How to Get Some Rest When Stress Keeps You Awake at Night
It is now the middle of the night, and you know you should sleep, but you cannot. Something is keeping you awake: your coworker may have tried to throw you under the bus, or your friend may have said something rude. Be that as it may, it will not work to get it out of my head, and tomorrow I have to sleep for work. It sucks.
I had my share of those nights and they were the worst. It doesn’t even have to be something serious that keeps you awake. Sometimes he is small; a sarcastic comment or statement that you are not doing your job well. In other cases, it can be serious, for example, when you hear through the lens that someone important has said something bad about you. Combine that with even a little stress and anxiety, and your brain will shut down from racing at its worst – in the middle of the night. I bet you were there too.
Get up, shake yourself
This type of stress “in the moment” is called acute stress , and the last thing you need when dealing with it (or its relative, stress- related anxiety ) is to dwell on it in a futile attempt to sort it out. in your mind. The more you follow your thoughts in circles, the deeper the stress and anxiety feedback loop goes. The end result is a dangerous cycle: you get more nervous, more tired, and the night continues to slip away from you. The realization that you need to get up soon strains you even more, and you cannot sleep … foam, rinse, repeat.
Of course, if falling asleep again was as easy as “get it out of your head and relax,” there would be no problem. Lying there won’t help, so when you find yourself nervous, stop and get out of bed. Doing something else a little will help you get rid of it.
This is more important than it sounds. The longer you stay in bed, the more you run the risk of tossing and turning all night. When this happens, your body stops seeing your bed as a place to rest. Let your bed air and cool, and give your body the chance to really want to return to its blissfully covered comforter blanket. Walk a little. Make a cup of tea or pour a glass of water. Do something refreshing to shake up the funk you were in as you replay the events of the day. It’s not a panacea, but it breaks the cycle, and it’s an important starting point.
Do something meditative but distracting
The next thing you need to do is get away from your watch. Do something meditative that is not (necessarily) meditation. For some people, meditation is a great way to clear their minds and focus on what does n’t bother you. If it works for you, great: now is a good time to meditate . If not, now is not the time to try to learn.
This is where the problem is. When you are in the moment and all these disturbing, angry thoughts are swirling around your head in the tiny quiet morning hours, the last place you probably want to be is in your own head . If you are a meditation pro , you can overcome the silence of your surroundings, the squeaks of your house, the sirens outside your apartment window, and your spinning thoughts – and truly relax. On the other hand, if you get up at 2 AM, read articles about stress on blogs, and have never meditated before, you need something without a learning curve.
If you have chores around the house, now is a good time to do so. Light cleaning (as long as it doesn’t wake up the neighbors, the kids, or your spouse, of course), organizing classes, or even reading in low light are all good candidates. Expand your podcast or audiobook list and let the gentle tones of This American Life soothe you. Try a podcast like Sleep With Me , which is specially designed to help you chill out and get some rest. You can even try meditative coloring to help relieve anxiety and stress at the moment. Try to choose something that is interesting and thoughtful, but not overly stimulating.
Ultimately, your goal – to get your mind to switch to something else that is not associated with the fact that you are annoying. You may not be able to completely take your mind off it, but hopefully you can relax enough by doing something else that you can relax, your fight-or-flight response is deactivated and you are calm enough to walk away. back to bed.
Try to avoid screen time whenever possible.
Try not to pick up your phone or sit at your computer . This is general advice for healthy sleep, but it is important here too. The light from your devices confuses your brain, making it think it’s time to wake up and be awake, or what you’re likely to end up looking at (email, social media, etc.) is stimulating enough. to serve only for preservation, you do not sleep even longer. In general, the idea is bad.
If you can, try using an e-ink tablet such as a Kindle or Nook. Designed specifically for reading, they do not emit light or confuse your brain in the same way that your phone or tablet does.
If you absolutely need to pick up your phone or open your laptop, whatever we say, turn down the brightness or install an app such as f.lux (available for Windows, OS X, iOS and Linux) or Twilight (for Android.) Both adjust the color temperature your display so that it is easy on the eyes, depending on the time of day.
