How to fall asleep when your mind won't stop running.

February 1, 2017

I’ve been up since 5. It’s 12 pm and I’ve got 5 more hours before I have to get up and do the whole thing over again.

No, I didn’t drink too much coffee.
Yes, the room is dark and free of clutter.
Yes, I’ve tried breathing exercises.
Yes, I’ve tried counting down in a linear fashion from 1000(actually this method usually helps me out a lot).
Yes, I have two cats that wait until 12 to sprint around the house and knock everything over.
No, I haven’t checked social media even once today.( This has been something I’ve been working on since September)

Despite my knowledge of late-night snacks being a terrible decision (really tired people do this to avoid drinking water), I’m hunched over my kitchen counter pounding the keys on my computer while eating a bowl of ramen and pita chips. So what’s my problem?

The Problem: Tomorrow’s grass looks greener than today’s grass.

I’m excited for tomorrow. It’s like being a kid on Christmas Eve. When you start to realize the opportunities you have, and you are inspired to do something about them, you just feel the need to start creating things. I dabble in a ton of different creative mediums so it can feel almost overwhelming to consider all of the possibilities for my day. At the same time, I’m **stressed **because I have a ton of other stuff going on that needs my attention.

Here are the two ways to solve this problem:

Blog, journal, whatever floats that boat and lets you plug into your creative outlet. – I have discovered that I can usually end up with more sleep if I just knock this one out. Rather than trying to bore yourself to sleep by reading Don Quixote, or counting sheep, try creating something.
Acknowledge and write down your expectations for tomorrow. – If you’re tracking with me so far on the super eagerness for tomorrow, then I think this tip is really helpful. Take a sec to write down the 5 things you want to see happen tomorrow. I feel like it’s a way to give myself permission to sleep and let tomorrow worry about itself.

Here’s my 10:

Finish the algorithms section of freecodecamp.com
Create and share my first design for my new month resolution of 28 days of graphic design.
Create a basic user flow sheet for the new ghettifish site.
Get my client work knocked out early in the day.
Follow up with everyone I’m working with.

That’s it. Stupidly simple, and yet I feel like somebody lifted a uhaul truck off of me.

night.