 per unit, saving $1.59 per unit!). I also took the time to purchase a Mach 3 Turbo razor (something I've been meaning to buy for years now, and I just kept forgetting).

I can only theorize that shopping helps put me to sleep because usually when I try to sleep, my mind starts drifting and thinking about depressing issues (people I've known, girls I wish I could meet, past regrets, things to do) which usually wakes me up. By engaging the front part of my brain with a mundane task ("Should I get Lucky Charms or not?"), I help to shut down my brain. I'm usually exhausted when I get back, so I fall asleep quite promptly. This could also explain why I enjoy mundane, manual-labor type tasks so much (gardening, cleaning, etc.) so much.

This works much better than past attempts to medicate my sleep problems with Ambien and Sonata (I liked Ambien better, by the way). Although I'd love to try some Modafinil to extend the productivity of my workday.