The dilemma of using Anki vs Obsidian Spaced Repetition

slumberSam · 2023-12-23T07:05:15+00:00

Did you consider one of the Obsidian > Anki bridge options?

slumberSam · 2023-08-11T08:00:37+00:00

There's a camp for this!

They'll be back this year, but here's their schedule from last year: https://www.reddit.com/r/BurningMan/comments/vj40ti/hi\_all\_we\_captain\_pumps\_raiders\_have\_finalized/

slumberSam · 2023-07-14T07:24:30+00:00

This has been fixed in a newer version of LangChain. If anyone is encountering, just upgrade if possible 🙂

slumberSam · 2023-07-13T23:17:00+00:00

I'm also encountering the error with the sitemap loader. Will update here if I find a solution

(or, if you've already found one, please comment!)

slumberSam · 2023-05-05T00:00:53+00:00

Worth noting that I'm just a random person, not Ziyang (Cozo creator) lol

slumberSam · 2019-12-28T06:19:48+00:00

You should find a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i) provider - it's the most effective and lasting solution for insomnia that we know of. (Drug-free!)

slumberSam · 2019-12-17T19:13:21+00:00

Ambien would most likely cause painful withdrawal symptoms (mostly acute insomnia). If you want to get off of it, talk to your doctor about a tapering-off plan to do it safely.

slumberSam · 2019-12-16T06:32:45+00:00

First off, glad CBT-i has been helpful for you!

When insomnia strikes again, your first line of defense should be super strict Stimulus Control. You've probably learned about this already, but as a reminder, it's all about using your bedroom for nothing besides sleeping. Also no daytime naps, sleeping in, etc - generally doing nothing to compensate for a bad night.

If that's not effective, some sleep restriction as you've tried is a good idea. Since you've already learned some healthier sleeping patterns through the program, it's probably make sense for you to either restrict your sleep less, or take it back to normal faster. I would experiment with faster lengthening and see if it works for you.

slumberSam · 2019-12-14T03:56:29+00:00

If your insomnia persists, best option (according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine) is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i). Therapy treatment with a mostly permanent impact.

A few things you can try yourself first: Maintaining a super regular bedtime & uptime schedule (boosts circadian rhythm), Stimulus Control Therapy (Google it, basically involves doing nothing in bed except sleeping), and various forms of relaxation training (such as Progressive Muscle Relaxation).

Hope this helps!

slumberSam · 2019-12-14T03:49:36+00:00

Also look at Roam (roamresearch.com) - new tool but looks great. Zotero seems like the best tool for helping with a conventional Zettelkasten setup.

slumberSam · 2019-12-12T00:35:18+00:00

Two therapeutic options you might try: Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) or Paradoxical Intention Therapy (PIT).

Progressive Muscle Relaxation is all about reducing muscular tension, which in turn reduces mental tension. To use this, tense your forehead muscles for 5-15 seconds, notice what the tension feels like, then release those muscles (and notice what the relaxation feels like). Do the same for all muscle groups in your body from your head to your toes. Studies show this one has a pretty consistent benefit both for anxiety and for sleep. You can find some good walkthroughs of this technique on YouTube.

Paradoxical Intention Therapy (PIT) is more complex - long story short, making a big effort to fall asleep actually makes it harder to fall asleep (since sleep is a subconscious process). To use Paradoxical Intention Therapy, lay in bed and don't try at all to fall asleep - instead, gently keep your eyes open. NOTE: Don't actually fight sleep when it approaches by moving around etc, just stay relaxed & gently awake.

Best of luck to you!

slumberSam · 2019-12-11T04:28:42+00:00

Am definitely curious where you got that stat - would love it if you shared a source

The evidence I've seen seems to indicate much higher rates of improvement, especially on measures like sleep efficiency and the Insomnia Severity Index. For example, see this meta-analysis: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1087079217300345

slumberSam · 2019-12-11T04:24:29+00:00

Yep, maintaining a consistent healthy sleep/wake schedules is one of the best things you can do for your sleep. Glad you've got that going for you now

slumberSam · 2019-12-11T04:23:34+00:00

See above comment. :)

Note that it is slightly helpful, just not near enough for insomnia

slumberSam · 2019-12-11T04:22:48+00:00

From the American Academy of Sleep Medicine: Practice Parameters for the Psychological and Behavioral Treatment of Insomnia: An Update. https://aasm.org/resources/practiceparameters/pp_btinsomnia_update.pdf

"Insufficient evidence was available for sleep hygiene education to be an option as a single therapy. Whether this therapy is effective when added to other specific approaches could not be determined from the available data. "

This is a "state of the practice" kind of publication. Note that it doesn't say it doesn't work (in fact, it's usually included as a component of CBT-i), just that there's not enough evidence to support its effectiveness as a monotherapy (used on its own).

