A shared universe › Blog › Night-time worries · Español
If worries keep you awake, it helps to give them a fixed time during the day, away from bed, and to jot down on paper the ones that come at night so you can deal with them at that time. It is a technique studied since the 1980s, and it can go together with a few simple sleep habits. You go to bed and, as soon as you turn off the light, they all arrive: what you haven’t done, what could go wrong, what you said. At night worries seem bigger than they are by day.
During the day there is noise, tasks and people. At night there is nothing to distract you, and tiredness makes everything look worse. Besides, at that hour nothing can be done to sort it out, and that leaves the mind spinning with no way out.
It is no coincidence that the two go together. The NHS lists stress, anxiety and depression among the most common causes of insomnia. And sleeping badly, in turn, leaves you with less strength the next day to carry what is worrying you.
In 1983 the psychologist Thomas Borkovec and his team, at Pennsylvania State University, proposed a technique that seems strange: setting aside a fixed time each day, always at the same hour and in the same place, for worrying. When a worry turns up outside that time, you note it down and leave it for then. The idea was that worry had become attached to too many places and moments, and needed to be brought back to just one.
In their two experiments, with people who described themselves as worriers, those who followed these instructions for four weeks reported worrying less each day than those given no guidance, and the difference was clear.
It has been studied more since then. A trial published in 2024 sums up that postponing worry shows promising results, especially for the amount of time spent worrying, with small to medium effects. It also notes its limits: almost all of it has been tested in people with mild or moderate worries, and one study of people with generalised anxiety disorder found no effect compared with other conditions.
So it is a simple aid worth trying, not a remedy that works the same for everyone.
If you notice that during that time you keep going back to the same thing without getting anywhere, it may be rumination more than worry; that is covered in when you can’t stop going over it.
You can help your sleep during the day too. The NHS suggests going to bed when you feel sleepy and getting up at the same time every day, allowing an hour to wind down, avoiding alcohol, tea and coffee in the six hours before bed, not exercising in the four hours before bedtime and putting screens away a while before.
If you have been sleeping badly for weeks, mention it to your doctor. According to the NHS, it is worth seeing a GP when changing your habits hasn’t helped, when the problem has lasted for months or when poor sleep makes it hard to cope with daily life. Treatment may include a talking therapy.
And if what is keeping you awake is a very great pain, don’t go through it without company. In Spain you can talk to a person at the Teléfono de la Esperanza, 717 003 717, at any time. If you are thinking of ending your life, call 024: it is free, confidential and answered 24 hours a day. If there is immediate danger, call 112. In another country, call your local emergency number or a helpline there.
If you are lying awake with something that weighs on you, you can light a star in A shared universe. In the morning you will know how many times someone has kept you company while you slept.
All it takes is writing in a few lines what is keeping you awake, with no names and nothing that says who you are. It can be a way of putting it outside your head for tonight, like jotting it in the notebook on the bedside table.