Sleep specialist with 20 years of experience reveals simple pen-and-paper trick to stop overthinking at night

Expert recommends a trick called cognitive offloading to take the sources of worries out of your racing mind for the night and fall asleep.

As the body prepares to unwind and call it a day at night, the mind often throws a tantrum and drags you down a rabbit hole of thoughts. Before you know it, you are spiralling, with racing thoughts taking you on a wild goose chase of what-ifs and worst possible outcomes. Maybe the worries are about an upcoming life-changing event, from promotion to proposal or reflecting on the past about the road not taken and faulty decisions. Or sometimes it is also as basic as what to do tomorrow, going through a to-do list frantically.

If your thoughts are keeping you up, it's time you put them to rest for the night. (Picture credit: Shutterstock)

Whatever the reason, the mind feels highly alert and worked up at night. But what if you could tuck your thoughts to sleep? Is there a way? Sleep doctor Chris said yes, and all you need is a pen and paper to put your thoughts to sleep. Dr Christopher J Allen, a physician in sleep medicine and pediatric neurology with 20 years in the medical field, shared in an October 30 post about one technique that works. He called that technique ‘cognitive offloading.’

What is cognitive offloading?

The sleep doctor observed that this trick worked for his patients, too, so this is based on his clinical experience. The technique is actually super simple. He explained, “So all you need is a piece of paper, and if you feel like your mind is racing, wherever those thoughts keep going, get a piece of paper and write down what you are thinking.” So instead of suppressing or pushing those thoughts away, you are taking them out of your head by putting them down on paper.

“Take that piece of paper, fold it up, put it under the pillow or put it on a nightstand," Dr Chris said. That's just telling your mind that look, we are thinking about it, but we are going to save it for another day."

This practice is symbolic in nature. It is a small gesture for your brain that you have embraced those worrying thoughts, acknowledged them, but for now, storing them for later, in a way putting them to sleep. It is helpful because it comforts and reassures your buzzing mind that you will deal with them tomorrow, just not tonight.

Is it similar to journaling?

Journaling is more detailed, unlike the concise offloading trick.(Shutterstock)

But, it sounds like journaling, right? You are putting your feelings to paper and writing about it. But cognitive offloading may appear similar, but it's different and much quicker. Dr Chris clarified that one only needs to write one word.

“Some people can do journaling and that's fine,” he explained. “But you just write one word like tired, family, husband, whatever it is.”

So, unlike journaling, which goes on to be a full-fledged, lengthy reflection session where you go on writing about your feelings, the method of cognitive offloading doesn't require you to analyse how you are feeling. It is much lighter. You are simply putting the sources of worries on paper as succinctly as possible, even in one word. You are naming and jotting down what is bothering you, which you can deal with later.

Note to readers: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them. This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice.