Anxious brains don't fall asleep — they get ambushed by sleep. The fix is a wind-down protocol that gently turns the volume down on the nervous system, in order, every night.
21:00 — lights down
Turn off the overhead light. One lamp, warm bulb. This single change tells your body that night has started.
21:15 — screens off the main feeds
No Instagram, TikTok, or doomscrolling after 21:15. Reading apps are fine. Long-form video is fine. The endless feeds are not.
21:30 — warm drink, slow shower
Decaf tea, warm milk, or a slow shower. The body temperature dip after a warm shower is a real, measurable sleep trigger.
21:50 — three-line journal
Three sentences: what I did today, what I'm worried about tomorrow, one thing I'm looking forward to. The 'worried about' line gets the loop out of your head and onto the page.
22:15 — in bed, book, lamp off by 22:45
Boring book is best. Lamp off at 22:45 even if you're not sleepy. Repetition trains the brain — sleep follows the protocol, eventually.