DON’T CHECK THE TIME
Working out how many hours are left only adds pressure.
WOMEN’S SPECIALIST PSYCHOTHERAPIST Private Online Therapy · Worldwide · Brisbane-Based Client resources. Mind won’t switch off at night?
Lying awake replaying the day, or waking at 2am with your mind racing? It isn’t a lack of discipline. It’s a nervous system that doesn’t yet feel safe enough to switch off.
SAVE AS PDF / PRINT ▸
WHY IT GETS LOUDER AT NIGHT
When the day goes quiet, your mind gets the floor.
During the day, busyness keeps your thoughts in check. At night the distractions stop, and anything your nervous system hasn’t finished with takes over: the conversation you’re replaying, the thing you’re dreading, the list that never ends.
If your alarm is on high alert, your body also struggles to drop into the deep rest that sleep needs. Trying harder to sleep only adds pressure. What helps is showing your body it’s safe to stand down.
IF YOU NEED SOMETHING RIGHT NOW · BEFORE BED
Help your body wind down.
- Download your mindTwenty minutes before bed, write down everything on your mind and one next step for each. Then close the notebook: “That’s parked until tomorrow.”
- Wind down your bodyDim the lights, put your phone out of reach, and do something slow and familiar for the last half hour.
- Lengthen your out-breathOnce you’re in bed, breathe in for 4 and out for 6 or 7, for a few minutes.
IF YOU WAKE AT 2AM
Don’t fight it. Settle it.
NAME IT
“This is my mind on alert. I’m safe in bed.”
GIVE IT SOMETHING GENTLE
Slowly picture a familiar walk, room by room or street by street, in detail.
GET UP AFTER 20 MINUTES
If you’re wide awake, go somewhere dim and quiet and do something calm until you feel sleepy, then go back to bed.
SMALL THINGS THAT ADD UP
The basics matter more than you’d think.
- A regular wake-up timeEven after a bad night. It anchors your body clock.
- Morning daylightA few minutes outside early in the day helps you feel sleepy at night.
- Less caffeine after middayIt stays in your system for longer than most people realise.
COPING OR RESOLVING?
You shouldn’t have to keep coping with this.
Coping tools can help you get through a moment. They don’t change why it keeps happening.
My work is different. I don’t teach coping techniques. In session, we work on the patterns driving the symptom – the alarm underneath, and what set it off – with the aim of resolving it, so you’re not left managing it for the rest of your life.
Please see your GP if poor sleep has gone on for weeks, or if you snore heavily, wake gasping, or feel exhausted however long you sleep. There can be physical causes worth ruling out.
Your body isn’t broken. It’s on guard. It can learn to rest again.
YOUR NEXT STEP · BRISBANE AND WORLDWIDE
Whenever you’re ready...
Want to talk it through?
If we’re already working together, bring this to our next session, or email me any time between sessions.
If you’re new here, you’re welcome to book a private 15-minute consultation. No pressure and no obligation – just an honest conversation about what’s possible for you.
New to working with me? Start with a private consultation, wherever you are in the world.
BOOK A PRIVATE CONSULTATION RETURNING CLIENTSBy phone or online, from anywhere in the world. No referral or mental health plan required.
35+ five-star Google reviews
