10 Fun Games You Can Play while Lying Awake at 3 AM

I thought I would use this morning's post to share some fun games you can play when you find yourself wide awake at 3 in the morning. Enjoy!

1. Don't Think About That! Start this game by conjuring up the least relaxing thing to think about, then try not to think about it. See how long you can keep it out of your head and then see if you can beat your record.

2. Wrong Number of Toes. In this fun and challenging game, see if you can count your toes without moving them and get a number other than 10. To win, the count has to feel real and - like I said - you have to convince yourself that you're counting the wrong number of toes. (If you've actually got more than 10 toes or fewer than 10 toes, adjust accordingly).

3. Anagram Mania. Pick a word, any word. See how many words you can form using only the letters in that word. Now try to find a different word that can be made into even more words. (E.g. In "insomnia" you can find words like "mansion", "moans", "mason", and "aims" - to name a few.)

4. Total Recall. (A variant of Don't Think About That!) Think about something that happened yesterday that really bugged you. Turn it over in your head again and again and again until you're sure you've hyper-analyzed every detail. Think about what you should have said or done differently. Think about what you will say or do differently next time the same situation arises. Consider what all of the possible implications might be and how they will likely play out. See how long you can keep this up (tip: repeatedly check the clock by your bedside to accurately track your time).

5. Sports Team Snakes and Ladders. Start at the number 1 and work your way up, trying to name each player on your favourite sports team's current roster who wears each sweater number. If you get stuck, slide all the way back to the beginning and start over. If you make it through the entire roster, now do an all-time list.

6. Comfort Zone. Assume a sleeping position. Ask yourself if you're comfortable enough to sleep in that position. See if another position might be more conducive to sleep. Try your back. Try your front. Try your side. Try moving up the bed. Try moving down the bed. Try moving side to side. Try adjusting your pillow, where it's placed, how you're lying on it, and/or how you're holding it. When you find a good position, try not to move while thinking about not moving.

7. Is She (or He) Really Sleeping? (This game is not recommended for those who sleep alone). Listen to the steady, peaceful breathing of your bed partner. Think about all the things she or he did to you during the day that are causing you to lay awake right now. Work up a good level of frustration and then see if you can disrupt her or his sleep without letting on that you're doing so intentionally. See how loud you can sigh. Try the glancing foot graze. Pull the sheets off of her or him. Score a point every time you make her or him mutter unintelligibly or roll over. Score two points if you wake her or him up. Score 5 points if you wake her or him up, cause her or him to make enough noise to seemingly wake you up, and then convince her or him that you're angry at her or him for doing so. When she or he falls back asleep, repeat.

8. Paranormal Activity - the Home Edition. Did your sheet just slide down the bed on its own? What was that creak? Is that really your bed partner lying next to you? If there was a video camera trained on your bed all night, what would it reveal in the morning? See if you can convince yourself that something supernatural is actually going on around you (tip: try doing this just as you're feeling relaxed enough to doze off - the effect can be incredible!)

9. Out of Body. See if you can force yourself into an out-of-body experience. Can you make yourself float to the ceiling of the room and look down on your prone body? Can you leave the house in an ethereal form? Does it count as lying awake if you're out of your body? Once you've mastered this, make sure to leave the television on at night so that your spirit has something to do while it's out.

10. Time Master. Look at the clock and wait for the minute to change. Count the seconds in your head and see if you can predict precisely when the minute changes again. See how accurate you can be. When you get good at doing minutes, try 10-minute increments. Now stop counting and see if you have developed an innate sense of the passage of time. Do this by waiting for a random amount of time without counting, and then guess what time it is. If you get it right, do it again for a longer period.

While many of these games may be challenging at first, practice makes perfect - so stick with it!

Good night.