I have the very same problem sometimes. What works for me in these kind of situations is focusing my mental energy in an activity that involves touch. I’ll give you some examples: shuffling a deck of cards, playing with rocks, marbles, pens, or any other object I can touch. That restless energy in my mind is somehow absorbed by the object and I start ordering my thoughts. Once they are ordered and clear the chaos in my mind stops and I am back in control and I can examine my thoughts from a distance. And I can see the why behind the restleness. Sometimes I jot down what I learn when my mind quiets down. When I’m too tired for that I imagine explaining what I learn to a friend or anyone else who I feel that cares for me. And by doing this I free myself from the emotions and the swirling thoughts. You may think that more thinking won’t help you think less. But this isn’t exactly thinking. It’s more like listening to yourself so you can understand what happens inside of you. Why were you angry today? Why were you sad? Our inner self is like a child seeking attention and affection. Once we give it to him it quiets down. And I’m not just being metaphoric. I’ve noticed that the first night I listened to myself , it took me three hours to quiet down, the next one took less, and the next one even less. Instead of letting the cup of inner frustrations get filled I emptied it little by little, by listening and looking inside.
When my mind won’t calm down the first thing I do is lay in bed and try to internally put my mind in a state of ease and relaxing. I then pretend like I am sleeping, I will even go as far as image ming like someone is watching me and I am trying to fool them. Much like a child.might to a parent. This helps me to focus only on my breath and to put my body and mind into a space that simulates sleep.
What works for me is imagining myself in an activity that makes me happy. It’s usually sports for me and that keeps my mind focus on one thing rather than multiple ideas.
I have had so many nights like that, so I understand your struggle. I’ve found that reading or meditating before bed is very helpful. You could even try an audio book. One last tip. On those nights when your thoughts seem to endlessly torment you no matter what you do, try writing them down in a journal. You don’t have to make coherent sentences if you don’t want to, just purging your thoughts onto a page can help to clear them from your head.
Hey there. Personally my helpful tips are : turn your wifi off and put phone in flight mode. Put on A Life on Our Planet and listen to David Attenbourgh’s voice or any audio book of your choosing ( aim for nature or for affirmation style stuff OR calming sound healing is also perfect ) Have these Downloaded obvs so phone can basically be off. Make sure blue light is off. Place away from you a little like close enough to switch off off but not like on you or too close to you head. . Write down the thoughts if they keep coming. Have a journal ( just a notebook and pen nothing fancy ) next to your bed and write it all down. Morning is great but if u need scribble at night !
Have you tried a meditation program? Meditation is a great tool to quiet a busy mind. I meditate nightly to calm my brain before sleep and every morning to clear my mind to tackle my day.
I would try listening to soft music – something you might know the words to, so you can sing along and forget about the other thoughts in your mind.
Imagine you are at your favorite place. Focus on one thing – sand between your toes at the beach, the water pulling around your ankles. Wherever you imagine, focus on one physical sensation. When your mind goes off someplace else, and it will, once you notice, bring yourself back to your favorite place and focus on one sensation again. Mostly though, be patient with your self. It can take a little while to get the mental hamsters used to getting off the wheel every night, turning in their sneakers, and sleeping. But, sooner than later, they will.
Personally I really like to fantasize about things,I create a different world in my head and I manipulate the things in that world the way I want to because its my world and the more create these stories in my head,stories that make me happy, my brain starts getting tired of thinking and I doze off immediately. Hopefully this makes sense.
I find a mindfulness meditation quite helpful before bed. Theres plenty of free ones on YouTube and Headspace has some great (subscription) ones too. Another option is to read a physical book. I like to choose something relaxing like books about space and science. You can also play an audiobook or chill podcast (I think most have sleep timers) to give your mind something to focus on while you doze off. I love Headspaces sleepcasts too. So relaxing and chilled.