Just realized my nighttime prompt habit was wrecking my rest

I keep seeing posts that say using creative writing prompts before bed helps with sleep and mental health. I followed this advice for a while, doing a prompt each night to unwind. But instead of calming down, my mind would race with new story ideas. I spent nights awake, planning plots instead of sleeping. This made me tired and grumpy the next day. I switched to doing prompts in the morning, and my sleep improved fast. Now I think pushing night writing for everyone is a bad idea. For some of us, it just adds stress when we should be resting.

3 comments

3 Comments

wrenstone1mo agoTop Commenter

Saying night writing is bad for everyone ignores how it helps some unwind, lmao.

rowan4261mo ago

But @wrenstone has a point, night writing lets me dump all my busy thoughts so I can actually sleep. It's like a brain dump before bed, and without it I'd just lie there thinking too much. Calling it bad for everyone just because it didn't work for one person is not fair. For lots of us, it's the only way to shut off the day's noise. Ditching it would make my nights worse, not better.

iris_green841mo ago

Honestly that whole brain dump idea reminds me of my old roommate. She used to talk out loud to an empty chair before bed, just listing off every tiny worry from her day. Sounded nuts at first but she swore it cleared her head better than writing. Sometimes the method doesn't matter as long as it gets the noise out of your skull. Whatever works to stop the overthinking loop is worth keeping.