Day 22: My Go-To Problem-Solving Method To A Good Night’s Sleep

My go-to method to stop me from overthinking, especially whenever I wake up in the middle of the night, is to ask myself:

Will I remember this problem in 5 years?

And here’s why that works:

• If the answer is no, you’ll quickly diffuse the situation because you’re worrying about something that won’t last. Why bother?
• If the answer is yes, then ask yourself if there are any actions. If yes, get up that moment and go do it. Don’t wait for a better time because you won’t be able to stop thinking about it and end up just stressing more.
• If the answer is yes, and there are no actions, you won’t be able to stop thinking about it, but at least you can rest assured that you dissected the problem and there’s nothing else you can do right now.

It’s crazy the amount of things we worry about and stress that are just temporary problems. Just like stocks, instead of looking at the daily chart, zoom out and look at the overall trend. You’ll see that most of your worries will not last.

At first, you’ll feel like this is a waste of time… What a stupid question to ask!

But then? You’ll feel like a heavy weight has been lifted!