by Kharon » October 16th, 2012, 8:53 am
I have an awakener created for exactly this purpose. It present you with a choice, based on what you know you need to do, of awakening fully, remaining in trance as long as you feel comfortable, or going to sleep. It still uses a count, but the count just serves to finalize your choice.
However, most awakeners do not do this, as you point out. I've found that "relaxed and refreshed" is sometimes the thing I need most of all before I go to sleep. My body is relaxed and while I'm refreshed, it's in a pleasantly sleepy way rather than a deeply rested way. You may find, in time, that the same happens to you, but for now, recording something like what I described above (though I'll see if I can dig it up and upload it, too) may help.
I typically listen to my files on the way home from work (I ride a bus and it takes about five minutes longer than my current file to reach my bus stop), and when I awake I feel like I'm in a good state for the time of day, unwound and releasing my tension, but not overly energized if it's late evening or nighttime.
In short: Being relaxed and refreshed is only as big of a problem before sleep as you make it to be, but an awakener segment can be produced that helps you drift off to sleep after trance, rather than waking you fully. You'll just want to make sure you listen to it at the right time. :)