How to Stop Thinking About Work at 3am

Work stress is inevitable, but it doesn’t have to get in the way of a good night’s sleep. To avoid thinking about work in the middle of the night, the author offers five strategies: 1) Make a to-do list. The act of writing down uncompleted tasks decreases cognitive arousal, rumination, and worry. 2) Keep a journal. Writing down your thoughts and feelings, rather than just thinking about them, has been shown to help process emotions and reduce stress and anxiety 3) Exercise self-compassion. Practicing self-compassion allows you to break the cycle of negative thoughts that come with rumination, which is linked to insomnia. 4) Engage in physical activity. Research shows that a single instance of moderately intense exercise can decrease rumination 5) Practice meditation. Researchers in the Netherlands found that even small amounts of mindful meditation (10 minutes before and after work for two work weeks) helped calm racing minds, improve sleep quality, and sleep duration.