A lot of people feel that their main problem is not being able to relax their mind when they go to bed.  As soon as it is time for bed they are not able to switch off mentally.  A lot of these thoughts are negative and worries which can range from everyday worries (‘What happened today?’, What do I have to do tomorrow?’) to more severe worries and issues (‘How am I going to pay off my debts?’)

A good technique to counteract these night time worries is to have a period of time during the day or early evening to have the time to think about whats bothering you.  This would be a good time to try to solve your problems.

Worry-Scheduling

This is not a case of blocking out your worries, but merely postponing them to a particular worry time.  By learning to postpone your worry, and to have a specific time in the day allowing yourself to deal with the worries, it will mean they will be less intrusive in your bed time and you will have a greater sense of control. 

If you have already given yourself time to problem solve or challenge your worries you will hopefully not have to spend time thinking about them at night.  When we worry, we can sometimes feel that we cannot stop and we go around in circles, thinking about the same worry.  Worry-scheduling, problem solving and questionning these thoughts are strategies to break out of that circle.

 These strategies takes practice and you should repeat them on a daily basis or as often as you can.  This will develop your skills in coping with worry.  It does take time and patience is required, but by doing these techniques you are on the right path!

Click on the link below for more information on worry-scheduling and problem solving solutions.

Worry Scheduling & Problem Solving

You could also ask yourself the following questions……

Am I overestimating the chances of disaster?

Am I underestimating my own coping abilities?

What would I say to a friend in the same situation?  Can I apply this to myself?

Will I be thinking about this in 5 years time?

Is it that important?

Is there another way I can view the situation?