Education Short List

Having a hard time getting a good night’s rest? Take the time to jot down your thoughts first.

By saying I love my sleep is probably an understatement. I, like my dogs, race to get to bed at night. I firmly believe that sleep in all its glory, is underrated. Which is why, if I have difficulty sleeping through the night I am quite cranky in the morning.

I noticed that a few months ago I wasn’t achieving my nightly bliss of deep sleep. The reason for this was that I was too mentally preoccupied. And it was always with something that I didn’t want to forget about the next morning; an email I needed to send, a chore to do, an errand to run, an inspirational thought, a memory of a great David Bowie song, etc. It was this thought and worry about forgetting the important detail that would plague me throughout the night. I knew I needed to change something.

Which brought about writing my ideas on a notepad, as they came to me, before I went to sleep. By taking the time to write it down as I thought of it, I could put more detail into the idea and then forget about it until the morning. At that point I would take the notes and deal with them accordingly.

Since doing this I’ve realized that I sleep much better. Obviously jotting down your nocturnal thoughts before sleep won’t stop every type of insonima, but it is worth it to find out.