Top 10 Things I Think About Before Falling Asleep

Once, there was a time when I would fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Then, I’d sleep until 10 a.m. the next day and feel well-rested.

I miss those days.

The older I get, the more difficulty I have falling asleep. Even though I’m tired, the moment I start to drift off, my brain turns on and plays back my day in full detail for my viewing pleasure. If I had to title this internal monologue, I’d call it: “Shit I Got Done and Tomorrow’s To-Do List” (Not the best title, I know).

But I’m not done because, after the daily recap, my thoughts spiral into random tangents that pop up just to piss me off. These tangents are never the same which makes it interesting. But I’d much rather fall into a sound sleep until my alarm wakes me up the next day.

No such luck. So, here are the 10 things I thought about last night right before I fell asleep:

• Is my CPAP mask on correctly? Did I refill the water tank? Don’t forget to buy more distilled water. Maybe I have a gallon in my car. How am I going to schlep this machine around Italy in September? Do they even sell distilled water there?
• What do I have to do tomorrow? What day is it? What meetings do I have? When is Passover? I need to start making plans since I’m hosting this year.
• I wonder what my mom wants for Mother’s Day. Are we hosting Mother’s Day this year?
• Shoot! I forgot to post on LinkedIn today. What should I post about? What did I post about last week?
• Please don’t let me dream about my crappy former boss again. That guy lives rent-free in my brain and comes out only during my REM sleep. Why can’t all my bosses be like the ones I had when I worked at the synagogue? They were the best!
• Is my phone fully charged? Did I set my alarm? Is it going to rain tomorrow?
• Did I set the DVR to record all the late night shows? Why didn’t it record SNL this weekend?
• Why haven’t I finished writing my book yet?
• I need to schedule my next mammogram.
• Do I need to use the bathroom? Yes!

Rinse and repeat and fall asleep way past midnight. 🙁

Does anyone else have random thoughts like this right before you fall asleep? What are you thinking about and how do you turn them off? Let me know in the comments.

XO,

Elisa