Worry Window

Solve Bedtime Anxiety

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Problems or issues can be amplified at night times. If you're lying awake and it feels like everyone else is asleep, you may feel lonely and isolated - this isn't the best time to solve your problems or sort your life out. We usually sleep in cycles of 90 minutes to 2 hours, and it's normal to wake up and change position and then go back into the next stage of sleep. Some of us wake up in between sleep cycles and have anxious thoughts. Mindfulness may help to reduce anxiety at night, or you may find that having a 20 "worry window" at least 4 hours before you go to bed, where you write down your worries and how you will deal with them, will clean your mind and help you sleep better.

How to solve bedtime anxiety or create a mindful worry window?

Schedule 15-20 minutes of time each day during the morning or afternoon. Add it to your calendar. Set an alarm for your reminder. This will be your 'worry time' or 'worry window'. Better not to schedule worry time right before your bedtime. During this window, write down all of your worries that you can think of. Don't put pressure on yourself to solve them during this time, but if your mind naturally finds something, that's fine.

Remind yourself of your intentions at the start and end of this practice. you might say to yourself: “This 15-20 minute window is only for worry time, and I will do my best to not put attention on these worries outside of this time”.

Between worry times: if you find that you have started thinking of your worries, especially at bedtime, remind or tell yourself to let go of those thoughts until the next designated worry window comes. Initially, you may find this difficult and it may require a lot of reinforcing self-talk, but continuous practice can help you to overcome the trouble and build a strong habit to manage your nighttime anxiety.