Got up at 3 am? This Mind Trick Forces You Back To Sleep Soon

It’s 3 a.m., your eyes open, and suddenly your mind decides it’s the perfect time to review all the mistakes you’ve made and tomorrow’s to-do list. You are lying there, watching the clock, calculating how tired you will be in the morning.

Stop torturing yourself. I’ve struggled with anxiety in the middle of the night myself, and I can tell you that just going to bed stressed ensures that you won’t go back to sleep. Worse, chronic sleep deprivation is damaging your financial decisions and your physical health.

You don’t need a prescription to fix this. According to Dr. William Lu, a sleep medicine doctor who recently shared a relaxation trick with Tom’s Guide, the secret is a technique called mindfulness.

It is a method developed by Canadian scientist Dr. Luc P. Beaudoin also works by interrogating your thoughts, removing your racing mind, and forcing your brain into sleep mode in a matter of seconds.

While there are many sleep tricks that really work to improve your overall routine, this particular technique targets the 3 a.m. fear. Before you resort to expensive gadgets, try this free method.

3 steps to becoming a master of mind shuffling

1. Choose a boring anchor name: Make sure you are comfortable and that your room is cool and dark. Then, think of a neutral name that doesn’t have any emotional baggage or negative associations for you. Let’s use the word “sleep” as an example.

2. Focus on the first letter: Take the first letter of your name — in this case, “s” — and start thinking of random, unrelated words that start with that letter. The sun. A snake. Shoes. Soup.

Spend a second or two visualizing each object.

3. Go down the line: When you run out of simple first letter words, move on to the next one. “L” spells out words like lamp, lion, and lips. The trick is that these words have no logical connection to each other.

By forcing your brain to jump between unrelated ideas, you distract from the anxious thoughts that keep you awake. It simulates the random little dreams your brain naturally produces before you drift off. Most people don’t even get to the third letter.

What to do if shuffling doesn’t work

Sometimes your anxiety is too high in mind games. Once you’ve done this for 20 minutes and you’re still awake, get out of bed. Go to a dimly lit room and do something boring, like folding clothes or reading a thick book. Return to bed only when your eyelids feel heavy.

If the racing thoughts don’t stop, try a mental trick to help you get back to sleep by putting off your worries until morning.

2 mistakes to avoid at 3 am

1. To access your smartphone: People, including me, do this all the time. You wake up, get bored, and grab your phone to check emails or scroll through social media. The screen bombards your retinas with blue light, which suppresses your body’s production of melatonin. You are showing your brain that it is daytime. Leave the phone face down.

2. Swallowing a sleep supplement: It’s tempting to reach for a bottle of pills when you’re desperate. But turning to chemical sticks is a dangerous game. In fact, the popular sleep supplement has now been linked to the risk of heart failure, doctors warn, so you shouldn’t take the products on sale lightly.

Rest does not require expensive treatment. Well this is a mental trick, protect your bedroom, and you will protect your health and your wallet.