In college, I had the hardest time falling asleep on week nights. My mind would race the second my head hit the pillow. I have to finish the lab report by Tuesday. Calculus homework is due Wednesday. Start that presentation no later than Thursday. When can I meet to go over that project? Sometimes, I couldn’t fall asleep for hours.
I started keeping a notebook on my bedside table, and whenever I couldn’t get a thought out of my mind, I’d write it down–make a list of things I needed to do the next day. Even though most things I wrote down at night were already in my assignment notebook, the act of writing it down took it out of my mind and onto the page. It made me calmer knowing that tasks ‘lived’ in my trusty notebook until I could get to them. And they’d be fine there; they wouldn’t disappear and I wouldn’t forget about them. This helped with my late night restfulness and I made it a habit in college.
Recently, I’ve noticed this same sort of thing creeping back in but only on Sunday nights, which seems kind of strange because Sundays are almost always stress-free and relaxed for us. We like to catch up on shows or watch sports and cook dinner–rest for the week ahead. But, last night, I couldn’t fall asleep. I kept worrying about all of the stuff I need to get done this week.
If you suffer from restless nights, do you have any tips for falling asleep (other than keeping a to-do list handy)?
(Photo from Wit and Delight on Instagram.)