Other major causes of insomnia are stress, worrying, and overthinking, which tend to go hand-in-hand with lying in bed awake.
When you lay dawn in bed, fall asleep fast, stay asleep all night, and get deep, restful sleep, you are increasing your chances of sleeping well in the future because your brain is associating the bed with a place you go to sleep well. Conversely, if you lay in bed awake, your brain is making the connection that this is the place you go to worry about that that awkward or stressful thing that happened today, your forever-expanding to-do list, and all your great ideas and plans for the future. This causes insomnia to continue. Clearly the goal is to sleep and not lay in bed awake, thinking, but easier said than done, right?
Well here’s one step you can take to correct the problem: DO NOT get into bed until you feel there is a good chance you could fall asleep. Climbing into bed when your mind is active, racing, or stressing causes insomnia to increase.
In other words, do your thinking somewhere else. If you need some time to process the events of the day or prepare for the next day, sit in a chair in a room other than your bedroom. Think it through. It’s always better to do productive thinking and planning as opposed to stressing in bed.
Example:
I had a client who knew she had to go to sleep at 10:00 PM in order to get 8 hours of sleep. Great, she was aware and trying to prioritize sleep! The problem was that she never fell asleep before midnight, so she would just lay in bed awake for two hours, thinking. Her mind was active… in bed. This is not good, because the mind should be relaxed in bed to allow for sleep to come.
Solution:
She started getting into bed at midnight. Why? She wasn’t going to fall asleep until midnight anyway, and lying in bed awake trains the brain to remain alert in bed for two hours before going to sleep.
Now, it’s not a good idea to stay awake cramming more {emails/laundry/TV/work/cell phone games/social media} into the day up until bedtime. For this to work, it’s important to disconnected from electronics and chores 30 minutes to an hour before getting into bed, and spend that last hour of the day relaxing and preparing for sleep.
To review, major insomnia causes include:
- Going to bed before you’re prepared for sleep.
- Lying in bed awake.
- Worrying, stressing, or overthinking, especially in bed or before bed.
Quick Tips:
- Choose a bedtime that is a realistic time for you to fall asleep.
- Set aside time at the end of the day to process your thoughts. Write them in a journal or notebook if that’s something that helps you.
- Spend the last 30 minutes before bed relaxing and preparing for sleep.
- If you find yourself awake in bed (anything longer than 10-15 min) get up and do something relaxing.
These tips are a great start for better sleep. The next post will explain how to easily move your bedtime earlier, without bringing on more sleepless nights.
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