A common aspect of stress and anxiety is the inability to sleep. Insomnia only increases the levels of stress we feel. We move through our days replaying a memory, thought, or issue in our exhausted minds. When and if a resolution manifests, we usually reflect that our anxiety and stress did not contribute to the solution.
Let’s turn our stress into a productive tool. With the right plan in place, you can begin to organize your thoughts and designate the issue. By creating a plan, you can regain control of your much needed and healing rest.
Start by visualizing the power you’re giving this issue, or issues, in your life. Whether an issue of relationships, money, or health, you must address the issue head-on. Avoiding it will not make it go away. There is something that resonates deeply within you once you realize you are in control and you will give this situation your best. The issue may not have a solution, but you will approach it with everything within you. Facing reality and putting your best foot forward is only a starting point.
Next, you must realize you can only place one foot in front of the other. Each day will come with its own battles. Whatever is keeping you up at night is stealing your time to walk with confidence through your struggle. You must accept that you cannot fix the situation all at once. Sometimes, you have days, months, and even years ahead of you. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Your solution may require some time to build and form. Staying up at night and exercising your mind into exhaustion is not a step in the right direction. However, waking up each day with a fresh perspective is. Allow your first steps to be self-care.
Self-care; don’t dismiss this. This is usually neglected when dealing with anxiety, stress, and sleeplessness. By the time we find ourselves completely exhausted, we’re not eating well, properly cleaning, setting up healthy boundaries, and simply resting. Some jump into old habits that bring comfort, yet no solution. I cannot stress this enough and, unfortunately, the world has made this a trite sentiment: self-care is vital to your existence. You MUST take the time to heal through self-care. No, this isn’t simply pampering. Yes, you do have time. Stop making excuses and prioritize yourself. Self-care is a part of the solution. When you’re running empty, your ability to problem-solve is drastically reduced. You’ll find yourself missing opportunities to get through the situation that is bringing you great stress.
Take note! Write down the problem. You may call it journaling. You may just draft simple bullet-points. However your mind works, you will find as you expel the words to paper or computer that your mind begins organizing the issue. Will a solution present itself? Possibly. That’s not the function of writing. The function of writing is to give your mind an outlet to organize your thoughts. In doing so, you’ve committed this to an object that exists out of your mind. This enables your mind to find some ease. This ease will allow your mind to healthily process the issue while giving you deeper rest at night. You may also find, to your surprise, that as you rest, your dreams and sleep-thoughts are organizing. Writing is a healing process that goes much further than just committing your thoughts to paper.
I believe this goes without saying but I will highlight the following: put the technology away at bedtime. Digital pollution is stealing our rest at night. Beyond the medical side effects, having a phone or tablet in your hand at bed is harming your mind. Your bed is a sacred place for you to heal. This allows YOU to recharge. Your phone and tablet need their own charging stations. They do not need to share your bed. The endless, mind-numbing scrolling does not serve any purpose. It actually replaces your mind’s ability to process an issue. Preserve the special nature of bedtime. Don’t invite sleeplessness into your bed.
I want to leave you with hope. There is the truth that tomorrow is a new day. You can strategize, fret, stress, and project into tomorrow, but tomorrow is organic, alive and has its own strategy. Many times, the solution is awaiting you. More often than not, it’s never as you projected it. Remain hopeful, remain in the moment, give your mind the chance to heal through rest, and awaken to a new day that is fresh. There is much more to conquering sleeplessness and I encourage you to contact me to further discuss.
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