Does your mind start racing the minute your head hits your pillow? Whether you’re thinking about tomorrow’s to-do list, packing lunches or getting the kids to school, it’s easy to become anxious when you’re trying to fall asleep. Anxiety can have a major impact on the quality of your sleep. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, seven out of ten adults in the United States say that they experience stress or anxiety daily, with most nothing that it interferes moderately with their daily lives.
We’ve put together a few tips for you to incorporate into your daily routine to help you manage your anxiety and help to improve the quality of your sleep.
Add Meditation into Your Daily Routine
Trying meditation can help you manage your daily stress and anxiety, but can also help you sleep. There are several meditation apps you can use while sitting down quietly for a few minutes out of your day. You can also sit down and focus on your breathing. When getting ready for work, you can even play quiet, relaxing music to soothe you while you’re getting ready, instead of feeling the need to rush.
Make Exercise a Priority
Aim to hit the gym more often, join a new workout class or simply make it a priority to take a brisk walk after work. You can even find small ways to incorporate exercise into your day if you’re unable to block larger amounts of time for working out. Take ten minutes out of your work day to get up from your desk, walk around your office, or take a quick walk outside. You can keep weights in your home and take 5-10 minutes per day to complete small exercises, which will help you to unwind from your day, even if for just a short amount of time.
Write Your Thoughts Out
When you’ve got a lot on your mind, it can be easy to feel stressed and pressured to accomplish everything you’ve got on your plate. Whether it’s your tasks for the day, a few important things you need to be reminded of, or just some general thoughts you need to process, put your pen to paper and write out everything you need to be aware of. Doing this can help relieve stress of trying to remember everything, and can help you work through anything you need to process. This can help to ease your anxiety and help you calm your mind when it’s time to go to sleep.
Wind Down before Bed
Creating a healthy bed time routine is essential to sleeping well. This helps your body and mind to wind down before you turn off the lights. Put down your technology about an hour before bed and instead, spend some time with your family or crawl into bed with a good book. You can also listen to music or take a hot, soothing bath before crawling under the sheets for the night.