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Journal prompts for when you cannot sleep because of worry

Kari, Healing Spaces with Kari. Pick one prompt, write for as long as it takes to feel a little lighter. None of these need finishing.

First, get it out of your head

  1. How am I feeling? One word is enough. Two if you need them.
  2. What is going round and round? Write it as a list, not a story. Let each worry have its own line.

Then sort it

  1. Is this worry about a problem I have right now, or about something that might happen? If it might happen, it can wait for daylight. Write "morning" next to it.
  2. If it is a real problem: can I do anything about it tonight? Nearly always the answer is no. So write down the first small thing you will do about it tomorrow, and when. Now it has a time that is not now.

Then be kind about it

  1. If I spoke to myself the way I speak to a close friend, what would I say?
  2. If my worried thoughts were a cartoon character, what would they look and sound like? Draw it if you like. It is harder to be frightened of something with a silly voice.
  3. If my current emotions were a weather report, what would they be? Stormy, foggy, drizzle. Weather passes.
  4. What is one thing I did today that took courage, even if it seemed small?
  5. What am I grateful for, on my hardest days? The journaling pages in my journal end with "I am grateful for" for a reason. It is the last thing your head reads before the light goes off.

Then close the book

  1. What can wait until morning? Everything on the list that has not got a time yet goes here. Draw a line under it.
  2. What is one soothing thing I can do in the next ten minutes? Then do it. From the coping playlist page in the journal: what is the song you would listen to to fall asleep?

From healing-spaces-kari.co.uk/toolkit/journal-prompts-when-you-cant-sleep/. Educational self-help from lived experience, not therapy or medical advice. If today feels heavier than a page can hold, talk to someone: Samaritans 116 123, text SHOUT to 85258, Mind 0300 123 3393.