There is nothing worse than not being able to fall asleep because your mind is wandering all over the place.
It will be even more challenging to fall asleep if your thoughts are focused on one specific person who is keeping you awake.
You must be wondering what the best way to stop thinking about someone before sleep is? The best solution to that problem is to understand why you are obsessed with that person and overcome it, and there are also good sleeping routines and exercises to help you.
The importance of quality sleep is enormous for our physical and mental health.
Does that person deserve to occupy your precious time before you drift into deep sleep?
Maybe that person disturbs your sleep because you waste time thinking about them, and then you can’t fall asleep.
You don’t want to suffer from sleep deprivation and put your health at risk. Especially not because of someone who doesn’t deserve it.
In the name of her album, Billie Eilish asked: When we all fall asleep, where do we go? We don’t know the answer to that question.
But we know that to solve this problem of yours, you need to take a good look at why you think about someone before going to sleep and try some of the recommended solutions.
That’s more than enough reason to keep reading.
Why Do You Keep Thinking About Someone and Can’t Sleep Because of That?
Since you can’t sleep because of someone, it’s clear that this person provokes strong emotions in you.
Emotions are complex. On one side, we have love, and on the other, we have hate.
But those feelings can be mixed. For example, we are in love with someone, but that person doesn’t share the same feelings for us. Because of that, we can start to hate them.
We all react differently when someone hurts us. Someone will just move on without overthinking too much, while someone like you will overload themselves with thoughts about that person.
Before sleep, you think about the following:
The Person Who is Not Interested in You
Let’s say that person is someone you like, but unfortunately, they are not interested in you.
That doesn’t stop you from thinking about them and developing strategies to win them over.
The Person Who Hurt You
Just someone’s lack of interest in us can be the reason for being hurt, but we mean here about someone who directly hurt you.
It could be an ex-girlfriend who cheated on you, a parent who didn’t prepare you well for life or a sibling who disappointed you.
The Person You Idealize
Again, that person can be something from the previous two categories, but we’ll consider someone you don’t know but idealize to the point that you can’t fall asleep without thinking about them.
It can also be a public figure, someone you admire, and someone you would like to be.
The Person You Love
We have to add an example of positive thoughts about someone before sleep.
You may have just fallen in love with someone, so the butterflies in your stomach do not let you fall asleep.
Or you are incredibly grateful to someone, and that’s why you think of them.
And you should have positive thoughts before going to sleep, just don’t overdo it and lose sleep.
How Do You Stop Thinking About Someone and Finally Get Some Proper Sleep? 5 Helpful Tips
Do you think it’s finally time to get some sleep and stop your thoughts from wandering?
These tips will help you with that:
1. Understand What is Behind Your Need to Think About Someone
Are these thoughts frequent during the day or only when you go to bed?
Our brains love to be active when they need to rest.
If we think a little more, there is something primal in that.
When we sleep, we are helpless and out of control.
In the distant past, a man had much bigger dangers to fear before falling asleep.
Not much has changed today. We also fear and overthink.
How often has it happened to you that instead of sleeping, you think about where your car key is, did you lock the door, or something random like where is your birth certificate?
You can also think of a person whom you associate with something that is bothering you.
When you discover what is actually bothering you, kicking that person out of your thought before sleeping is possible.
2. Start Acting Instead of Thinking
Image the situation: You like someone at your work but don’t dare to approach them. Do you struggle to sleep every night because it bothers you?
And why not try? If you don’t do anything about it, you still won’t be able to fall asleep at a decent time.
Even if you get rejected, at least you tried.
Also, if you idealize someone. What does that person have that you don’t?
Hopefully, it’s not something overly materialistic that you admire because, believe it or not, there is nothing wrong with not being obsessed with material things.
If you admire someone’s success, career, or motivation, work to achieve that.
We are all a story for ourselves, and it doesn’t mean that you will succeed, but you should try at least.
“If you try, you may succeed. If you don’t try, you will not succeed”
— Japanese Proverb
3. Accept The Past and Move On
Did someone hurt you? Whenever that happened, it happened in the past.
You relieve that scenario when going to bed when your brain should be the most relaxed.
You go through it repeatedly instead of moving on by thinking about it.
Yes, it’s the harsh reality. Someone will hurt us; life is just like that.
It is essential to learn a lesson from it and move on.
You don’t have to accept apologies if you don’t want to, which depends on how much that person hurt you.
You must get over it in your mind and in your heart and move on with your life.
A good night’s sleep will surely come to you when you are unburdened by the past and the grudges it carries.
4. Start to Understand The Importance of Quality Sleep
Are you one who does not care too much about quality sleep?
You consider it just an automatic action of our body.
You might even purposely force yourself to stay awake to think about that one person.
Let’s go through some of the benefits of quality sleep:
- Reduces the risk of serious diseases, such as diabetes and heart problems;
- improving concentration and productivity;
- reduce stress and improve mood;
- regulates your immune system;
- helps you maintain or lose excess weight.
On the other hand, lack of sleep can be dangerous for your health.
Now ask yourself: Is that person worth losing your precious sleep time?
We don’t think anyone is worth it, even those who bring good things into your life. We will not even comment on those who hurt you.
5. Create a Good Sleeping Routine
Let’s move on to more practical tips to help you control your thoughts before bed.
Just remember that none of this will work if you still don’t decide in your mind that you want to stop thinking about that person.
Do you want to sleep like a baby? Here are additional seven tips to improve your sleep:
- Get enough sleep – the most logical advice. The minimum for adults is 7-8 hours.
- Keep a consistent sleep schedule – that way, you get your brain used to when it’s time to sleep.
- Eat light and healthy before bed – don’t overeat before bed. It is also recommended not to eat anything 3 hours before going to bed.
- Make your bedroom comfortable, quiet, and relaxing – many people have the habit of turning the bedroom into a living room or, even worse, a kitchen. The bedroom should be used only for sleeping and intimacy.
- Turn off your devices before going to bed – the light from your phone and TV will only wake you up more. Not to mention if you suddenly get the urge to stalk that one person you keep thinking about on social media.
- Practice light physical activity before bed – Light stretching or yoga will help your body to relax before bed and thus your mind.
- Positive thoughts before bed – gratitude, positive affirmations, meditation, whatever you feel will help you sleep. You can also try good old sheep counting if you really have to. It’s better than thinking about a person who hurt you.
To Summarize,
Considering the benefits they all provide, sleep is your superpower.
Why would you lose your superpower to someone who might not deserve it?
Instead, quiet your mind, turn on your brain’s autopilot, get enough quality sleep, and we guarantee you’ll be as good as new in the morning.
And you’ll realize that someone who doesn’t deserve it shouldn’t be part of your thoughts, especially not before you go to sleep.
Good night and sleep tight!