Identify what you're worried about.
Dissecting the source of your anxiety is the first important step to banishing it, Orma says. If you're suffering from insomnia, you're likely feeling anxious about sleep; if you're suffering from general anxiety, you're likely unable to drift off because your thoughts are preoccupied with other stressors.
"You have to identify what it is that's causing you to stay awake and deal with that before crawling into bed," he explains. "People worry about all kinds of things when they're in bed, and that's not the time to think things through."
Get out of bed.
"Most people stay in bed and hope they'll get tired and fall asleep, but generally that doesn't happen," Orma says. As a result, people start subconsciously associating being in bed with being awake. If you don't fall asleep within 20 to 30 minutes, get up and go to a different room.
Address what's on your mind.
Research suggests that putting our worries into something tangible and physically throwing them away can help clear our mind of negative thoughts.
"Get a pad of paper and dump everything that you're worried about, whether that's sleep, your job, your relationships or otherwise," Orma says. "You can't deal with that stuff now. An active mind will keep you awake." If you don't want to throw it away, he suggests setting the list aside to return to the next day.
Change your bedtime.
If you're constantly having trouble drifting off, you may want to readjust your sleep schedule, Orma says. This may mean going to bed later.
"This is a mistake a lot of people make -- they get into bed because that's their bedtime, whether they're sleepy or not," he says. "People have a racing mind when they crawl into bed not because their anxiety is keeping them awake, but because they're not tired enough and their mind just starts going."
If all else fails, quietly engage your mind.
If you simply just can't sleep, try reading a book ("Textbooks are great for this," Orma says), drinking some tea, listening to music or practicing a little meditation. Whatever you do, just make sure you don't gravitate toward your phone or your laptop, Orma warns. Your devices will only wake you up more.
[Huffongtonpost]
