We all do it. We toss and turn because we can’t turn off our brains.
We lay there thinking about everything we didn’t have time to think about during our day.
Then the more anxious you get about not getting any rest the more your mind races. We’ve all been there.
Some of us are there every night. As someone that used to have a problem with overthinking at night I am going to give you a few tricks I used to stop it.
We don’t need you trying to survive off 3 hours of sleep every night. I promise you that won’t be a good experience for anyone.
Now let’s get into these tips on how to stop overthinking at night. But first let me explain to you why we overthink at night.
Why Do We Overthink At Night
Why do we overthink at night?
There are a lot of different reasons. First one is that you are so busy during the day that you never allow your mind to just wander and freely think about anything.
Since your brain does not have the luxury of wandering during the day it does it at night.
This is the only time your brain recognizes that you have time to think but unfortunately it doesn’t care that it’s cutting into your sleeping time.
The second reason is you are anxious for the next day or something coming in your future. The night gives us time to worry about everything.
Sometimes you will find yourself contemplating your entire life at night. Your anxiety is causing those racing thoughts and that is ultimately what is keeping you awake.
Those are the two biggest reasons you can’t stop overthinking at night and luckily I am going to show you a few tricks to getting rid of these issues.
Ways To Stop Overthinking at Night
Try out these tips next time you are laying in bed with a million thoughts and all you wanna do is get some much needed rest.
Try Meditating Before Bed
Meditating before bed would clear your mind and relax you.
This will give your mind a chance to fully shut down so you don’t have to worry about all of those anxious thoughts.
Right before you go to bed find a place, sit, and completely empty your mind. Play some soft music and you can even light some candles.
Create a relaxing environment so you can center yourself before you get in bed. After this you are going to want to fall right asleep as soon as you get in bed.
Count
Yeah I said it. Count.
This tip actually works wonders for me. Sometimes it’s hard for me to clear my head but it’s easier for me to shift my focus.
Instead of thinking about all my anxious thoughts, I count in my head. I try to make a little game out of it too. I try to see how high I can count before I can fall asleep.
Honestly I never get that far. This monotonous task will make your brain want to shut down as fast as possible. It’s kind of like when you attend boring lectures and its so torturous you fall asleep just to escape.
This is the same concept.
Write it Down
Sometimes you just need a good old fashioned brain dump.
There are many times that you just have so much on your mind that you can’t help but stay up at night.
It sucks because those thoughts have nowhere else to go. Unless you write them down.
Writing down your thoughts makes you feel like you’ve removed the thoughts from your mind. It brings you a sense of peace.
Your brain no longer feels responsible for holding onto those thoughts because now they are on a sheet of paper.
So next time you can’t sleep just write down everything you’re thinking about so you can clear your head.
If you are going through a particularly rough patch in your life check out this post about how to comfort yourself.
Don’t Do Anything Mentally Draining Before Bed
This used to be such a huge problem of mine.
I would always do something mentally draining before I went to bed. Then I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep because I would still be thinking about what I was doing before bed.
Then I realized I stressed my brain out and now it can’t let me fall asleep. It’s a really bad idea to rev up your brain like this and then ask it to shut down immediately.
So please learn from my mistakes and avoid anything that involves mental energy before bed time.
Especially avoid tasks that are work related. Don’t even think about opening your work laptop.
Only do mentally relaxing activities before bed.
Play White Noise
White noise can help you block all of those thoughts that are keeping you up at night.
It will give your brain something to focus on without it being too stimulating. That’s the sweet spot.
Why do you think you sleep so well when there is a light rain outside? It’s soothing.
There are a few different ways you can play white noise. You could buy yourself a noise maker, look up a playlist online like Youtube or Spotify, or use an app.
I suggest just finding a playlist online, Spotify has some pretty great ones and they’re free.
Focus on Your Breathing
This tip works best when you are having anxious thoughts. Just keep taking deep breaths and really focus on inhaling and exhaling.
Only think about the action of breathing and nothing else. The reason this works best for anxious thoughts is because it calms you down.
Half the time our anxious thoughts cause our hearts to start racing and we breathe way less. This strategy is allowing you to shift your focus as well as physically calming your body.
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Wrapping This Up
Now you know how to stop overthinking at night.
I know overthinking at night is a hard problem to deal with and sometimes it’s something deeper than just having a lot on your mind.
These are just a few simple ways to stop it when you are in the middle of it.
These are quick fixes and it’s important to recognize that you need to build your life around calming and peaceful activities.
If you can’t go one night without anxious thoughts then you need to try and solve the root of the problem.
If you feel like you have a deeper problem than just overthinking at night then definitely bookmark this blog. I talk about personal development and self improvement every week and I can help you with whatever your life struggles.
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