Plagued by work thoughts at all hours

[canidosomething]

I’m sure many of us can relate to this. But I’m going through a busy period at work I guess and I’m waking up in the night and while I’m dozing and at all times really, my thoughts turn to work- what I need to do, I remember emails I didn’t send etc etc. last night I woke up at 3 am and remembered I hadn’t sent an email.

stuff like that. I’m sure many of us have this, but it’s becoming a bit intrusive.

I don’t want to think about work all the time and especially not while I’m sleeping, by dreaming about it !

I don’t feel particularly stressed about things, so I’m not sure why these thoughts are dominating my rest time.

does anyone have any advice or is it just the brain, dealing with its preoccupations?

I’m the same sadly

Hi, I don’t have any answers but keen to see if others do.
For me the intrusive thoughts aren’t as logical as yours sound. I’ll wake myself worrying about an email but by the time I’m fully awake I’ll realise it’s not a real email…

Happens me too, don't have any advice, just fellow feeling.

Yes, I know the answer but then I fail to implement!

For me it's bullet journalling. Once it's on the page, it's not in my head anymore. I get organised and on top of it all.

For some reason I stop doing it, get overwhelmed and in a mess.

Audiobooks help at night too.

This sometimes happens to me too. Do you work from home? I do wonder if me working from home so much stops me turning off more. Although back in my 9-5 days in the office I once went through a whole presentation in my sleep so maybe not.

When it happens to me I try thinking of something nice like an upcoming holiday and what I want to do. Doesn’t always work.

I’ve heard it said you should keep a note pad by your bed so you can scribble down notes which then lets your brain release it.

Yes .
write a list the minute you get the wotk
Then start at the top of the list.

Also, if applicable, don’t look at work emails etc after 6pm and go for a walk/exercise to tire yourself out.

Same here. I’ve started meditating for five mins a day. That gives me space to see things clearly. I’ve also started using voice notes to get things out of my head. My colleague used to call work at 3am and leave answer phone messages for herself! We’re all at it! Another technique is to scribble as many thoughts (to dos) onto a sheet of A4 before your shower or bath on an evening so you’re free of it all. Also, try to contain yourself to the present moment with breath work.

When I'm really busy I'll wake and think about stuff I need to do so I either write it down or send myself an email reminder in work for the next day.

I often open my works emails the next day to 2 or 3 emails if what I'm remembered but it means it's out of my head and I get relax or go back to sleep.

This used to happen to me. I kept a pad and paper on my bedside cabinet and if I woke up thinking about sending an e mail / booking a meeting whatever I wrote it down then I could forget it and go back to sleep. In the morning i had my list and could focus on it when I got to work. It took a while but worked and I was able to improve my sleep.

That's helpful if you have to plough through a series of admin tasks and completely unhelpful if you have to do anything a bit more inventive.

I'm waking up in the middle of the night because my brain is trying to solve creative problems. It's when my unconscious state is working stuff out. My advice is to have a go-to place for when you wake up that you can think about instead. It should be a slightly difficult, slightly boring topic, like trying to remember all the shrubs in your garden (if you're a gardener), or all the teams in the Championship (if you're a football fan), or the names of all the children in your geography class at school or whatever...

This is how I became dependent on audiobooks to sleep. I will turn one on at 2 am if the work thoughts invade. I have some spectacularly boring ones that are just engaging enough to shut my brain off but not too exciting that I stay awake.

When still WFH I have got up at 2am as I thought I'd missed someone off an email or remembered something I needed to do the next day logged on and checked or put a post it note on my laptop. I also used to send myself an email at the end of the day with the things that needed to be done/chased up/followed up the next day, obviously I did forget things hence the 2am post it note😂

Edited I hope for some clarity

I tell myself very directly "no, we're not thinking about this right now"
(I don't know why the plural!) and consciously start thinking about something else.

Same, I wake up and realise mistakes I've made that I haven't realised during the day, it's like when I'm asleep my mind is ruminating and realises even when I'm not conscious!