Calm · 5 min
When you cannot get back to sleep
A plan for the middle of the night, made in the daytime, so you are not making decisions at three in the morning.
Lying awake is miserable, and the harder we try to sleep, the further away it goes. Having a plan made in daylight helps, because the middle of the night is a poor time to think clearly about anything.
The steps
Four small steps,in your own time.
If you have been awake for what feels like twenty minutes, do not check the time. Get up, or sit up, and go to a dim, comfortable place.
Do something quiet and dull by low light: fold washing, read a few pages of something familiar, listen to soft spoken word.
If a worry keeps coming back, write it down in a few words on paper you keep by the bed, and tell yourself it will be looked at in the morning.
Go back to bed when you feel sleepy again. Keep your usual getting-up time in the morning, even if the night was short.
The reason
Why it helps
Lying in bed awake and frustrated teaches the body that bed is a place for being awake. Getting up, even briefly, breaks that link. Writing a worry down moves it out of your head and onto paper, which is often enough for the mind to let go of it for now.
A gentle variation
If getting out of bed is not safe or not possible, stay where you are, sit up a little, put on a soft light and do the same quiet things from there. The idea is to change what you are doing, not where you are.
WE · TRIBE
Try itwith someone.
If you share a bed, agree in daylight that getting up in the night is fine and not a cause for worry. A blanket and a lamp left ready in another room make it easier to do quietly.
Try it today
Today, leave a soft lamp, a blanket and something dull to read in one room, ready for the next time you are awake at night.
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