Get More Sleep Tonight: 3 Tricks to Stop Racing Thoughts

Get More Sleep Tonight: 3 Tricks to Stop Racing Thoughts

Does this happen to you? You get into bed exhausted and ready to fall asleep, but you can’t stop your racing thoughts. They’re churning inside your head and you’re frustrated that they won’t quiet so that you can get some sleep.

If you’ve struggled with this then you’re not alone. This is common among people who struggle with anxiety. During the day, your tasks distract you from your worries. But as soon as you lay down, all of the distractions melt away and you’re left with your thoughts.

This rumination can be frustrating. It keeps you up and leaves you feeling more exhausted the next day, making it more difficult to cope. You either lay in bed trying to distract yourself with social media or you lay there fighting with your thoughts. The fear of not falling asleep compounds your anxiety turning your bed from a place of rest into a place that you dread. 

Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way. With some simple changes, you can stop racing thoughts and finally get a better night of sleep.

If you’re ready to spend less time worrying, and more time sleeping, then this post is for you.

Here are 3 tricks that you can use to stop racing thoughts so that you can fall asleep faster and get more rest.

Prepare for Bed With a Transition Routine

If you’re having racing thoughts when you get into bed then your body may be in the habit of using your bed as a place to worry. A transition routine can help.

A transition is a short period of time that helps you change gears from your waking life to your slumbering rest.

It includes anything that sends your body the message that you’re done with the day and that you’re ready to sleep.

Your transition routine doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as short as five minutes or as long as 30 minutes.

When my children were babies I taught them to sleep in their beds by using a transition routine. I would change them, read to them in a particular chair, and then lay them down in a specific way. Next, I would say the same final words to them each night before I left the room. I did this exact same routine every day so that when they came to this point, they knew it was time for bed.

Adult bodies work the same way. When you train your body to sleep, it can help to have a set routine.

Again, it doesn’t have to be dramatic. It can be simple. Here are a few things that you can do during this time:

• Change your clothing
• Brush your teeth
• Take a shower or bath
• Read
• Meditate
• Journal
• Make a list of priorities for the next day
• Stretch

Whatever you decide to do, make sure that you do daytime activities during the day and discontinue them when it’s time to transition to bed.

Then, once you’re in bed, use it for sleeping only. Get up if you don’t fall asleep within 15 minutes. Don’t stay in bed ruminating. Get up and come back when you feel tired.

When you’re in bed, don’t watch videos or read things on your phone. This is counter productive to helping your brain rest. You’re going to bring thoughts and images into your brain that are going to keep your mind going.

Get Thoughts Out of Your Head and Down on Paper

Get out a piece of paper and write everything down. This is not a to-do list. This isn’t everything that you need to get done the next day. If that’s what’s on your mind then feel free to write it down but that’s not necessarily what this is.

This is an opportunity to get everything on your mind down on paper. It helps your mind to know that it’s written down somewhere. When you have anxiety, your body works really hard to make sure you don’t miss anything. But when you write it down, your mind knows it’s stored somewhere so you don’t have to do all the heavy lifting.

Relax Your Body

Once you’re in bed, try this trick: relax every muscle in your body. Try and get as relaxed as you can without falling asleep.

When your muscles are tense, this is a sign that your body is having a threat response. Racing thoughts can be part of this threat response. Your mind will race as a way to try to make sense of the threat. If you can calm your body, the sense of threat will stop and your body will stop the racing thoughts.

Treat this exercise like an experiment. If racing thoughts have been disrupting your sleep, your body may have an added level of fear that an exercise like this won’t work.

Your brain might go something like this: “UH. Oh. We’re supposed to relax now. It’s not going to work. Nothing ever works. What if it doesn’t work? Then we’re never going to get to sleep and we’re not going to be able to function tomorrow. And what if I never get any sleep? I’m never going to be able to function again!”

Let’s remove the expectation that relaxing will help you fall asleep. The exercise is to simply relax. This is an experiment and you are gathering information to see what happens.

Conclusion

Racing thoughts before bed can be frustrating. They can disrupt your ability to get a good night of sleep. Fortunately, there are things you can do to break this cycle.

Remember to transition to bed, write down your worries, and get as relaxed as you can without falling asleep.

If you found this useful, check out more strategies in the Quick Calm Toolkit. The toolkit has one more sleep strategy that I didn’t cover here, plus 12 additional strategies to help you live in a predictably stress-free body.

Thank you for trusting me with this part of your healing journey.

The information in this post is general information for educational purposes only. While Sheena Kaas Mudaliar, MA; LMHC is a licensed mental health counselor, the information on this site is not intended to be a substitute for therapy or psychological advice. The information provided does not constitute the formation of a therapist-client relationship.