Face The Demon
If you are just like me, this weird thing also happens to you – when you lie down to sleep at the end of the day, your mind simply won’t shut off. You wonder if you are the only one who has difficulty sleeping.
You toss and turn, maybe have a look at the ceiling fan. You get impatient and you try to reach the bedside table for the dumbest smart thing in the world. Yes, the mobile phone. You swear that you would be scrolling your social media only for a few minutes and end up scrolling it for hours. That is funny! You know you shouldn’t be doing it, but still do it.
You can’t help it. The more you try to mute your brain, the more it screams. Your everyday life still revolves around your mind – you were late at submitting the assignment to your boss, the food got burnt while cooking, and perhaps your significant other screamed at you for no obvious reason. These thoughts tend to stay quiet when you are busy, but surely clutter your mind when you have decided to rest.
Wait, there is even more. Even little Jenny of the next door laughed at you when you said you don’t know how to make scrambled eggs. Well, wait. Is everyone supposed to know how to make scrambled egg? You wonder while you get up to take a sip of water.
Then comes the long list of pending jobs marching and screaming at you. You suddenly remember you must clean your kitchen, the laundry is waiting for you, the credit card bill that must be paid by tomorrow, and the email you must send during office hours the next day. See, this is an ever-increasing list. Processing all of it does take up some brainy resources. Your brain simply cannot relax and zone out.
You might be wondering that you took coffee in late evening, causing this. Well. It is highly possible. There is a reason why we need to limit our coffee intake a few hours before going to sleep. Sipping coffee before sleeping makes our brains active. You already probably know this for a fact and there are so many scientific journals pointing to this.
If you are curious about this, you can read this :
link to a scientific journal, in case you are interested
What if a long to-do list for the next day has the same effect?
Now, I will not specifically ask you to stop thinking or forget the everyday stuff. The more you think of not’ thinking’ it, the more you will end up thinking it. That’s how human behavior works. We have a general propensity to do forbidden things, as Francois Rabelois rightly said:
“We always long for the forbidden things, and desire what is denied to us.” — Francois Rabelois
Rather, I would suggest you to get up and grab your notebook
The Old Notebook To the Resue
Process what you are thinking, grab that old friend of yours, and scribble. Yes, just pen them down. Whatever comes to your mind.
It may be as simple as “I have to tell my cleaning Help to clean the porch” or as urgent as “I have to ask my boss for a promotion”. The idea is that you need to offload things that are playing inside your mind. Grab those guys and pen them down.
Another aspect of this is if we do write down things that are going on our mind, we also have an opportunity to get back later (without forgetting). If something is bothering you, you can note it down and say: “This is bothering me, however, I will deal with it later when I am full of energy.”
This tip may sound very simple to you. However, this is incredibly powerful. I sometimes even write context for the point. That is, for example, if I wrote about doing laundry the next day, I also mentioned why it is important. Perhaps I got drenched in rain that day and my dress got muddy. That helps to offload the entire thing from my brain.
Just to give you some idea of what I am talking about, I will share a page from my notebook.
You can make your list Private Too
Honestly, I am not proud of my list. I would be embarrassed if someone peeped into my list. So, I would rather keep this list completely personal.
For the record, I had the list in my makeup dryer! I know, nobody has access to the drawer except me.
Of course, You don’t need to be old school – Use the Digital Notebook
You may instead use a digital notetaking app and note it down. There are a lot many apps out there that even have a provision to lock the note (like Apple Notes). I find it very convenient when I’m already in bed and in no mood to grab a paper. However, this cool opportunity of touching your smartphone should not lead you to your social media. Trust me, that will do more harm than good. Your friend’s photo can wait for tomorrow, but not your good night’s sleep.
Try this, and you will be surprised by how peaceful your night’s sleep becomes.
Do you have any other idea that may help to offload thoughts while trying to fall asleep?
Do let me know in comments.
Hey! There is more. If you like cooking and related articles, I have an article related to peeling garlic. If you are interested, you may check it out:
