How a $2 Notebook Helps My Insomnia
I’ve always been a bad sleeper. The issue for me has been twofold: I have trouble falling asleep and trouble staying asleep. There’s nothing wrong physically; no sleep apnea, no REM disorder. Instead, when I turn out the lights, my brain turns the heck on. I think about everything—the dumb things I said during the day, the dumb things I might say in the future, what groceries I need, the entire plot to The Shining, and on and on.
I spent several years trying the non-prescription remedies purported to help people fall asleep and stay asleep. I stopped eating late at night and stopped using electronics two hours before bedtime. I listened to white noise, ocean sounds, and even rainforest recordings (I remain skeptical that anyone can get shut-eye accompanied by the squawking of a toucan). I meditated. Nothing helped—until I discovered a $2 hack. For my special brand of anxiety-induced insomnia, the only thing that works is a notebook on the bedside table.
I started using the trick in my freshman year of college, when I shared a dorm room with two other girls (a cruel social experiment, in hindsight). When I was younger, I’d turn on the lights and read until I was finally so exhausted that I would just pass out with my book on my chest. But in college, with those roommates, I couldn’t turn on the lights for that. I don’t remember now where the idea came from, but I finally started keeping a notebook next to my bed to write down my worries in the dark as they came.
There’s research to support my anecdotal success with this method. In a study (PDF) published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, people who wrote down the tasks they needed to accomplish five minutes before bedtime fell asleep 37 percent sooner than those who simply wrote down the tasks they had already accomplished. (Granted, this was a relatively small study that included only 57 young adults under 30.) At first glance, this practice seems counterintuitive: Wouldn’t writing down all your to-dos make you feel worse, since you’re pushing them to the forefront of your mind? Yet that’s not what really happens, says Michael K. Scullin, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University and co-author of the study: “Instead as you’re writing things out what you find is people begin to see, ‘Oh it’s not all that bad,’ and they feel better about it. Or as they’re writing things down they’ll identify solutions to the problem that offer a clear way forward and that makes them feel better.”
My version expands on the study’s framework somewhat. I don’t limit my notes to tasks (“Drop off embarrassingly overdue library book,” “Gently reject cute but boring boy from Hinge”); rather, I write down every other anxiety I have that night (“Am I going to die alone if I can’t find satisfaction in the cute but boring boys from Hinge?”). Both methods rely on the same theory, that transferring the thought to paper allows the mind to let go of it.
I’ve gone through several notebooks now, of several varieties, and aside from preferring a spiral-bound option (so I don’t have to hold it open with my other hand), I’ve found that they all do the trick just fine. If you’re looking for a good one, Wirecutter recommends the Black n’ Red Wirebound Notebook (though it’s pricier than the cheap ones I use).
As I do with every essay, I stressed about this one prior to writing it. Before falling asleep I grabbed my notebook and wrote down “Wirecutter sleep piece due!” and “Find research support” and “Drop in self-deprecating joke about dating failures.” It’s ironic, of course, that a little essay about sleeping better might have the potential to keep me up all night. But thanks to my little hack, it didn’t.
It's Sleep Week at Wirecutter! Read more about deals on our expert-recommended bedding, the best mattress deals, and more of the best sleep deals for your bedroom.