There are many things that can affect your sleep, but probably the worst of them is worry. Worry about your job, your relationship, your finances and of course worry about not being able to go to sleep.

People say to me “I can’t stop worrying! As soon as my head touches the pillow I start to worry.”

If you can relate to this, you may think that there’s nothing you can do to stop this destructive and unhealthy state of mind. Well there are many things you can do, worry is a habit and like all habits it can be broken with a bit of persistence.

Here’s 5 tips to stop yourself worrying in bed.

1 - Allocate another time for worry - If you really must worry, schedule yourself 30 minutes (or whatever time you need) and do nothing but worry! Write you worries down in a piece of paper and then go to bed.

If you find yourself starting to worry when you turn out the light, gently remind yourself, “I’ve worried about that already, I’ll handle it again tomorrow.”

2 - Thought switching - This may take a bit of practice but it’s one of the most valuable thing to learn. To do this effectively you must be aware of when you are starting to worry or think negative thoughts. Simply stop the worry in its tracks by switching to a positive or neutral thought straight away.

This works because the conscious mind can only focus on one dominant thought at a time. Write a list of pleasant (but not too exciting!) thoughts you can switch your mind to.

3 - Relaxation - Yes I know you’ve heard it before, but it’s so effective it bears mentioning again. A relaxation exercise also gives your mind something else to think about. A great one is to concentrate on different muscle groups one by one and tense and relax them going down the whole body. There are details in the website mentioned below.

Relaxation exercises done during the day can also help you sleep better at night and will let you stress less and become much more relaxed over time.

4 - Realize it’s quite normal to wake up during the night. Because sleep cycles occur regularly during the night, it’s not unusual for people to wake, sometimes a few times depending on what stage of sleep you‘re experiencing. If this happens to you don’t think “Oh no! I’m awake again, I’ll never go back to sleep…..” Instead put a positive spin on things. Think “Great! It’s not time to get up yet. I’ve still got some time to sleep or just to rest.”

This is a good time to listen to a sleep CD, do some positive affirmations or a quick relaxation exercise. You’ll be asleep in no time.

5 - Keep pen & paper by the bed. If you have a very active mind, you may find it hard to let go of thoughts that occur to you at night. Not all thoughts are bad and you may have a great idea that you’re afraid of forgetting. This may be enough to keep you awake.

If you write those thoughts down without turning on the light (yes it’s possible, I’ve done it!) Your mind is free to relax knowing you can pick these thoughts up again in the morning.

So declare was on worry with these tips. You’ll enjoy more restful sleep and your physical and mental health will improve as a result!