Why is it so much easier to fall asleep on the couch unintentionally than to fall asleep in bed intentionally?
In: Biology
Because focusing on something, for example the goal of getting to sleep, can keep you awake.
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You fall asleep unintentionally because you’re too tired to stay awake. It’s easier than going to sleep when you’re not quite as tired and you’re focusing on trying to sleep.
Because trying to fall asleep intentionally requires that you pay attention to whether you are asleep yet or not. Since you can’t know whether you’re asleep if you actually fall asleep, this means that you can’t. Eventually one of the contradictory actions will win out. Either you will stop paying attention and fall asleep, or you will be unable to fall asleep because you can’t stop thinking about it.
Sleeping unintentionally is far easier because sleep is a comparable process to breathing. If you don’t think about it, it just kinda happens automatically as needed.
Its probably because people put too much stress on themselves to fall asleep the exact moment they lay in bed. Most people find laying on the couch relaxing, and can thus sleep easier.
It comes down to your brain and body getting mixed signals. Although you may want to stay awake, and you tell yourself it’s REALLY important, your body and brain are still getting indications that you are *comfortable*, *safe*, and *tired*: signals which make you want to sleep. Likewise, although you tell yourself that you NEED to fall asleep, the tension in your body and the stress on your mind are telling you to stay awake.
The bottom line is that your brain and body weren’t evolved to recognize homework or driving as vital to your survival, but they do recognize pain and stress. Compared to our natural habitat, our modern sedentary lifestyle is ALWAYS comfortable, but that also means we have a hard time recognizing our beds as comfortable as opposed to anything else.
Focused attention though, acts like something of a cheat code for these signals. So when you focus on something, your brain is able to suppress the other thoughts and sensations in order to ignore them. This makes it easier to fall asleep. So that’s why you fall asleep trying to do homework or drive, and it’s also why they say to “count sheep” to fall asleep.
If you’re trying to fall asleep and can’t do it, it’s because your mind isn’t focused, and is wandering freely through thoughts and sensations that (whether you are conscious of it or not) are acting as signals to stay awake. Counting sheep is actually a really clever combination of two things: counting, which requires mental focus, and sheep, which visualizes a harmless (safe) image. Thus triggering focus without stress.
But of course, this only works if you are comfortable, safe, and tired. Severe discomfort, pain, or stress will make this very difficult. In those cases you may need medicine, a warm bath, stretching, soothing music, or even medical or therapeutic treatment.
As for staying awake, there are stimulants, slapping or pinching yourself, or stopping to do exercise. Personally I find getting angry helps.
Routine helps immensely both directions. It helps create signals to differentiate between when you should be wakeful and sleepy in an otherwise confusing world.
If you’re falling asleep on a couch unintentionally you’re tired.
If you’re trying to fall asleep on a bed intentionally you’re not tired.
It’s easy to fall asleep when your body is ready to fall asleep and it’s hard to fall asleep when your body isn’t ready to fall asleep.
It’s only noticeable when there is a mismatch between what your body wants to do and what you want to do. Thus failing to fall asleep in bed is noticeable and falling asleep unintentionally on the couch is noticeable.
Intentionally falling asleep in bed is less noticeable as is Intentionally staying awake on the couch because that is what you’re supposed to be doing in each place so you don’t think about it as much.
Accidentally falling asleep in bed or accidentally staying awake on the couch is even less noticeable because you are rarely *trying* to do the opposite in either of those locations.
I’ve always thought that when you’re falling asleep on the couch, the acts of getting up, turning off the tv, going up the stairs and getting ready for bed just tend to wake you up and get your heart going just enough to make you need to restart the going to sleep cycle entirely.
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