I've always agreed with
nyte's point that, if a person is too focused on
falling asleep, they put
pressure on themselves to do so and therefore can't. It's similar to the idea that, if you spend your life looking for
love, you might never find it; simply because you were looking too hard. The solution is to
relax and
let it flow.
I disagree, however, with the
concept of trying to stay
awake in order to fall asleep; you're not going to trick your body with
reverse psychology. You're also not going to
tire yourself out, because you'll be
focusing on staying awake, or keeping your eyes open. The point is that, if you focus on anything at all (whether it be falling asleep or staying awake), your
brain is too
active to slip into
unconsciousness.
This is where the idea of
counting sheep comes from; the idea is not to try and stay awake, but to forget about sleeping and waking. You busy your
mind with something
trivial and
repetitive, and soon you will fall asleep. This also works with
daydreams; if you construct a fantasy in your mind, the
creation of
ideas is enough to tire out the
brain. Remembering things doesn't work, however; you're accessing a separate part of your brain and this only serves to keep you awake.
Counting sheep is a creation of ideas, not a
recalling of
memory;
dreaming is also the
generation of new
thought.
In conclusion, try them both. Try
staying awake to
fall asleep, and try involving yourself in a
fantasy as you
close your eyes: different things work for different people. One thing is certain, however: if you put pressure on yourself to go to sleep, you will never be able to do so. If you start to
panic because it's late and you need to get up
early, you will not get to sleep any faster.
Take your mind off it, however, and you'll soon be sleeping soundly.
Oolong has just informed me that recent studies show that counting sheep doesn't work for many people, but visualisation does (e.g. of a tranquil scene, oceans, waterfalls, lush meadows etc). This is perhaps a corollary to the section about creation of ideas; the point is to involve yourself in imagination to the extent that you fall asleep. Thanks to Oolong for the information about the importance of visualisation. See also falling asleep visuals.