When your mind stays open late.

The evening is finally quiet. That is when the unsent email, tomorrow's conversation and last week's unfinished errand all turn up. You do not have to add another elaborate ritual. Sometimes it helps to give those thoughts a place of their own.

Give your notebook opening hours

The NHS includes writing worries down and setting aside a short time to consider solutions among its approaches to managing worry. This does not mean you must eliminate every concern, and it does not promise instant sleep afterwards.

Our suggestion is to begin earlier in the evening, before you are in bed. Choose a plain piece of paper or a note you will not need to keep reopening.

Separate a task from an open question

Write down what keeps coming back. Beside each item, add either the smallest next step or the words, 'I do not have a solution for this right now.' For example: 'I will call after breakfast tomorrow.' For another worry, the honest answer may be that the outcome is outside your control.

This is an organising tool, not therapy. Do not judge the page by how many things you have solved. Realising that you need another person's support can be useful too.

Do not turn journaling into a night shift

Decide in advance when you will stop. You do not need a complete plan for your life. If you are rewriting the list for a third time, the tool may have become more work.

If a thought returns in bed, you do not have to win an argument with it. You can remind yourself that it has a place and a next step. If anxiety or worry keeps overwhelming you, seek professional support; a notebook should not have to carry everything.

For tonight: one worry, one next step, one place to leave it. The aim is not an empty mind. It is to avoid holding all of tomorrow in your memory while you are trying to fall asleep.