Racing thoughts at night
Racing thoughts at night tend to be worry, planning or replaying the day, and they arrive when nothing else holds your attention. A day with more worry predicted worse sleep that night, in a study of 50 people who worried a lot.1 Telling yourself to stop thinking rarely works. Giving the thoughts a place earlier in the evening, and something specific to do in bed, has more support.2,3
The four kinds that keep you up
Each one has a different fix, so it helps to know which you've got.
Tomorrow's list
Tasks you're afraid you'll forget.
"Did I reply to the landlord? I have to send the form before 9. And buy milk."
Replaying today
A conversation, a mistake, something someone said.
"Why did I say that at my sister's? Everyone went quiet. I keep hearing it."
What-ifs
Worry about the future, often far bigger at 2 a.m. than at 2 p.m.
"What if the test results are bad? What if I lose this job and can't pay rent?"
Worry about sleep itself
The thought that you need to sleep now, which makes sleep harder.
"It's 1:30. If I fall asleep right now I'll get five hours. Now it's 1:40."
Why the dark makes it louder
All day, work and people take up your attention. In bed, in the dark, nothing does, so whatever got pushed aside comes back.
Psychologist Allison Harvey's model of insomnia describes the loop that follows: worry in bed raises arousal and distress, then people start watching for signs they're not sleeping, like checking the clock, and that feeds more worry.4 It's how the 1:30 example keeps itself going.
Trying harder to sleep feeds it too.
- A thought: Something from today or tomorrow shows up.
- Alert: Your body gets more awake, not less.
- Checking: You look at the clock or notice you're still awake.
- More worry: Now there's worry about sleep too, and the loop starts again.
An evening plan, from dinner to lights out
Early evening: give worry somewhere to go
Well before bed, set aside a short block. Write down what's on your mind and one next step for each thing.
The next-step part matters. Students with insomnia who wrote possible solutions to their worries, over five nights, had less mental arousal at bedtime than students who only recorded the worries.2 Keeping worry to one set period a day has its own small trial behind it, covered on the worry time page.5
Later, in bed, when a worry turns up, postpone it: "That goes in tomorrow's worry time."
At bedtime: five minutes on tomorrow's list
Young adults fell asleep faster after spending 5 minutes writing a to-do list than after writing about tasks they'd already done, in a sleep lab, and the more specific the list, the faster they fell asleep.6 It suits the "tomorrow's list" kind best. How to fall asleep fast has the steps.
In bed: picture one thing in detail
General distraction didn't help 41 people with insomnia. A specific, absorbing scene did: those given one fell asleep faster than those given no instructions.3
Walk a route you know well, street by street. Plan a garden down to where each plant goes. Pick something that holds your attention without exciting you.
Still awake and frustrated: get up
For most people the frustration starts around 15 to 20 minutes in. At that point, get out of bed, do something quiet until you feel sleepy, try not to check the clock, then go back.7 The habit this breaks is lying there arguing with your thoughts.
Any time: slow your breath
A long, slow breath out gives your body something to do while your mind settles, and the 4-7-8 timer shows each count as text. The evidence for breathing at bedtime is thin. Use it as one way to settle.
Write down the three thoughts that kept you up most recently. For each one, write the kind it is (a task, a replay, a what-if, or worry about sleep) and one small next step, or "nothing to do tonight".
Answer this with JoyNight-time advice that backfires
"Just don't think about it"
General distraction did no better than no instructions at all, in one insomnia study.3 Give your mind a specific task instead.
"Write out every worry at midnight"
At bedtime, what helped was a short, specific to-do list.6 For worries, writing possible solutions lowered bedtime arousal more than recording them did, and that part belongs earlier in the evening.2
"I'll catch up by sleeping in"
Keep your usual wake time after a bad night, the NHS advises.8
When it's more than a busy mind
Months of poor sleep, or sleep trouble that makes daily life hard to cope with, is worth a doctor's visit.8 The first treatment the American College of Physicians recommends is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, and it includes stimulus control, the get-up rule above.9
Go sooner if racing thoughts come with feeling unusually up or wired, talking fast, and needing much less sleep than usual. NIMH lists racing thoughts and a decreased need for sleep among the signs of a manic episode in bipolar disorder.10 Sleep tips aren't the tool for that.
If your night thoughts turn to harming yourself, or not wanting to be here, reach out tonight. Call or text 988 in the US.
Questions people ask
What does it mean if you have racing thoughts every night?
By itself, it doesn't point to any one cause. Worry and unfinished tasks are common ones, and in one study a day's worry predicted that night's sleep.1 If it goes on for months, ask a doctor about insomnia.
Are racing thoughts anxiety or ADHD?
You can't tell from the thoughts alone. They come with anxiety and worry, and NIMH also lists them as a sign of mania.10 A doctor can sort out what's behind them; the private anxiety check-in and ADHD check-in give you something to bring.
Is there a medication to stop racing thoughts?
Ask a doctor, who can look at the cause. For long-term trouble sleeping, the American College of Physicians recommends CBT-I first, and medication only after talking through benefits and harms if CBT-I hasn't worked.9
How do I shut off a racing mind at night?
Force rarely works. Give it something specific instead: a to-do list before bed, then a detailed scene to picture.6,3 Still awake and frustrated after 15 to 20 minutes? Get up for a while.7