Re: Calming down after work?
You might try reading for a few minutes right before bed, or writing if you keep a journal or write letters to people. Or even just a list of ideas/concepts... things that have you physically moving a pen against paper. You might also try to train your body to associate certain things with going to sleep. It can be as simple a ritual as the order you turn out the lights in, or when you brush your teeth/what you do right before and after, etc. You might also try making a short playlist of relaxing songs that you put on right before/as you start wrapping things up, before you start getting ready for bed, or making yourself a cup of tea to enjoy. Scents can help, too, if you wanted to burn a stick of incense or some scented oil/a candle an hour-ish before you go to bed. It's not so much that the smell itself does anything, but more that it's something specific that only happens when you're winding down and about to go to bed -- your body should begin to associate the two things together and treat the smell/order you turn out the lights/your walk around the house to make sure everything's as it should be/whatever habit/ritual you end up doing with getting ready for sleep.
For me:
Shut down the computer
Go to the bedroom, make the bed/arrange the pillows how I want them, strip down to sleep attire
Go to the bathroom, brush my hair
Go to the kitchen, get some water, make sure the AC's on, turn out the lights in that area
Back to the bathroom, brush my teeth. Maybe take off my makeup/wash my face, if I haven't already.
Go to the living room, meow at my cat (assuming he's not in the bedroom already, because I've started doing my "bed time" rounds), make sure there isn't anything I put down on the floor or something and meant to pick up/fix/do something with before bed (put it up on the counter away from Mr. Cat's reach to deal with tomorrow if so) and turn out the light there
Back to the bedroom. Close the door to the bathroom almost all the way, leaving it cracked so Mr. Cat can roam freely through the night. Close the bedroom door to the main living area.
Crawl in bed. If I'm not quite tired yet, I'll read a few pages from a book until I am, or work on learning Spanish (text only for bed time). Or, assuming something noteworthy's happened that I want to make a record of, I'll write a journal entry.
If I am tired and I don't need to write anything, I'll turn out the light and go to sleep.
^^ There might be some variations, but for the most part, pretty much all of that in that order is what I do every night to help my brain transition into sleep mode. Otherwise, my brain runs a million miles a minute and I might find myself staying up all night totally by accident. As inefficient as it is, all the walking around gives me enough time to actually wind down and shift gears. It also helps me get a solid night's sleep -- any time I skip it, for whatever reason, I'm liable to accidently just take a nap and wake up a couple hours later, or spend the night drifting in and out of sleep and weird dreams.
Re: Calming down after work?
Re: Calming down after work?
The 3 M's: Meditation, Melatonin, Masturbation
Re: Calming down after work?
Stay off the computer, the screen light/closeness isn't good for telling your brain to sleep.
If you can establish a routine of some kind, it might teach your brain to associate it with coming down. I have a 45 minute drive, which helps. Shut off any music on your way home or put on really calm, mellow stuff. I take a bubble bath and sometimes read a book in it. Have some tea; they sell blends specifically for nighttime, like "Tension Tamer" or "Sleepytime".
Re: Calming down after work?
I usually take a hot shower and almost always smoke a blunt. My ex / friend usually picks me up so I don't have to worry about drinking and driving, and I will text him and make sure he has a blunt rolled so I can smoke asap if I don't have at home. Then I usually fall asleep to some TV.
Camomile tea can help with relaxation, as can Valerian root (you can buy those in pill form too).
I am prescribed xanax so I usually only take it for panic attacks, so when I'm unwinding from work I typically don't need to take any xanax unless I'm having severe anxiety, which is rare when I get off work.
Flexeril is another pharmaceutical that is a skeletal muscle relaxer and works wonders at calming the body and helping one sleep, and it's not even a controlled substance.
Re: Calming down after work?
I know you specifically said you don't want to use drugs, but tbh, my shifts are exactly like yours and after four years of stripping, the most efficacious solution I've found for sleeplessness is... drugs. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Either a small amount of Benadryl or marijuana, plus earplugs, plus an eye mask are really the only way I can sleep through the night after I've worked. Even then, I still have nights where I'm only able to stay asleep for 5 hours. You could try taking a quarter of a Benadryl before bed and see how that works for you. It's just an over the counter allergy medication, so it's not really "drugs" in the same sense as pot or Xanax and it certainly won't knock you out like Xanax will.
Aside from that, make sure you cut out caffeine after 9pm. When you get home from work, keep the lights as dim as possible. If you watch tv, keep the volume down. My relaxation ritual is to take a hot shower, put on my comfiest pajamas, and sprawl out on the floor or the couch to count my money and pet my cats. Then I'll usually scroll through tumblr or watch Netflix (anything that's fairly mindless, really) until I start to feel sleepy. I don't get in bed until I start to feel like I can't keep my eyes open.
It's unfortunate, but I think a disturbed sleep schedule just one of the things you have to deal with when you work irregular hours. Especially fast-paced, high-energy labor like stripping.
Re: Calming down after work?
Are you drinking energy drinks late at work? If you do I would stop doing that. Also, don't go on the computer. Like someone else said reading is a good way to relax before bed and chamomile tea helps too. You could get a diffuser thing with lavender oil in your bedroom so help you feel relaxed. Dim lighting, a book, chamomile tea, and some lavender oil in the room should be a nice relaxing combination.
I always have intense dreams like that when I'm stressed out or pumped up for whatever reason. I don't smoke weed anymore but I do have a couple drinks at work so that's probably why I don't have problems falling asleep after work. On my nights off though it really does help to read and drink chamomile tea before bed.