This Simple Five-Minute Trick Could Get You To Sleep In A Flash

Stressing about things that are worrying you or thinking about all the tasks you never got to finish in a day can seriously disrupt your sleep, even if you think it’s all grand. 

Do you find yourself lying awake at 3am every night with your mind racing? Apparently there’s a simple five minute trick that could send you straight to the land of nod…

Research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology has found that writing a ‘to-do’ list rather than a ‘done’ list will have you sleeping WAY better.

Scientists investigated whether the focus of bedtime writing—writing a to-do list versus journaling about completed activities—affected how quickly you’re able to fall asleep. 

Fifty-seven healthy young adults (18–30) completed a writing assignment for five minutes before trying to fall asleep and were randomly assigned to write about tasks that they needed to remember to complete the next few days (to-do list) or about tasks they had completed the previous few days (completed list).

The result?

Participants in the to-do list condition fell asleep significantly faster than those in the completed-list condition.

“The more specifically participants wrote their to-do list, the faster they subsequently fell asleep, whereas the opposite trend was observed when participants wrote about completed activities,” the research states.

So basically, write down every little thing you need to do in the next few days before going to bed. You’ll be sleeping like a baby in no time.

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