A notebook will help you sleep better at night

Today I want to share how a notebook will help you sleep better at night. It's not a particular or fancy notebook. The idea is to have a notebook next to your nightstand. I know you're thinking, "How is that going to make me feel better? How is that going to make me sleep better?" Don't worry! I'll share how.

Use your notebook to help you sleep better at night during your wind-down routine

If you're like me, you have a lot going on in your mind. There are many things you are trying to keep track of. Or your brain is constantly trying to remind you of things you have to do.

Keep your notebook by your bed

One thing that has really helped me settle my brain at night is to have a notebook or a journal next to my bed. As part of my wind-down routine every night, I use that notebook to write down a couple of different things.

These different things fall into three categories:

• Brain dump
• Things I'm grateful for
• What I like about myself

To sleep better at night, do a brain dump

First, I like to do a brain dump. And  what that means is anything in my brain that keeps popping up, causing some stress or anxiety, I will write down.

Some days I write down a couple of sentences about my day. What I enjoyed about it or what I want to remember as something special that happened. Or I'll write down important things I need to remember.

To sleep better at night, write down three things you are grateful for

Then I will write down things I am grateful for. Typically I write down three things I am grateful for that day. 

Gratitude is such an important thing. It gives you a lot of perspective. People who practice gratitude experience less anxiety and stress. Practicing gratitude is good for your blood pressure because it reminds you that even when things aren't great, we always have things to be grateful for. 

Maybe you think that in order to be grateful, you have to be grateful for big, life-changing things. I feel the opposite though. When you're grateful for the little things, it just makes life so much better.

Some days it might be a struggle, especially if you've had a stressful day. But gratitude doesn't have to be about big things.  Remember, there is always something to be grateful for... even if it's just for coffee that day!

Write down three things you like about yourself

After doing a brain dump and writing down things I am grateful for, I then go on to write down three things I like about myself.

I got this idea from Corinne Crabtree. She runs the No BS Weight Loss program. And she would have us write down three things that we'd like about ourselves.

When I first started doing this, it was so hard. I think as women, we just don't like ourselves very much. We make ourselves the enemy all the time.

Make finding things to like about yourself a daily practice

So I made this a practice to do every day. And what's interesting is the longer I did it, the easier it was to find things I like about myself. I found that my confidence increased tremendously. 

This practice just makes you feel better about yourself. It makes you realize that there are things to love about you. You are a well-loved person, even when you're not feeling it and it's as good for your soul.

To help sleep better at night, keep your notebook on your nightstand

When you wake up in the middle of the night because something woke you up, have a little light. And whatever you're thinking about, write that down in your notebook next to your bed. When you clear your mind again, that will make it easier for you to go back to sleep.

I'd love to know how you're doing this. Do you have a notebook you use before you go to bed? How is that working for you? Let me know in the comments below.

And if you're not using this practice every day, then try it for a week and let me know how it goes. Did you sleep better at night?