Here’s how scheduling ‘worry time’ before bed can help you sleep better

"You might find it simpler to handle your worries and feel less anxious outside of the scheduled worry time if you set aside a certain amount of time to do so," an expert said

This technique can make you sleep like a baby (Source: Getty Images)

Many people struggle with sleep due to constant worries clouding their minds. The burden of unresolved concerns can make relaxing and finding restful sleep challenging. Thoughts about work, relationships, health, and other issues can keep people awake at night, creating a cycle of anxiety and sleep deprivation. Addressing and managing these worries is crucial for promoting a peaceful and rejuvenating sleep experience. However, it’s easier said than done, right?

But with a simple technique, you can actually set aside your worries and let a night of restful sleep embrace you. Wondering what it is? It’s the ‘worry time’ technique! “An effective cognitive-behavioural method for controlling excessive worry and anxiety is the ‘worry time’ technique. It entails designating a certain period of time during the day to concentrate on anxieties and worries deliberately,” said Dr Vipul Gupta, chief, Neurointerventional Surgery; and co-chief, Stroke Unit; Artemis Hospital, Gurgaon. He shared that this method aims to keep your worries in check and stop them from controlling your thoughts all day.

But how does it help? Dr Gupta explained that the worry time approach helps you recover control of your thoughts and prevents excessive concern from interfering with your everyday life by limiting worrying to a certain amount of time. “You might find it simpler to handle your worries and feel less anxious outside of the scheduled worry time if you set aside a certain amount of time to do so,” he said.

Agreeing, Dr Soumiya Mudgal, senior consultant, Mental Health And Behavioural Sciences, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Gurgaon, said experts use this technique to help people who worry too much about small or big issues and persistently keep thinking about them. “And as we say in cognitive distortion, they tend to magnify the problem and then generalise the problem, and that creates a full-time worry in the person, and everything seems to be challenging. So, worry technique helps a person to better tackle their worries,” she said.

Further explaining how this technique can help aid in sleep, Dr Gupta said that by lowering the intrusive thoughts and anxieties that frequently prevent people from going to sleep or remaining asleep, the worry time approach could be very beneficial in encouraging better sleep.

“By using this strategy, you may put a period of time between your anxieties and going to bed, enabling your mind to decompress and calm before night. By setting up a specified period of time earlier in the day for worry reflection, you provide a chance to write down your worries, which reduces some of the cognitive load and keeps those worries from creeping into your thoughts at night,” the expert said.

Avoid spending the entire day or night thinking about them (Source: Getty Images)

He highlighted that establishing boundaries with anxieties and establishing a worry-free zone as part of your night-time routine aid in improving your ability to fall asleep. “The risk of worries emerging when you’re attempting to go to sleep is decreased by problem-solving and action planning within the allotted worry period. After the concerned period, using relaxation methods might help you decompress and shift your attention from your issues,” Dr Gupta said, adding that both the quantity and quality of our sleep can be significantly influenced by worries.

This is because it’s challenging for us to relax and enter a sleep-inducing state when our minds are occupied with anxieties. “It might be difficult to fall asleep because of our brains’ constant activity brought on by racing thoughts, worries about the future, or worrying about upsetting occurrences. Even if we are able to fall asleep, worry might keep us up all night long, resulting in inconsistent sleep and numerous awakenings. As a result, there is a break in continuity, which might make us feel exhausted in the morning. Additionally, worries might exacerbate insomnia and make it more difficult to fall asleep.”

Dr Mudgal concurred by saying that both sleep initiation and quality suffer due to worries. “Most of the time, we tell people to keep this ‘worry time’ somewhere close to their bedtime for 10 to 20 minutes of time and not worry about it all night. In this time, we help them to think about the issue bothering them,” she said, explaining that the person has to understand that any problem which is worrying them can be solved if they break it down into how they can solve it, what is the problem, and the solutions and the kind of control they have over the situation.

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Here are some dos and don’ts you must keep in mind regarding this technique for better sleep:

Dos:

Decide on an exact time: Decide on a regular and precise time each day for your worry time. This makes it easier to develop a pattern and guarantees that you set out time specifically for dealing with your issues.

Make a peaceful environment: Look for a calm, comfortable area where you may reflect without interruptions. This might assist you in focusing and engrossing yourself completely in the concerned time activity.

Write down your anxieties: Give your worries careful thought in writing. This aids in externalising them and gives the user a precise point of reference for thought and problem-solving.

Practise relaxation techniques: Once the worrying stops, try to relax by taking deep breaths, meditating, or doing something you like. This encourages a calmer state of mind and helps you focus on something else instead of your anxieties.

Don’ts:

Extend worry time beyond the designated period: Try to keep your worries from interfering with other aspects of your day. Refrain from worrying after the allotted time has passed, and keep your worries to that limited period only.

Concern yourself with unsolved worries: If you encounter concerns that cannot be handled right away or that demand more in-depth consideration, remember to address them at the following scheduled worry time. Avoid spending the entire day or night thinking about them.

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