For people who are used to talking to their SO every night before bed!!!!

[sagittariusgirl89]

Ok, so tomorrow my boyfriend is going to be in a wedding and he has to be there at 11:30AM and he is staying at a hotel after the wedding reception. So, he said that he doesnt wanna talk tomorrow night because he doesnt know when he will be heading onto bed and he doesnt want me to stay up late.

No doubt tomorrow I will be down. Im used to talking to my boyfriend, especially before bed. I know its a one time thing, but it doesnt help me about tomorrow.

If you were in this situation, how would you get yourself to sleep? Im worried I will be laying there thinking stuff up, wondering what he is doing, if he is drunk, and so on.

Tomorrow I do have plans. I have to get caught up on my schoolwork and ill be doing that from 12-5pm. Then, I am going to get online and then at 8pm I will be watching my shows on the tv and that will last until 11pm or 12am. But Im worried I will be so down about tomorrow that I wont be able to concentrate on my homework.

NO CRITICISM, I need helpful advice.

[MadMolly]

If you find yourself awake at night tossing and turning (trust me I did this all night last night, its 9am now and i'm only just going to sleep!) the best thing I think is to take your mind off stuff, play a computer game, read a novel, listen to some music etc. I also find if I have a glass of warm milk and some milo (I think thats in the US? malt flavour stuff) I drift off easily.

[Caitlin2009]

I know how you feel, im very used to talking to my girl before she goes to bed and saying goodnight when i dont get to especially when she had that power outage for 3 days it does upset me, best advice i can give you is at least he told you that he's not gonna be online so that at least bring you some comfort, and just try to keep yourself busy with doing other things

[shad0wxb0i]

how about you text him when you are about to go to bed. that way he cant txt you back or even have a quick goodnight chat. I know that'll put your mind at ease. =)

[FireflyGal]

Hey, I have insomnia, so from a practical standpoint, think of these two tricks to try to clear your head and fall asleep.

1) In order, tense up all of your muscles from the tips of your toes to the top of your scalp. Then, slowly, relax each one over and over. It feels good, relieves stress, and takes a lot of concentration.
2) Focus on your breathing, breathe deep and slow and steady and just focus on it, so much that you can't think about anything else.

On the other side of the spectrum, as for things to do to kill time if you're really having trouble falling asleep:

1) Pick a new TV Series on Hulu.com and watch as much as you can possibly take.
2) Call a friend or family member you haven't spoken to in a long, long time.
3) Write a letter to your SO--whenever I can't talk to my guy but feel like I want to, I write a letter instead....even if you don't get to hear him, you do get to say what you want!

Hope that helps! I hate nights without a decent convo with the beau!

[lunamea]

What works best for me in taking my mind off things like these is going out with friends. Sitting at home, alone, even if I do stuff (watching TV, homework etc.) doesn't really help me, I need constant distraction that only real people can provide. What about going out and recording the TV shows?

I know how hard it is to get schoolwork done if your mind is elsewhere all the time, I've been slacking off big time lately, too... the only thing that kinda works is setting yourself a timeframe for doing the work, then you can't waste time on daydreaming. Tell yourself to have this particular reading/essay etc. finished by a certain time and stick to it.

[Yin Yang]

I know how you feel. My bf went on a trip for 5 full days, no internet, no cell phone, nothing. I have no idea of knowing if he's even OK.

What helps me the most is relaxing looking at our photos, reading a good book and listening to some music. Out of those 3 book is my top choice. It gets my mind off of things and helps me drift to sleep. I'm talking a nice love novel here

[sagittariusgirl89]

Thanks everyone! My SO and I actually talked about tomorrow, so most of my concerns are out the window. He said that once he gets to the reception we can text a bit, so at least if I start missing him I can always send him a text.

I really need to find a new show on Hulu to watch, but I don't have any idea what show to get into. I love Lost, V, and flashforward...and mtv shows lol

[xsomanymilesx]

watching tv is a good idea, take some sleeping pills if it stresses you out that much.

[Caitlin2009]

Thanks everyone! My SO and I actually talked about tomorrow, so most of my concerns are out the window. He said that once he gets to the reception we can text a bit, so at least if I start missing him I can always send him a text.

I really need to find a new show on Hulu to watch, but I don't have any idea what show to get into. I love Lost, V, and flashforward...and mtv shows lol

thats good, least you'll get to say goodnight and thats the most important thing

[Veiled_Dreamer]

What I do on nights my SO won't be home when I go to bed is think about the fact that there will be nights like that when we're together, like if he has to work late or something. I don't know if that makes sense, but it adds a dimension of "realness" to it, since so many people think LDRs are a joke. It also comforts me because we always *cuddle* as I go to sleep. XD I'm strange.

I second the letter writing thing and the finding a distraction thing, too.

And aww, yay. =] A brief goodnight is better than none.

[Rach321]

I'm not able to say good night to my SO right now as he's in a different time zone and I'm only able to talk to him when he calls me (he's on a military base, so contact is limited). But before that, I almost always talked to him before I fell asleep or at least close to bed time. It was a big adjustment for me to get used to him being overseas. But really, the anxiety I had about how difficult it was going to be was much worse than actually missing him and not being able to talk to him. Of course you'll miss him, but try not to focus too much on it. You'll just create more anxiety for yourself. And try not to tell yourself that you're going to have trouble falling asleep. You'll only set yourself up for difficulty. You know in advance where he is (so it's not like you're going to be worrying about where he's at or what he's doing), and you know you'll talk to him tomorrow. I just want to encourage you to be as positive in your thoughts as you can.

The worst thing that could happen is that you're up all night, right? That would suck, but it's not the end of the world. Everyone's suggestions for filling the time have been great. For Hulu, have you ever seen Doogie Howser or 21 Jump Street? Both series are posted to Hulu in their entirety, so you won't run out of episodes. I'm sure there are other older shows on their as well. I like to randomly search for things by network to see if I can find something new. As for games, I've spent a lot of sleepless nights playing Plants versus Zombies and other games on Popcap.com. Many of the games are online, but you have to wait for ads to load. You can also download all of their games for free and play them for an hour or so before the trial runs out. Best wishes to you!

[folclor]

Eh, it was hard for me at first, too. We used to talk every single night, now we usually don't on weekends. Every once in a while, like tonight, he chats with me for a bit, though. My advice is just ride it out. It won't be easy, of course, it never is, but you can at least have some time to yourself. Take a nice long bath, watch movies, play games, go to bed early, etc.

[agentholli]

It sounds like you have a good plan. I know that i would go crazy if i couldn't take to my bf every night. When he falls asleep and doesn't call its the worse night for me. But I usually will write him an email and look at his pictures. i have some pictures of him and some text messages on my phone, that I will lay in bed and look at/read. That helps me fall asleep.

[bigmac62]

Here's a good idea...I did it when I couldn't be with my girlfriend for Valentines Day:

Go down to your local video store or Wal-Mart or someplace that sells DVD's. Pick out one or two movies that you want to see but for some reason haven't had the chance to (or, if your video store has a special offer, like mine had 5 movies for 5 nights for $10, more), and just go nuts. Grab your favorite snack and just have your own personal marathon!

Or, if you prefer just watching TV, I suggest going down to a place that sells TV seasons on DVD (fye, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, etc.) and pick up one or two (at fye, you might to be able to find one used for a good price). Pop it in your DVD player and spend the night going through those.