3 tips for shutting your brain off at night
May 18, 2021
Is this you?
The minute your head hits the pillow, you remember all the things you forgot to do during the day.
Or
You were able to fall asleep, but then you woke up at 3 am unable to shut down your monkey mind.
It’s a common problem for so many people.
Here’s what is happening. All day you’ve been going at full speed, not letting yourself (or your brain) process the information it’s been receiving. There is so much to remember but it’s just not possible to remember everything we are trying to cram into our brains.
When you lay down at night and it gets quiet, that is when you remember because you aren’t rushing around anymore. That’s when your brain decides to start giving you the information it was holding on for you all day.
It’s an important job our brain is doing. We should be grateful that we are built in such a way that our brain is constantly helping us remember the important stuff. Even if it’s at an inconvenient time for us.
But there has to be a better way right?
Here is how you can deal with all this extra information that is in our head so it doesn’t wake us up at night.
- Have a to do list
By having a to do list, you aren’t trying to keep all that information inside your head.
With today’s technology, there are so many different methods available to us. Whether you use the old fashioned pen and paper, or go more digital by having the list on your phone, just get the thoughts out of your head and write down somewhere. That way your brain won’t feel the need to wake you up at night with that information.
- Send yourself an email at work
If you make it home from work and you remember something you forgot to do at work, just simply open up your email and send yourself a reminder to read the next morning when you get to work. That way you won’t have to spend the evening thinking about it, and your brain won’t decide to let you know at 3 am, just in the off chance you might forget later.
- Do things right away as they pop into your head (if possible)
There are times when we remember something we need to do, however we say, I’ll do it in a bit. And then we get distracted and forget.
If you can get into the habit of getting up and attending to what is needed right away, chances are you won’t have to remember later.
Until next time, sleep tight!