Turning off my brain at night

ADHD brains have an interesting relationship with sleep.

And I use the word interesting very loosely.

It’s late at night, when I’m in and out of sleep, that I remember something I didn’t do, when I feel shame for something I did poorly, when I question some decision I made that day.

It’s that past my bedtime if I want to get up and be useful tomorrow time when I have ideas. Big and small and useful and ridiculous - but always lots of ideas.

It’s what some call bedtime revenge procrastination- that time when my adhd says nope, this is my time, not going to bed. Let’s start a new tv show or plan out the rest of our life or, at its worst, buy something I hadn’t even thought about an hour ago such as a trip or a course or even more books.

For me, I know that two things help - being busy during the day and having a solid plan for the next - both having used my mind and body earlier and being excited about what I have planned for the next and therefore willing to just go to bed.

Returning to where we started -

ADHD brains have an interesting relationship with sleep.