On a night when a work thought wakes you, keep a notepad by the bed and put it on paper instead of picking up your phone. The shutdown note before bed works the same way.
A small sleep-lab study points in the same direction. Fifty-seven healthy adults aged 18 to 30 spent five minutes at bedtime writing either a to-do list for the coming days or a list of tasks they'd already finished. The to-do group fell asleep about nine minutes faster on average, and the more items people put on their to-do list, the sooner they dropped off (Scullin et al., 2018). So get every open item onto the note, one line each, rather than a single line like "work stuff." This was one night in a sleep lab with healthy young adults, and the researchers say it still needs testing in people with insomnia.
If work thoughts are keeping you awake most nights, or you're dreading work every day, it's time to talk to your doctor or a licensed professional. Start with the care routes below.
