Test: What stops you getting the sleep you need?

If you’re prone to ruminating over the past or catastrophising about the future, you might find you do through periods when your mind won’t switch off enough for you get to the quality of sleep you need. Even when you drop off easily, you might find it hard to resist overthinking if you wake in the middle of the night.

There are lots of up sides to having an analytical mind and being able to imagine every possibility, not least that the ability to reflect on and learn from your own past patterns and choices. But when the balance tips and your thinking feels out of control, it starts to undermine your peace of mind, and your sleep in the process.

Your sleep reset is about creating space for both deep rest and conscious reflection – but at appropriate times. Remember, the clarity you seek often comes after rest, not during sleepless nights. Night time is a chance for the brain to process what’s happened during the day, but this can’t happen without good quality sleep.

Awareness is the first step – when you notice you’ve been sucked down an overthinking rabbit hole, acknowledge it by mentally labelling it ‘thinking’, then bring your attention back to the here and now, focus on your breathing and ground yourself in the present.

Your next steps:
1. Try worry time – to shift an overthinking habit, designate 15 minutes in the early evening as ‘worry time’, then use that as a reason to resist overthinking during the day by saying you’ll park it until then.
2. Keep a bedside notebook for any thoughts that keep you awake at night, promising yourself you'll address them in daylight when your problem-solving brain works better.