Goodnight Mind by Rachel Manber Page A

earlier in the evening and there is nothing that you can do about it now, when it is time to sleep.
    Write about Your Concerns at Bedtime
    Some people find that, despite their earlier evening problem solving, they worry again at bedtime. You may find that writing before you go to sleep helps you let these things go and allows you to fall asleep more readily. This strategy allows you to organize your thoughts about something that is on your mind, process it, and then let it go.
    As before, set aside twenty to thirty minutes for this purpose. Start by writing down thoughts, concerns, or simply things on your mind. Be as honest as possible, openly exploring your deepest feelings and thoughts about matters that bother you. Some people find it easier to write openly if they plan to shred their writing when they are done. Include as much detail as possible and freely explore every aspect of what you are writing about. Do not censor yourself or tell yourself that your thoughts are too “silly” to put down on paper; whatever you write about is okay. Once you have completely explored the topic, put your paper away (shred it if you wish).
    Do this whenever you find yourself worried before or in bed.
    Banish Worry from Your Bed
    If you worry in bed, it may become an unwanted habit and you will be more likely to continue to worry in the future. Below are some tips that will make it less likely for worry to occur while you are trying to sleep.
    Get Out of Bed
    Worrying in bed may have several causes. Perhaps bedtime represents your first opportunity to process the day’s events, because during the day you either pushed your thoughts away or were too busy to think about things. Perhaps your bed has become a place where you struggle night after night and therefore you approach bed feeling alert or anxious. In this state of mind, you are more likely to start thinking about things that worry you.
    Whatever the reason, worrying in bed can become a habit. One of the most effective ways to break this habit is to get out of bed once the worrying starts. This strategy is described in full in chapter 4; however, we will review the rationale here as it pertains to worrying in bed. If your bed has become associated with worrying, problem solving, list-making, or ruminating about things that went wrong in your day, you need to protect your bed from being paired with these unwanted mental habits. To do so, get out of bed and go to another room until this mental activity (worrying, problem solving, list-making, or ruminating) subsides.
    It is possible that when you first start to use this strategy you will spend a lot of time out of bed at night and sleep even less, but this will be a short-term side effect and a relatively small price to pay for solving the problem in the long run. The sleep deprivation that may result from getting out of bed when unable to sleep will increase your sleep drive (the pressure to sleep), and if you do it consistently you will quickly start sleeping better. Your bed will be associated with sleep rather than worry, and as a result you can expect improved sleep for many more nights in the future.
    A rule of thumb is if you worry for what feels like longer than fifteen minutes (do not watch the clock) or if you are feeling wide awake in bed, it is best to leave the room and not return to bed until you are sleepy and not worrying.
    Occupy Your Mind
    Racing thoughts and a tense body make it difficult for you to have restful sleep. You may try to deal with this problem by trying to force yourself to feel less anxious; in other words, you may simply try to will yourself to stop worrying.
    We would like you to do the following exercise: When you reach the end of this paragraph, close your eyes and try not to think about a banana split. Do not imagine the cold ice cream. Do not imagine the scent of banana. Do not think of the chocolate syrup drizzling on the top. Do not picture how the sweet juice bursts out of the maraschino