What to Do When You're Spiraling Before Sleep

Everything looks worse at 2 AM. Your brain at night is bad at solving problems — it's good at cycling through them. The first rule: don't try to solve anything right now. You're not equipped for it, and the attempt usually makes things worse. Get up briefly to break the physical association between bed and anxiety. Write everything down — not to organize it, just to get it out of your head and onto paper. Tell yourself: "I'll handle this tomorrow at 10 AM." Then put on something monotone to listen to — a dull podcast, a sleep story — to give your mind something to follow instead of itself. Nothing needs to be resolved tonight.