Anxious people usually go to bed when they’re done with whatever
they’re doing. Bedtime can vary tremendously from one day to the next. Like
almost everything else anxious people do, this disrupts the natural rhythm.
Set a bedtime and stick to it, even on weekends. The actual time you
get in bed should be preceded by about 45 minutes of winding down.
DEVELOP A BEDTIME RITUAL. Winding down should be the same every
night: reading, watching TV, taking a hot bath, doing relaxation exercises
or whatever else calms you down. Before you relax, however, you should
do something to get your worries out of the way. Start your bedtime ritual
by sitting down with pencil and paper, and make your to-do list for the
next day. Write notes to yourself about what you have to do, and even what
you have to worry about. The idea is to impose an artificial end point on
the day’s tasks so you don’t have to stay up reminding yourself of what still
has to be done. By making this list, you’re counteracting the Ziegarnik
effect, which is the brain’s tickle file for unfinished tasks. Things that aren’t
finished are automatically brought up into memory so you won’t forget.
You don’t want this to happen at one A.M.
DON’T TAKE NAPS. Speaking of unfinished tasks, if you didn’t get enough
sleep last night, you want to catch up tonight. Your brain and body will help
you do this by making you really tired—if you don’t take away the momen-
tum by sleeping during the day.
USE IMAGERY. Telling someone not to worry is like telling them not to
think of a white horse. Instead of not thinking about something that keeps
you awake, think of something that relaxes you, such as a safe and com-
fortable place, or a situation in which you were so sleepy you could barely
keep your eyes open. Ninth grade geometry class works for me.
If YOU CAN’T GO TO SLEEP IN 20 MINUTES, GET UP. The idea here is to
keep your bed a conditioned stimulus (remember Pavlov?) for sleep rather
than lying awake and worrying about how long it will take you to get to sleep
and how drowsy you’re going to be the next day.
If sleep eludes you for 20 minutes, get up and read a boring book for
another 20, then try again. You can also listen to music or a relaxation tape,
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