For years I struggled with falling asleep at night. I was exhausted, but the minute my head hit my pillow, I was thinking about all the things I needed to get done or hadn’t done, going over conversations that I wished I could change, or simply worrying about my kids.
I laid there tortured each night by these endless thoughts. I would then end up scrolling Instagram to get my brain to shut off. The next thing I knew, it was 2 am or later. I’d wake up exhausted in the morning and repeat again and again.
Sound Familiar?
I was miserable most mornings waking up with this cloud of dread that stayed with me all day until I established two habits that cured those sleepless nights.
Three years ago, I started a simple habit called Morning pages (or Mind Dump pages). I had heard about them in my early 20’s from the book the Artist Way by Julia Camron but was never committed to doing them.
Basically, you just write stream of consciousness for three pages first thing in the morning. Just dump everything that is on your mind. No worries about spelling or grammar or even making sense. Just let it all go on the page.
It usually takes me about 15 min and I enjoy my morning coffee while I write them.
They work best if you do them first thing, but that is not always easy for moms. I do set my alarm to wake up before my kids, but that might be hard if you have early risers. On the days I sleep in or my kids wake up before me, I carve out the 15 minutes once I have met the morning needs.
I find that it still helps no matter when I do them.
There is magic in handwriting your thoughts. Most days, it’s “I’m so tired, I can’t write,” but other times, I have moments of clarity in figuring out problems I have been worrying about. I find my thoughts become inspiring, and I get a boost of energy after writing them (though my coffee probably helps with that).
Most importantly, they help me to stay in touch with myself. By writing your thoughts, you learn to listen to what you need.
As moms, we are so busy listening to everyone else’s needs that we forget to listen to our desires. The pages help connect you to you.
Once I started doing the pages regularly, I found that at night once I laid my head on my pillow, my mind wasn’t racing anymore. I had found a little island of peace and could close my eyes without being bombarded with coulda, shoulda, and woulda thoughts.
The other habit I started was putting my phone on the charger in my bathroom. That way, it was not on my bedside table calling to me to check on. So if I was having a hard time sleeping, I wasn’t tempted to start scrolling. This simple trick has saved me from mindless scrolling and losing hours of sleep in the process.
The bonus was that I also had to get up to hit snooze on my alarm which helped me not sleep through it.
I am not perfect in these habits. There are times when life catches me off guard, and I miss writing the pages or keeping my phone next to me. It’s ok if that happens to you when you try them, but the beauty is that you can start over each day.
These two habits helped me conquer my sleepless nights, and though I don’t always wake up refreshed and full of energy (that’s why coffee is my best friend), I wake up lighter and without feeling dread for the day ahead.
I encourage you to try these for a week and see how you feel. All you need is lined paper and a pencil to get started.
I’ve created a coloring and journal book called ART of a MOM if you want some inspiration to start writing those morning pages. The coloring book has some of my most popular illustrations but also has journal prompts that can get those words flowing