How to sleep with a racing mind

In this article, insomnia expert Kathryn Pinkham discusses the best ways to calm your mind before sleep.

Waking up in the middle of the night with a racing mind is one of the most frustrating parts of poor sleep. You stare at the clock, tossing and turning, as thoughts and worries race around your mind.

Sound familiar? You're not alone. This is a common symptom of insomnia, but the good news is that there are practical techniques based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for insomnia that can help calm your mind and improve your sleep.

Why causes a racing mind?

A racing mind often stems from unprocessed emotions and thoughts during the day. Life is busy, and many of us don’t give ourselves time to pause, reflect, or deal with our worries. Instead, we push these feelings or anxieties aside or bury ourselves in distractions as we don’t like to think about things that make us uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, when we finally settle down to rest, our brain seizes the quiet moment to process our thoughts and feelings. This can lead to waking up in the middle of the night feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and unable to switch off.

How poor sleep impacts a racing mind

When we don’t sleep well, it makes us more prone to stress, irritability, and emotional overwhelm during the day. This creates a vicious cycle: poor sleep leads to increased stress, and increased stress makes it harder to sleep. To break this cycle, it’s important to address the underlying causes of a racing mind and learn effective techniques to calm it.

Here are my top 4 tips to manage a racing mind:

1. Write things down

When your mind is racing, one of the simplest and most effective strategies is to write your thoughts down.

During the daytime, set aside 15-20 minutes to sit with a pen and paper and write everything down.

This technique helps your brain let go of the thoughts because it knows you’ve acknowledged them and are listening. It’s like giving yourself permission to stop worrying about it for now. By putting your thoughts on paper, you can get a different perspective than when they are stuck in your mind.

2. Separate real problems from hypothetical worries

A key CBT technique is learning to identify which thoughts are real problems (things you can take action on) and which are hypothetical worries (things you can’t control or that may never happen).

Real problems: These are things that have happened. For example, “I have lost my job” This is something that you can make a plan for. Hypothetical worries: These are “what if” thoughts, like “What if I mess up at work tomorrow and lose my job”. These thoughts can feel just as terrifying, so don’t ignore them, but learn to accept that this hasn’t actually happened yet, and the worry is just going to make you feel more exhausted.

Once you can label your worries, practice letting go of the hypothetical ones. Remind yourself that worrying will not solve the problem and move focus to what you can control.

3. Grounding exercises

If you wake up with a racing mind, grounding exercises can help pull you back into the present moment and calm your nervous system. Here are a few simple techniques:

5-4-3-2-1 method: Notice 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. Deep breathing: Focus on slow, steady breaths. Breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 4, and breathe out for 6 counts. This calms your fight-or-flight response. Body scan: Mentally scan your body from head to toe, noticing and releasing any tension. These grounding exercises can shift your focus away from anxious thoughts and help you relax.

4. Don’t fight it – leave the bedroom

If you find yourself wide awake in the night battling a racing mind then it’s often better to give up the fight. Staying in bed while feeling frustrated and awake can train your brain to associate your bed with stress rather than sleep.

Instead, get up and leave the bedroom. Go to another room and do something calming like reading a book or watching TV. When you start to feel sleepy again, return to bed.

This approach teaches your brain that your bed is a place for rest, not for worrying.

If you wake up in the night with a racing mind, don’t panic. This is your brain’s way of trying to get you to take notice of some unresolved thoughts and worries. By using the tips above, you will start to feel more in control of your mind and hopefully, your sleep will improve.

Kathryn Pinker is the Founder of The Insomnia Clinic. If you’re struggling to sleep, join Kathryn's webinar to learn how to fall asleep easily and stay asleep all night. Click here to get started.