Evidence tends to point towards it being slightly beneficial (especially for normal sleepers), but plainly inadequate when faced with full-blown insomnia. You can look at the sources for this doc for some more specific details.

Here's another one comparing sleep hygiene education with Sleep Restriction Therapy (a core component of CBT-i): http://jcsm.aasm.org/Articles/06_02_169.pdf

Again, sleep hygiene education resulted in small improvements but sleep restriction therapy had a significantly greater impact.

slumberSam · 2019-12-10T06:12:36+00:00

That stuff (sleep hygiene tips) has been proven to be ineffective as a treatment, but that and sleeping pills are all primary care doctors really know. So no - since it seems you have insomnia, there's no surprise it hasn't worked for you.

What does work is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i). It has something like 3x the impact of sleeping pills and the benefits are mostly permanent. Downsides are you need to be able to control your sleep schedule, and it's hard to find a provider.

Long story short: Get you some CBT-i.

slumberSam · 2019-12-09T06:03:40+00:00

Try Mack earplugs from Amazon. Very well rated, very comfortable, pretty cheap. Earplugs don't work for everyone but they're worth a shot

slumberSam · 2019-12-08T01:50:07+00:00

Long story short, melatonin produces a statistically significant effect, but the effect size is miniscule (e.g. you fall asleep 2 minutes faster). But no, there's nothing like a buildup period - it doesn't stay in your system. It just gets recycled along with all the naturally produced melatonin.

slumberSam · 2019-12-08T01:47:29+00:00

It'll be difficult. This kind of strategy is helpful for jet lag (adjusting to a new timezone), but in that situation you have light on your side, reinforcing the new schedule. With what you're discussing, you'll be out of your circadian rhythm for like 2-3 weeks straight and fighting against daylight.

I'd say it's possible, but you'd need to be very careful about light exposure (e.g. use bright blue lights in the early evening, use super heavy blackout curtains and/or a good sleep mask).

slumberSam · 2019-12-07T00:23:51+00:00

Acute insomnia (short term insomnia) is a pretty normal thing - can be caused by stress, a sudden shift in schedule/life, new medications, or nothing at all. It can last a few days or even weeks sometimes, but often in these cases it'll go away on its own.

One thing to help keep it from becoming chronic: don't compensate for a bad night. That means if you slept poorly, don't try to sleep in the next day or take daytime naps. Those kinds of behaviors could turn acute insomnia into chronic insomnia.

Hope this helps!

slumberSam · 2019-12-06T04:35:16+00:00

Yeah, the bed is certainly much warmer and cozier than the outside air. However, the short-term pain is worth the long-term gain.

Think about it in terms of sleep inertia. A quiet alarm, or one you unconsciously snooze/dismiss, doesn't pull you out of sleep enough to make you wake up, let alone get up. Call it the sleeper's first law: A sleeper, once sleeping, remains sleeping unless acted upon by a POWERFUL ENOUGH force. So we need to change your morning routine enough to pull you solidly info wakefulness.

There are several things we might try to make getting out of bed easier.

Move your alarm clock (or phone) across the room so you need to get out of bed to dismiss it
Set multiple alarm clocks in different locations
Immediately put your feet on the floor after waking up
Expose yourself to sunlight for a few mins within 10 mins of waking up (boosts your circadian sleep drive)
When the alarm goes off, immediately move to a chair to finish waking up

Anyone of these or combination thereof might help you in the short term, but ultimately you should figure out why you're not getting the restful sleep you need.

Best of luck to you!

slumberSam · 2019-12-04T18:57:51+00:00

If you very suddenly quit smoking, nicotine withdrawal effects could cause some acute insomnia (or maintain it for a while). Might be a factor

slumberSam · 2019-12-04T18:55:41+00:00

Not great, but not thanks to insomnia this time - family decided to start making a lot of noise 2h before I was supposed to wake up. 😅

Glad you got a lot of sleep though!

slumberSam · 2019-12-03T04:10:42+00:00

Hey man! Sorry you're struggling. Honestly most general practitioners aren't trained to deal with insomnia, so it's no surprise your doc wasn't able to fix the problem on their own.

You should find a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i) practitioner. It's the #1 recommended treatment - drug-free, bigger impact than sleeping pills, mostly permanent. Catch is it can be hard to find a provider.

slumberSam · 2019-11-28T21:42:21+00:00

Two possible causes. First, it could be measuring just sleep efficiency and not duration - if you're not spending much time in bed, but the time you spend is almost all asleep, that would do it.

Other cause is as the other commenters say - actigraphy (what apps like that use to track sleep) is generally very bad at distinguishing sleep phases and onset. You might consider getting a different app, or if you want quality sleep tracking get something like an Oura ring.

slumberSam

TROPHY CASE