Your thoughts won’t stop at night and no matter how much you punch the pillow or change positions, sleep will not come. Your mind races to things you should have done differently and then to plans for the next day. Because if you don’t prepare then something unexpected might happen. So, you open one eye to watch the minutes go by on the clock just praying for sleep to come.
That isn’t the end of it because you get up the next morning feeling drained and exhausted. Barely able to drag yourself through getting the kids to school and going to work. All the while, hoping that nobody notices the little mistakes. And some mornings its just trying to hold your anger in check because every little thing ticks you off.
Experiencing this is frustrating. So, what do you do?
Identify Your Stressors
Often the reason our brain picks night time to contemplate issues is that is the only time it has to process information because the rest of life is too busy to have to quite time to process. Create the time outside of bedtime, preferably at least 2 hours before bed so you don’t take the thoughts to bed with you. Then write down where your thoughts are going. Sometimes they are problems that are solvable and other times they are beyond your control. For instance, your job requirements might have deadlines that you can’t change without changing jobs. So find the aspects of it that you can control such as scheduling a short break each day.
Exercise Regularly
As I write this one, I can hear some of you groaning and saying why is this always part of the answer? I don’t want to join a gym. First, one of the reasons it is the answer is because our emotional and mental health is joined to our physical health, you can’t split yourself in half and have one side or the other. They rely on each other to keep you healthy. But here is the deal, controlling your thoughts requires regular exercise not strenuous exercise. That could include walking up and down the stairs in your house or at work for 15 min or walking around the block daily. And the benefit of having more energy and having a restful night sleep is more than worth 15 min of your time.
Make time for Others
Most of us know how valuable time spent with friends and family is but often it is the thing that happens when we have time. This is one of those things that when you do it, you feel like you have more time because your stress level reduces and allows you to have more brain power to problem solve and things start to look less overwhelming and more manageable. Take deliberate steps to have time out, such as set aside one evening a week where you meet up with friends or enjoy a hobby or set aside one day of the weekend for relaxing at home.
I hope these tips will help you have better control of your thoughts and get you back on track. Sometimes though the thoughts have become so out of control you need more help to control them. That is what we at HELPPS Psychotherapy are here to help with. If you require more help, book your appointment today.
Warmly,
Registered Psychotherapist
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