5 min read
How to stop ruminating about work at night
Rumination is not thinking. Thinking reaches a decision; rumination repeats the same sentence with more feeling each time.
Name the loop before you argue with it
Write the exact sentence going round. Not a summary, the sentence. Seeing it in your own handwriting or on screen breaks the sense that it is simply the truth rather than one thought among others.
Ask what it is predicting
Almost every loop contains a prediction: they will think less of me, this will be held against me, I will be found out. Write the prediction down, then write what evidence would confirm or disconfirm it tomorrow.
Give it a decision or a time
If there is an action, write the smallest first step and when you will take it. If there is no action tonight, write that down too. A loop with nowhere to go often quiets once it has been formally answered.
Write the version you would stand behind
End with one sentence you actually believe, not an affirmation. Something like: this went less well than I wanted, and my last four projects landed. Believable beats positive every time.
The short version
Catch the sentence, find the prediction, answer it with a decision or a time, and close with a version of the story you would defend in daylight.
Try the self-check
Ten minutes, private, and it shows you your own pattern instead of handing out advice.
Take the self-check