Info card · Depression and burnout
Dim your thoughts before sleep: each one is a monitor whose brightness you turn down.
Online version
The lights are off, but there’s a meeting going on in your head: tomorrow’s tasks, yesterday’s conversation, the grocery list.
You’re tired, but as soon as you lie down, your thoughts get louder.
You wake up at night and can’t get back to sleep because of the same thoughts.
How it works
You can’t just switch off your thoughts before sleep: the more strictly you order yourself “don’t think,” the louder they get. So here we don’t argue with thoughts or chase them away — we change their “volume.”
Imagine a control center like NASA’s: a wall of monitors, indicators, lights. Each thought is a separate monitor. You take hold of a knob and smoothly turn down the brightness: the picture fades, the thought gets quieter. Then the next monitor. Essentially, this is practice: you learn not to rev a thought up but to dim it. It usually helps you relax and fall asleep.
An imagery exercise from the author’s practice: he gives it to clients with burnout and trouble falling asleep. It hasn’t been tested separately in research — it’s a practice worth testing for yourself.
If you haven’t been able to fall asleep for several weeks in a row, or you nod off during the day, see your family doctor: chronic insomnia is treatable, and one exercise isn’t enough here.
If things feel very bad right now or you are having thoughts of death: 112 — immediate danger to life, around the clock; 116 123 — emotional support, 10:00–24:00; 116 006 — victim support crisis line, around the clock; Eluliin 655 8088 (Estonian), 655 5688 (Russian) — 19:00–07:00. Emergency help →
Go through the list to see what’s keeping your sleep from restoring your energy, and choose where to start.
Info cardRelease the tension your body holds out of habit: tense your muscles as you breathe in and let go completely as you breathe out.
WorksheetGet the anxious noise out of your head, sort it into tasks, important thoughts and spam — and turn chaos into a plan.
If this topic feels familiar, a consultation can help clarify what is happening in your situation and identify practical next steps.
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