Thoughts keeping you up at night?
You run around busy all day. Taking care of the kids, the house, your spouse, working a job, caring for everyone’s needs. At the end of the day you are ready to collapse into bed and get a good night sleep so you can do it all again tomorrow.
But then. . .
You lay there, wide away. You’re tired as can be, but your mind starts racing. Rethinking interactions you had that day. Creating the to-do list for tomorrow. Noticing the nagging worries that only seem to bug you at night. Night comes and your thoughts are like gremlins, becoming chaotic and frenzied. They’re running amok in your mind.
All you want to do is sleep. You know you NEED the rest. You survived on coffee and sheer determination all day long, and you just want the delicious sleep that you deserve.
If this happens to you, know you aren’t alone. Insomnia due to stress and anxiety (read: thoughts!) plagues half of Americans, and women are twice as likely to suffer than men (why am I not surprised?). But it doesn’t have to be this way. Try one of these practices to help quiet the gremlin mind, and get you the sweet sleep you need.
Gratitude journal
I love this, and not just for good sleep. It’s such a lovely practice that, with regularity, truly shifts your perspective. And doing that can be just want the sleep doctor ordered. If you are writing down what your grateful for each night, it can often change the dialogue in your head. It takes a rough day and finds the silver lining. Sometimes this shift alone can allow the negative, pervasive thoughts to quiet down enough to take away their sleep-depriving power. Want to know more about keeping a gratitude journal? Click here.
Jot it down
Similar to a gratitude journal, this is an easy step to do when you haven’t had a chance to address concerns throughout the day. Keep a journal on your night stand, and when you’re in bed, write down those nagging thoughts, and write what you will do about them tomorrow. I find when I put all my concerns and to-do’s on paper, it frees my mind of them. I don’t need to run them in a constant loop in my mind, because I put in on paper. Writing them down and having a plan will put those worries to sleep, and in the process, you.
Mid-day check in
Often our thoughts run out of control at night because it is the first time your mind has been still all day. This quiet allows your mind to just drift, and gives oxygen to worries you suffocated all day. It is the slowest you have been all day, and it is a breeding ground for those worrisome thoughts. Instead of only giving your thoughts time to flourish at bedtime, find space in the day where you can get quiet and allow your mind to wander. Whether meditation, a car ride, or a shower, these are times when your mind isn’t engaged in other things, and the nagging thoughts creep in. Take that time to spot your concerns, and deal with them. Take care of the worries during the day, so you can enjoy restful sleep at night!
Phone-A-Friend
Remember the show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”. I loved watching it with my grandma! When the contestant didn’t know the answer to the trivia problem, they were allowed to “phone-a-friend”. Just like the show, when we have problems that keep us up, we should phone-a-friend! So often in our increasingly busy worlds, we talk to people all day long, but we don’t really communicate. Sometimes, we just need to be able to talk out what’s on our mind to get to better sleep. Talking out your worries, pressures, and frustrations can have such a soothing affect; often it is enough to take those feelings away, or at least lessen them. (*Note that who you talk to makes a difference. Find a supportive friend who helps you see things differently, and isn’t likely to judge.) Make sure to find outlets for your thoughts, and it will ease the worry at bedtime.
Bedtime meditation/story
If all else fails, listen to a bedtime story or meditation. When listening to one, your mind is occupied with the story being told (or meditation being spoken), therefore edging out the stories in your mind. Seriously, it’s like being 5 again and falling asleep to your mom reading your favorite bedtime story. Blissful sleep initiated! The Calm app has great sleep meditations and stories, and I can vouch for their sleep-inducing powers ;)
As with any healthy habit, it takes time and support for the changes to happen. Trying something once and miraculously sleeping better isn’t likely, but creating a habit and being consistent is what will turn bedtime from gremlin city to a peaceful drift into dreamland.
What techniques do you use to help quiet your mind so you sleep better?