Write it down before bed: emptying your head onto paper

By the SimpleDay team · · 3 min read

Some evenings, the body is tired but the mind keeps going: a reply to send, a meeting to prepare, something you must not forget. Writing it down can help you let go of it.

What a study found

In a study published in 2018 in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, researchers at Baylor University and Emory University asked young adults to spend five minutes before bed writing either a list of tasks for the coming days or a list of tasks they had already completed. In the sleep lab, those who wrote a to-do list fell asleep faster. And the more specific their list, the quicker they fell asleep. It is one study with healthy young adults, but the idea is simple and costs nothing to try.

Why it may work

An unfinished task tends to stay on the mind. Writing it down, somewhere you trust, tells you it is safe to stop holding it until tomorrow.

How to try it

  1. About ten minutes before turning off the light, take five minutes.
  2. Write down what’s still open (tasks, worries, things to remember) in short, concrete lines.
  3. Don’t solve anything. Just put it down.
  4. Close it, and leave it for the morning.

Sources

  1. Scullin MK, Krueger ML, Ballard HK, Pruett N, Bliwise DL. The effects of bedtime writing on difficulty falling asleep: a polysomnographic study comparing to-do lists and completed activity lists. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2018.

This article is general information. It isn’t medical advice and doesn’t replace a health professional.