None of these solutions are perfect, but here we are going to be realistic. For many of us, the first thing we do when we can’t sleep is grab our phone and while away a few minutes reading Twitter, liking Instagram photos, or watching funny YouTube videos to relax. This is fine – just make sure you give yourself as many chances of restful sleep as possible once you calm down again.
Use sleeping pills with caution
If you find it really difficult to sleep, you can always turn to over-the-counter sleeping pills, but this should be done with caution. Many of them have their own set of risks and side effects, and what works for some people may not work for you. We’d advise you to wait while you try more traditional methods to see if you can relieve stress on your own. This is especially important if you are tossing and turning at 3 a.m. and need to get up by 8 a.m. You don’t want sleeping pills to put you into deep sleep so that you sleep – or still remain in your body when you are awake and about to work. You will feel terrible and lethargic for much of the day.
If you have time, over-the-counter sleeping pills such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl, ZZZQuil) or doxylamine (NyQuil, Unisom, and others) can be taken from time to time. They will help you fall asleep, but they will not help you relieve stress. However, they will keep you going to bed when you wake up, so make sure you have enough time to get them out of your system before you have to wake up again. Check the label for how long you are likely to need (usually around eight hours). Make sure you read the ingredients carefully, many brands have similar labels but different active ingredients .
Many people swear that melatonin gives you a good night’s sleep and also as an over-the-counter sleeping pill without the lethargic and lethargic side effects that come with those mentioned above. It might work for you (for me, it leads to very vivid dreams and shallow sleep), so if you want to relax without fatigue the next morning, it’s worth giving it a try. However, use these options wisely and sparingly anyway, and if insomnia persists, talk to your doctor.
Whatever you do, don’t work
If you pick up your phone or open your laptop, don’t go to work . Whatever you do, do not try to “be productive” and do the things that annoy you in the first place. Don’t reply to that annoying email or send a message to a friend asking about what they said. Don’t get carried away. Trying to “fix” the problem increases your stress levels, which, of course, delays your return to sleep. Worse, it can make you even more frustrated as you worry about how your message will be received, when it will be received, and what the inevitable response will look like.
Then you need to worry about how your friends and coworkers feel like you woke up at three in the morning sending email or posting messages to Facebook. Some coworkers may think you are doing well. Your friends might think you are crazy. I was there: The next morning I walked into the office to compliment that I was working in the middle of the night because I was excited about a project that could not sleep. Sounds great, but if you make great strides, it comes with risk and people end up expecting you to work around the clock. Your friends probably won’t praise you for those late-night messages or emails trying to clear up the atmosphere, but they’ll probably appreciate a face-to-face conversation or at least text messages when they have time to reply instead of waking up. before you are unhappy with them. Sleepless nights suck, but 3 a.m. doesn’t solve it. This will bring real sacrifices of reason and even more sleepless nights.
If absolutely necessary, perhaps write this letter and schedule it in the morning, or save it in your draft folder so you can review it later. Better yet, write down how you plan to speak with your friend in person. In most situations, if you feel like you have no control, doing what you actually have at your disposal is usually okay. However, in this case, trying to fix it at 3 AM may make you feel in control, but it comes at the expense of your sleep and sanity. Avoid this if possible and do something else – something else.
When it comes down to it, take a day off
Finally, when it comes down to it, activate your work email and just tell your boss that you won’t be there tomorrow morning. Play as if you need a mental health day or feel unwell during the night and can’t get enough sleep to function the next day. Set an alarm so you don’t wake up for work, but to call your boss and tell you you can’t do it today (or better yet, leave a message on his office phone before they walk in!) I’ve found many sleepless nights that it’s easy sent an email to my boss at 3am and said, “Hey, I have a tough night and I need to take a day off tomorrow / come back half a day late tomorrow, I feel bad” – enough to calm myself down enough that I can immediately to fall asleep. The next morning break is also good.
Of course, not all of us have the option to just take a day off because we suffer from a bit of stress-related insomnia, but if you have the luxury of taking a little vacation or sick leave, take it. Your sanity is worth it.